NEWBURYPORT – Louis Tyree would have been amazed if he could have watched Mayor Sean Reardon and state Rep Dawne Shand honor him and several of his descendants last weekend with an interpretative sign that described his life.
As a young man, the son of a black soldier for the Union Army, Tyree left his large family of six children in Indiana, and made his way to Newburyport. He had heard that New England schools offered the best education.
Tyree worked and slept in the Wolfe Tavern off and on for years while he attended Newburyport High School. He saved his money, eating sometimes only two meals a day, so he could attend Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, considered one of the best private high schools in the country.
He graduated from Clark University in Worcester, and when he had enough money from working or from scholarships, he would attend Harvard University Law School, finishing his degree at Boston University School of Law.
As a lawyer, he became a criminal defense attorney, helping clients in Massachusetts and later in Chicago, Il, fight injustice.
Tyree was honored as part of the Newburyport Black History Initiative, which is recognizing the contributions black residents made to this mostly white community with about a dozen interpretative signs scattered strategically around the downtown area for residents and tourists alike to learn from.
Rep. Shand, D-Newburyport, welcomed the Tyree descendants, saying the event feels like the community is welcoming him home again.
Denise Garrett and her family, who live in Dorchester, joined Will Evans, an attorney and mediator who lives in Milton, in honoring their great, great, grand uncle. They are direct descendants of Jasper Tyree, Louis’ oldest brother.
Evans, who like his great great, great uncle, was educated at Harvard, said he knew little about Uncle Louis until Geordie Vining, the city’s senior planner, wrote Denise Garrett a letter inviting her and any other Tyree descendants to help unveil Louis’ interpretative sign.
Denise, who has worked for 30 years helping meet the reproductive needs of people, said she thought the letter from the city of Newburyport was asking for a donation. “How much do that want?” she asked herself as she set aside the letter for three months.
She did not realize that when she signed up to find out about her family with Ancestory.com, she opened the door for Newburyport’s Black History Initiative to identify Louis Tyree’s family tree.
Genealogist Kristen Fehlhaber, working with the initiative, found Denise and Will. The three met for the first time at the unveiling.
Denise began contacting all her relatives, who got excited about the recognition of their ancestor. She was raised by a foster mother near Columbia Point. A grandson is named Kennedy Garrett because of their proximity to the John F. Kennedy Museum.
Like her great, great, grand uncle, Denise valued education. After initially dropping out of high school, she went on to graduate from the University of Massachusetts in Boston and has done post graduate studies at Suffolk University.
Evans was “pleasantly surprised” to find out about his great, great, grand uncle and all the work he did to help people fight injustice. Also a graduate of Harvard Law School, Will specializes in employment law and serves as a mediator.
He said he was amazed that Newburyport, a mostly white and affluent community, had a program to honor its former black residents. It makes him think that maybe other communities in the state, such as his own Milton, should have a similar program..
He said it is not easy to do geneology work on African Americans prior to the 20th century. “There just are not many records.”
