Alexander Hanson Darnes[1] | |
|---|---|
 Alexander H. Darnes,c. 1890 | |
| Born | 1840 |
| Died | February 11, 1894 |
| Resting place | Old City Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Lincoln University,Howard University |
| Occupation | Physician |
Alexander Hanson Darnes[1] (c. 1840 – February 11, 1894) was the firstAfrican-American physician inJacksonville, Florida, and the second in the state. Born into slavery inSt. Augustine, Florida, as a young man he served as avalet toEdmund Kirby Smith, the son of his owner, JudgeJoseph Lee Smith. Darnes accompanied Smith to Texas while he served in the United States Army. During theCivil War, Smith commanded as aConfederate general.
After the war andemancipation of slaves, Darnes gained an education, aided by Frances Smith Webster, Kirby Smith's older sister. Darnes earned his undergraduate degree atLincoln University in Pennsylvania and a medical degree fromHoward University in 1880. He returned to Florida, settling inJacksonville, where he set up a practice. In 1888 Darnes served residents during a terribleyellow fever epidemic, when half the population fled the city. Darnes was well respected, an officer of theFreemasons, and a member of theMount Zion AME Church. Some 3,000 people, both black and white, attended his funeral, the largest in city history up to that time.
In 2004 a statue,Sons of the City, was erected at the Sequi-Kirby Smith House, showing both Darnes and Kirby Smith as adults in later life: Darnes the doctor and Smith the professor. It was the first piece of public art in Jacksonville to honor an African American.
Alexander H. Darnes was born into slavery inSt. Augustine, Florida. Of mixed race, he was the son of Violet Pinkney, a domestic servant in the household, and an unnamed father. He and his mother were owned byJoseph Lee Smith, a judge, and Frances Kirby Smith, at what is now known as theSegui-Kirby Smith House at 12 Aviles Street.
Photos held by the St. Augustine Historical Society show Darnes and his later ownerEdmund Kirby Smith, the youngest son of the Smith household, who became a Confederate general.[2] Maria Juliana Kirby-Smith, great-granddaughter of Smith and the sculptor who created a 2004 statue of the two men, said that she believes Darnes was related to Smith as a half-brother or nephew. Her study of their photos and detailed work on the statues made her aware of the two men's close physical resemblance.[3]
In 1855 at about the age of 15, Darnes was assigned to Edmund Kirby Smith as his personal valet; the youngest son in the family, Smith was 16 years older and by then a captain in theUnited States Army. Darnes accompanied Smith on tours in the western territories and continued to serve him during the Civil War, when Smith was a general for theConfederacy.
After the South's defeat and the emancipation of slaves, Darnes gained an education. (He was financially helped by Frances Smith Webster, an older sister of General Kirby Smith. She was the widow ofLucien Bonaparte Webster, a US Army officer from Vermont who had died in 1853. Born in Connecticut, Smith Webster retained her loyalty to the Union during the Civil War.) After preparatory work, Darnes attendedLincoln University, ahistorically black college founded in 1854 inPennsylvania. Darnes went to medical school atHoward University, a black college founded soon after the Civil War inWashington, D.C. He graduated in 1880 with a medical degree.
Darnes returned to Florida after medical school and settled inJacksonville, where he set up a private medical practice. He was the first black physician in the city and the second in the state. Darnes built a thriving practice operated out of his home on Ocean Street and became a pillar of the community. He won praise for his work during thesmallpox andyellow fever epidemics that swept Jacksonville in the late 19th century. These included the devastating yellow fever epidemic of 1887-1888 that swept the South, reaching Jacksonville in the summer of 1888. Not understanding how the disease was transmitted, almost everyone who could afford to fled the city - roughly half the city's population of 25,000. Darnes stayed to help those who remained as best he could. He was assisted by his friend and fellow Howard Medical School alumnus, Lemuel W. Livingston.
Darnes was accepted into theFreemasons, became a member of the localMasonic Temple, and rose to a position of prominence. He became the Florida Deputy Grand Master and High Priest of the Royal Arch Chapter of Washington, D.C. He also was a member of the Mt. ZionAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first independent black denomination in the United States. It was established by free blacks inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, in the early 19th century.
In Jacksonville, Darnes became a friend and mentor to the youngJames Weldon Johnson, who was 10 when they met, and his brotherJohn Rosamond Johnson.[4] The brothers later collaborated to write and compose "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing", known as "The Negro National Anthem." In his autobiographyAlong This Way, James Weldon Johnson fondly refers to Darnes.[4]
Darnes died in February 1894. According to the obituary in local paper, 3,000 people, both black and white, attended his funeral, more than for any other funeral ever held in Jacksonville up to that time.[4]