Butler man was first Black to join Pa. National Guard
Butler resident Charles Albert Waters was the first, and for many decades only, Black soldier in the Pennsylvania National Guard.
Waters was born in a community called Libertytown, Md., about 30 miles west of Baltimore and 20 miles south of the Pennsylvania border.
When he was born in 1860, Maryland was a slave-holding state and would remain so until the conclusion of the Civil War, despite its status as a Union state. However, his status at birth is unknown. About half of Baltimore’s African-Americans were free in 1860. Libertytown was an important crossroads for transportation between Baltimore and Hagerstown.
It can be reasonably assumed that Waters and, possibly, his family arrived in Butler sometime in his teenage years, possibly 1877.
Pennsylvania was long a haven for free African-Americans, and it is likely they headed north after the end of the Civil War or in the years after. Western Pennsylvania was a less likely destination than the eastern counties, but it still attracted a fair amount of people. When he arrived in Butler, there was a very small African-American community living there.
In 1880, census records indicated Waters had obtained a position as a servant in the household of prominent attorney John M. Thompson.
In 1881, Waters volunteered for the National Guard of Pennsylvania in Butler’s Company E, 15th Regiment, but he was barred from enlisting as a soldier. Only white men were permitted to serve in the National Guard.
Waters immediately started a campaign to break that barrier. He began by accepting the one job Black men were permitted in the National Guard: cook/orderly. Then the day he reported for duty, Waters began petitioning Company E’s captain, Ira McJunkin, to enlist him as a soldier.
While he worked on persuading the officer, Waters set about winning the admiration of every soldier in his unit by working longer, harder and more willingly than any of them.
His efforts paid off. Captain McJunkin eventually relented under one condition: The men of Company E had to agree to Waters’ enlistment in their ranks. Every man in the company voted in favor of the move, and Waters became the first Black soldier in the Pennsylvania National Guard.
Why was Waters so determined to serve in a local volunteer unit? We can’t know for sure, but there are several possibilities.
Growing up in Maryland in the 1860s, he would have witnessed institutionalized slavery, then the role that Black Union soldiers played in hastening its end.
While serving in the Thompson household, Waters would have noticed the deference accorded his employer, a Civil War veteran with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Perhaps, most importantly, he observed young men in the Butler Guard, including Thompson’s son, William, participating in events such as presidential inaugurations, drill expositions at the State Fair in Harrisburg, and local parades. For any young man with aspirations, service in the Guard afforded unique opportunities to be noticed and to forge lifelong social connections, thus furthering ambitions.
Over the next 17 years, Waters continued making his mark in Butler. He became a teacher and active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1891, he married Minerva Holmes, and they had five children.
In 1896 he unsuccessfully ran for county coroner, but in 1898 he was elected to Company E’s board of directors by unanimous vote.
Later that year, the United States went to war with Spain over control of the strategically located Caribbean and Pacific islands. Waters ended up having his number called for the Spanish-American War efforts. While America’s attempts to assist Cuba in its independence efforts after the sinking of the USS Maine must have seemed distant indeed, Waters answered the call of duty and reported, with a squadron made up of residents of Butler County, to training camp at Fort Washington in his home state of Maryland.
There was much local interest in the fortunes of the young men, as regularly reported in the Butler Eagle that summer. One local member of repute was Ira McJunkin, the commander; he later served in the U.S. Navy and as a representative in the state House. Unfortunately, Waters would not make it back home. He was struck down by a typhus epidemic in August, leaving Mrs. Waters a widow and to raise her five children alone.
Commander E.H. Negley shared the news: “Aug. 9, 1898 Charles Albert Waters died of typhoid fever in the hospital here early this morning. He was a faithful and efficient soldier, true and companionable comrade and an upright, righteous man.”
Minerva Waters continued living in Butler for decades after her husband’s death. Having been fairly young at the time of her marriage, she nevertheless never remarried. She attended the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was an honorary member of the American Legion auxiliary, Butler Post, because in addition to being a war widow, she also was a World War I mother – her son, John, was drafted in the summer of 1918. She was employed as a house worker for dozens of Butler families — her obituary lists 165 in all. She passed away at the age of 91 in 1965, outliving her husband by almost 70 years and at least two of her own children.
Charles Albert Waters was born with no advantages other than a fierce determination to succeed on his own terms. Many of the men he served with were privileged sons of Butler’s professional class; certainly not one of them thought twice about his right to serve in the National Guard.
Eventually they, and so many others, understood how much strength of character it took for Waters to create a place for himself in their ranks, their community and their affections.
Jennifer Ford is the executive director of the Butler County Historical Society.
