William Henry Grey was an important African American politician from Arkansas during Reconstruction, who became a national figure in Republican circles during the late 1800s. He was born in Washington D.C. on December 22, 1829, as a free man. His mother, Elizabeth, had been freed from slavery and there is DNA evidence that his father was none other than Congressman Henry A. Wise. Young Henry attended a private school run by John F. Cook at Washington and often appeared with Congressman Wise when the House of Representatives was in session
Elizabeth Grey became involved with someone she met in Washington, had several more children, and moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Soon after, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where his mother passed away from cholera in 1852. Grey then moved to St. Louis, Missouri and worked as a cook on a steamboat going up and down the Mississippi River. In 1854, he married Henrietta Winslow. They would have nine children together. Their names were Nancy, Nathaniel, William, Edward, Oliver, Ulysses, Charles, Susan and Anna. In addition to working on the river, he also served as a minister with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Although William registered for the draft, he never served in the Civil War. When that conflict ended, his family moved further south to the city of Helena, Arkansas. Mr. Grey founded a grocery store and bakery with his partners, Oliver Winslow and H.B. Robinson.
In 1867, William Henry Grey was elected as one of four Phillips County delegates to the Arkansas Constitutional Convention of 1868. Altogether, there were eight African American delegates at that convention and they supported the Republican platform promoting the rights of freedmen in the state. He served on several important committees at the convention and offered one resolution establishing federal aid for the poor and allowing freedmen to homestead government land. Also, Grey took to the floor twenty five times to argue measures proposed by the pro-Confederate Democrats against freedmen. A new state constitution was passed on March 14, 1868 with the vote of all eight African American delegates, including Grey. This new state document guaranteed African Americans the right to vote and to hold public office. It also provided for free and public schools.
Grey served as a state legislator from 1868 to 1869 representing Phillips County. After his term ended, he was appointed clerk of the First Circuit Clerk’s office and Recorder of Deeds. In 1872 he became the first African American to address a national presidential nominating convention, seconding the nomination of President Ulysses S. Grant. His stirring speech at the convention brought numerous rounds of applause from the gathered delegates and earned him other invitations to speak around the country. He had indeed arrived.
Although now a well known Republican, William H. Grey had other interests as well. He had first joined the St. John Masonic Lodge at Cincinnati in 1852. He was then named Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas when it was established in 1873. After his death, they would erect a large monument marking his grave at Helena. This was done on August 15, 1895. There was also a large parade honoring this great man.
From 1872 to 1874, William Grey was Commissioner of Immigration and State Lands. While on assignment in New York in 1873 to supervise arrangements for Arkansas’s exhibit at the World Exposition in the Austro-Hungarian capital of Vienna, he suffered a stroke. This forced him to return to Little Rock for medical care. Grey then moved back to Helena. Although not well, he served as clerk in the Phillips County probate and county courts. In September 1878, William suffered another stroke which left him partially paralyzed. He passed away on November 8, 1888. William Henry Grey is buried at Magnolia Cemetery in Helena, Arkansas.
Sources:
Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, Massachusetts) 6 June 1872, Thu. Page 4
The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio) 17 Jan 2009, Sat. Page 25
Daily Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) 14 August 1895, Wed. Page 4
Arkansas Black Lawyers: William H. Grey
Ancestry.com (William Henry Grey)
Lewis, Todd E. University of Arkansas: Encyclopedia of Arkansas. 2021. Retrieved 2/24/22. www.https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/william-henry-grey-5696