Veterans memorial dedicated at Hamilton Primary School

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By Cory Davenport

One of the nation’s first racially-integrated schools celebrated its annual festival over the weekend, which culminated in the dedication of a veterans’ memorial.

The Hamilton Primary School, located at 107 Main St in Otterville, was founded in 1836 by Silas Hamilton and his former slave, George Washington. Hamilton owned a plantation in Mississippi before freeing his slaves. He wanted to educate free black folks for such purposes as personal empowerment and missionary work. He built the school to educate Washington, and Washington continued his former owner’s mission with Gilbert Douglas upon Hamilton’s death. Hamilton even erected a monument to Hamilton, which may be the only such dedication built by a former slave to the person who once owned him. The original building was demolished soon after its founding and rebuilt as it currently stands in 1871.

Hamilton, Washington, and Douglas are all buried together near the school in an area colloquially known as “The Crypt.” The school continued to operate as an integrated school until it was abandoned by the Jersey Community School District in the 1970s.

To celebrate and preserve that history, the Otter Creek Historical Society hosts an annual event with live music, local vendors, raffles, and handmade carnival games on the third weekend of September. The funds raised by this event go directly to restoring the old schoolhouse and preserving its history for everyone.

Sonny Renken, the current president of the Otter Creek Historical Society said renovations have continued, including lots of painting, the addition of a restroom, and repairing a spot inside the school in which the outside brick was showing.

“You couldn’t find where it was now if you tried,” he said.

Renken also said their designation as a historical site helped get state funding to do larger projects such as tuck-pointing and roof repairs. Currently, he said state funding has decreased and it is difficult to reach politicians on either side of the aisle to assist. Undaunted, Renken said he knew folks in Springfield were busy and had a lot on their minds.

This year, the festival’s cornerstone was a new veterans’ memorial for the veterans of Jersey County, which was unveiled Saturday afternoon.

“We got a 2,100-pound rock from outside the Brighton Nursery for it,” he said. “We got it to match the stonework of the building itself.”

Also on display was the original bell from the building, which has been restored. There are two plaques on the veterans’ memorial to celebrate those from Jersey county who served as well as flagpoles displaying a veterans’ flag and the MIA-POW flag.

More information can be found on both the Hamilton Primary School and the efforts of the Otter Creek Historical Society on their website: http://www.hamiltonprimaryschool.com/