Thursday, February 2, 2012

Joseph Henry Herndon


The late Joseph Henry Herndon, a Negro man, was born on March 19, 1840 in Gilliam, Louisiana. Before his death, on November 25, 1924, he gave a monetary donation of $12,000 to the Caddo Parish School Board.

The amount was given in order that a school would be built for Negroes in the northern area of the parish. Mr. C.E. Byrd was Superintendent at that time. Mr. Herndon’s contribution and his strong belief in the educational process benefited the lives of many children both black and white.

Also, sharing this belief was his nephew, David Tyson. It was the visionary Mr. Tyson who was later instrumental in carrying forth the wishes of Joseph H. Herndon’s Estate of which Mr. E. B. Herndon was the Executor in 1926. On July 2, 1953, the site of 80 acres was purchased for the school from C.W. Lane Corporation for the amount of $28,000.00. The property is located on the Gamm Road in Belcher, Louisiana.

Construction began on February 2, 1955 and was completed before the projected date of September 1956. Mr. Roscoe H. White was Superintendent of the Caddo Parish Schools when Herndon High School opened in 1956. Note: The amount of Mr. Herndon’s donation of $12,000 grew to $125,000 in 1955 due to inflation, accumulated and compound interest.

Mr. Herndon’s wealth can be attributed to an inheritance from his parents, John Frederick Herndon and Lue Patsy Herndon. They became wealthy from various investments in real estate, farming cotton, buying gold and having oil wells on their properties.

Joseph H. Herndon was able to continue his parent’s legacies of wealth. In addition, he made other wise investments when he purchased U. S. Savings Bonds. The first bank in Vivian, Louisiana was the recipient of his financial support and deposits.

Even though he was a man of wealth, for most of this life he lived humbly in a small community between Vivian and Gilliam, Pine Island. His home was a simple frame house, he wore patches on his pants and his kitchen floor was clay dirt.

Before his death, he built a brick home in Texarkana and resided there until his death in 1924. He is buried in Rodessa, Louisiana at the Tyson Family Cemetery, Sugar Hill. Herndon High, which is now Herndon Middle Magnet was named after this legend. ~Tyrone and Margarite Tyson~~

11 comments:

Petra Johnson said...

Now that's a nice, inspiring story that shows the good rich people can do. The fact that the school he funded is stil operating today makes me happy. He looks almost almost God-like in that picture. Was he a lumberjack?

Anonymous said...

Mr. Heardon was a good business man and a rare black man who 'truly' cared about his people. How I wish Obama cared half as much.

Anyway, it doesn't matter now. The Koch Brothers just pledged $100mil to beat Obama. I am sorry to say, the Koch Brothers usually get what they want....Obama is finished.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...
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GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Petra Johnson:

The man in the picture was one of my ancestors. Nah, he wasn't a lumberjack, he was a farmer and his parents left him a fortune.

Anonymous 7:40:

No he was not and is not the only black man who cares about his people. There are many more, but for reasons we all know, folks like to shine the light on that small segment in the black community that is negative.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...
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GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Petra Johnson:

Btw, many of my ancestors were successful farmers, musicians, and businesspersons after slavery ended and quite a few of them had oil on their land.

And they were people with a strong faith and belief.

Dubious D said...

Within the black community there are many who are not as lucky to be able to trace their roots back so far! This is amazing! As the slaves were separated and moved thousands of miles apart; many were not even in the same state and as the kids were taken; families were further broken, Good to see that he maintained his humility even though he was wealthy and did not flaunt it but helped the community! The idea of divide and conquer within the slave master now is running roughshod in the GOP party; and for the lost uncle toms one can only pray for them!

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Anonymous:

That woman, I can't think of her name right now who ran against Jerry Brown for the governor's position here in Calif thought that she could buy the governor's position too.

Anonymous said...

The woman who ran against Jerry Brown was Meg Whitman, former CEO of Hewlett Packard. She probably would have won if Jerry Brown was not in the race. Jerry Brown carries a strong reputation and a history as a dependable honest politician. He is well known going all the way back to the 60's....Jerry is one of a kind.

Meg Whitman was fired from HP and had little experience in politics. In fact, I don't think she had any. Anyway, she was destined to lose against Jerry.

But Romney and the Koch Brothers against a weakling like Obama? I don't think the race will even be close, provided Romney can't cut his gaffes in half. If he can do that, he'll win because Obama has proven that he can't be trusted or will stand up for what's right.

Juan Mano said...

Meg Whitman lost because she wasn't a conservative and was a poor candidate. Plus she didn't have that great of a record in the private sector. Plus, people in California are clueless, and it doesn't matter who is governor.

Anonymous said...

"Plus, people in California are clueless, and it doesn't matter who is governor."

Voters and non-voters across America are clueless, it's not just CA.