Three Rights Make a Left

PLEASE SUPPORT THE REEVES HENRY HISTORICAL MARKER

The Spellman Museum and the Forney Historic Preservation League are involved in a worthwhile project that deserves our attention and help. They are applying for a historical marker dedicated to our notable Forney Ancestor, Reeves Henry, a blacksmith and inventor who lived in our town at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.

Last March Don Themer, who is a regular writer for the Forney Messenger, wrote a terrific article about the efforts of the Forney Historic Preservation League (FHPL), to compile a request to submit the to Texas Historical Commission to have a historical marker erected to honor Reeves Henry. Don is also a board member of the FHPL.

Last week I got a phone call from Willie Starr from Fort Worth who got my name from the Tarrant County Black Historical and Genealogical Society. Earlier this year while planning for the first William Madison McDonald Vision Award, several of our board members met with the TCBHGS at their museum in Fort Worth and a couple of us joined their organization. McDonald, the first black millionaire in Texas was born in Kaufman County but lived most of his life in Fort Worth. Willie Starr, who is also a member of the TCBHGS told me he was calling on behalf of his Brother-In-Law Jimmy Malone, who is the Great Grandson of Reeves Henry from Forney.

I first heard about Reeves Henry from a friend of mine Mary Nan Foster who was involved in the Historical Marker that was placed in Forney in 1990 acknowledging the first car trip in Texas on October 5, 1899 by Edward H.R. Green. Green lived in Terrell and was President of the Texas Midland Railroad. He bought the first automobile in Texas and made the first car trip from Terrell to Dallas and it passed right through Forney. Along the way, as the story goes, the car spooked a horse, who of course had never seen such a contraption. The car went into the ditch and repairs were required to continue along the journey. The part of the story that did not appear on the historical marker because it is mostly local oral tradition, was that the repairs were made by local blacksmith Reeves Henry. That would have made Henry, a black man, the first auto mechanic in Texas. Back in 1990, when Mary Nan told me the story, she was very disappointed that Reeves Henry’s name was not included on the historical marker.

Now over 30 years later the Forney Historic Preservation League and the Spellman Museum are working to correct the omission with something even better: a historical marker dedicated to Reeves Henry. I first heard about this effort from FHPL President Charles Beason a few months ago, so I knew a little about it. When I got the call from Fort Worth I called Kendall Milton, Manager of the Spellman Museum. She told me that the Reeves Henry Marker application was being submitted through the “Undertold Marker” program of the Texas Historical Society. She commented that she had gotten several inquiries besides mine and that the Malone family who are descendants of Reeves Henry are understandably busy trying to promote this project. She agreed that letters of support for the Reeves Henry Historical Marker would be helpful and suggested they be addressed to the Texas Historical Commission through the Forney Historic Preservation League.

So I would encourage you to write a letter of support and try to get this worthy project approved. Please address letters to:

FHPL

P.O. Box 317

Forney, TX 75126