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ABlacks in theSt. PaulPoliceDepartmentAnEighty-YearSurveyJames S. GriffinL B O U T 1943 when I was a young officer on theSt. Paul police force with no thoughts of history on mymind, I came upon an old, faded photograph xvhichunfortunately has since been lost. It showed a group ofpolicemen xvith high hats and handlebar mustaches. Twoof them xvere standing by bicycles that had high frontwheels. One of the men was a Black. The picture, whichcarried no names, was said by an older officer to datefrom the f880s; this seems probable because of the styleof the bicycles and because it is known that Blacks firstserved on the Minneapolis force in that decade. W h d eno other record has been found, tbe writer's memory ofthat old photograph suggests that there may also havebeen at least one Black officer in the St. Paul PoliceDepartment before 1892.'The first Black for whom a definite record has beenfound was James H. Burrell, a former Pullman porter,who was appointed to the St. Paul force on October 25,1892 — twent '-nine years after Lincoln's EmancipationProclamation. An early history of the department published in f899 stated that Burrell was at that time "theonly colored man employed on tbe force.As apolice officer he has served continuously at the Rondo st.Sub-station, winning the respect and confidence of hiscolleagues and the unstinted praise of his superiorofficers by his faithful and meritorious performance ofduty, at all times. " According to the census of 1890, St. Paul's populationtotaled 133,156, of whom 1,524, or a little over 1 per' For the Minneapolis police force in the 1880s, see ""TheStory of Afro-Americans in the Story of Minnesota, " in GopherHistorian, Winter, 1968-69, p. 5. Much of the informationused in this article is based upon the xx'iiter's oxx'ii personalknoxvledge and experiences, upon bits of data gathered in informal oral interviews, and upon material supplied by the St. PaulPolice Departmenf s records unit and the St. Paul Cix d ServiceBureau. Published material is cited in the footnotes throughout. Annual reports of the St. Paul Police Department, carrying personnel rosters in the early years, are ax'ailable in theMinnesota Historical Society's library with some notafile gaps,especially from 1918-28. The latter are also missing from theSt. Paul Public Librarys file. Burrell remained on the force at least until f 901. See [AlixJ. Muller and Frank J, Mead], History of the Police and FireDepartments of the Twin Cities, 106 (Minneapolis and St, Paul,1899); St, Paul Police Department, in Annual Rcpoiis of theCity Officers and City Boards. 1892, 401; 1901, 1349, According to Muller and Mead, 63, 65, the Rondo substation on thecorner of Western and Rondo, as xvell as the other three St,Paul substations mentioned below, was completed in 1887,Mr. Griffin, noiv a deputy chief, has been a member of the St.Paul Police Departnwnt since 1941.Fall 1975255

cent, were Black. All males in the state had the right tox'ote, and no segregated schools had existed in St. Paulsince 1869. It is not surprising that Officer Burrell hadb e e n employed as a Pullman porter, for during thisperiod near the turn of the centurx' many Black menworked as laborers, or bootblacks, or as coachmen, waiters, and porters on the railroads that served the city. A fexv Blacks owned businesses. Harry Shepherd wasa successful p h o t o g r a p h e r , G e o r g e B. Lowe had apicture-framing establishment, and many of St. Paul'sbarbershops then and later were owned and operated byBlacks. Some like John Quincy Adams occupied whitecoffar jobs before 1900. From 1887 to 1922 Adams wasthe editor of the Western Appeal, St. Paul's Black newspaper, and he was also appointed bailiff and acting clerkof municipal court by Mayor Frank B. Dorau in 1896.Other Black professionals of this period included Bessieand Minnie Farr, who were probably St. Paul's firstBlack schoolteachers; Dr. Valdo D. Turner, the city'sfirst Black physician; Frederick L. McChee, its firstBlack attorney; and William F. (Billy) Williams, who wasfirst appointed executive aide in the governor's office in1904 and remained in that post until 1957."'Officer Burrell blazed a trail on the police force that afew others followed. In 1896 Louis (or Lewis) Liverpool, "formerly a hackinan, " started work as a janitor atthe Central Station, then located on West Third Street.At this time the country was in a period of economicdepression, and St. Paul patrolmen's salaries xvere reduced in September, 1896, from 72.50 to 70.00 amonth. W h e n Liverpool later became a patrolman, hewas assigned to a beat in the Rice Street area, which xvasregarded as a "tough" section of the city where gangs ofyouths gathered on street corners and terrorized citizens. They were also known to shoot or beat up policeofficers.''Many stories have been handed down orally aboutLiverpool, who is said to have gained tbe lasting reputation of being able to handle all comers on his beat. Onestory goes that, because of bis fighting prowess, Liverpool was asked to go a few rounds in a boxing exhibitionwith an unknown man. Purposely no one told him whothe fellow was; it was to be a big joke. During the firsttwo rounds, Liverpool gave the fellow a real going over,but at the end of the second round somebody told him hewas b o x i n g w i t h J o h n L. S u l l i v a n , f o r m e r w o r l dheavyweight champion. Liverpool then lost his confidence, and Sullivan was able to handle him with ease.After Liverpool, the next Black officer seems to havebeen James H. Loomis, who became a patrolman assigned to municipal court as a bailiff in 1900. Five yearslater the St. Paul force was expanded when 40 men wereadded, making a total of 217 employeees, 161 of whomwere in the foot patrol. Among them was Black patrolman Charles R. Grisim, who left the department two256Minnesota Historyyears later and moved to Spokane, Washington. AfterGrisim's departure in 1907, at least four more Blackofficers joined the force: Abraham L. Yeiser from 1908 to1912, w h e n he transferred to t h e fire d e p a r t m e n t ;William P. Lewis in 1911; and Joseph C. Black andJames T. Quarles in I9I2. Joseph Black became the firstBlack officer to hold the rank of detective when he waspromoted in 1914 — the year St. Paul adopted CivflService for all city employees.''Marquette Smith, better known as Mark Smith, along-time white officer now deceased, once asked me if Ihad ever heard of Quarles, who, he said, had been a heroof his when he was a youngster growing up in St. Paul. Ireplied that I knew Quarles had b e e n a member of thedepartment and that my step-grandfather had been apaflbearer at his funeral. This remote connection seemedto please Smith, and he told me that he had becomeacquainted with Quarles before World War I when the United States Cewsus, 1890, Population, 1:389, 539;Gopher Historian, Winter, 1968-69, p. 8, 11, 29. [Muller and Mead], History of Police and Fire Departments, 153; Gopher Historian, Winter, 1968-69, p. 8, 10,18-20, 22; David V. Taylor, "'John Quincy Adams: St. PaulEditor and Black Leader, " in Minnesota History, 43:283-96(Winter, 1973). The first Black xvas also elected to the legislature in this period. He xvas J. Frank Wheaton, a Minneapolislawyer who served in the House of Representatives in 1899;Gopher Historian, 19. [Muller and Mead], History of Police and Fire Departments, 71, 75, 81, 83, 126. Louis (or Lewis) Liverpool appearedas a janitor on the personnel rosters of the department from1896 through 1899; see Chief of Police, in Annual Reports ofCity Officers, 1896, 786; 1898, 947; 1899, 749. The city directory listed him as a special policeman in 1903 and again in 1913.In between these dates he apparently worked as a watchmanand operated a hand laundry . In 1914 he xvent into the expressbusiness. See Sf. Paul City Directory, 1903-14.''The Minneapolis Tribune of June 16, 1970, erroneouslyreported that a man in the Hennepin County sherifi 's office in1970 xvas the first Black detective in the history of Minnesota.Photos of Yeiser and Lewis and some information on Grisimmay be found in Maurice E. Doran, History of the Saint PaulPolice Department, 70, 82, 120, 122 ([St, Paul, 1912]). St. PaulCity Directory, 1908, recorded Grisim's move to Washington.See also Board of Police, in Annual Reports of City Officers,1900, 780 (Loomis); i.905, 737, 7.54 (Grisim); 1908, 401 (Yeiser);Board of Police, Annual Reports, 1911, 68 (Lewis); 1912, 82, 92(Black and Quarles); 1,914, 5 (Black), The latter are listed asdetectixes in St. Paul City Directory, 1913, 1914, On Yeiser,see also St, Paul Board of Fire Commissioners, Annual Report,1913, 68, For the beginnings of Cixil Serxice, see St, PaulBureau ot Cixil Serxice, .\nnu(d Reports, 1915, 7, 30.Exen with the help of photographs, it has been impossibleto establish the identities of all the Black officers, and at leasttxvo others max' have served on the force by 1912, The xvriterwas told o( a Black patrolman named William Joyce, and of.\iidrew Jackson, xvho began as a janitor in the police department on June 9, 1912, and, according to Cixil Service records,transferred to administration in f930, although I have beentold he spent some time as a patrolman; see Board of Police, inAnnual Reports, 1912, 66; i929, 24,

WILLIAM F. WILSONJOSEPH C. BLACKofficer was walking a beat in the vicinity of Acker andJackson streets near Smith's h o m e . Smith said thatQuarles was well known in the neighborhood and hadthe reputation of being a two-fisted, tough, and aggressive officer, who indulged in a little libation while onduty.Mark recalled that he once saw Quarles coming out ofa saloon at the intersection of Acker and Jackson andstriding off up the street, staggering a bit as he went.Several young toughs saw Quarles and began to harass' Quarles is erroneously listed in later departmental reportsamong those officers "killed or who died from injuries receivedwhile in the performance of their duty." See, for example.Bureau of Police, Annual Reports, 1929, 56, On his death, seeSt. Paul Pioneer Press, March 29, f920, p. 1. At the time of hisdeath, Quarles seems to have been working as a plain-clothesdetectix'e, although there is no record of his formal promotionto this rank.* On Wilson, see Bureau of Police, Annual Report, 1914,11; St. Paid Pioneer Pre.ss, February 7, 1923, p. 1.him. Smith said he realized immediately that the youthsm u s t b e s t r a n g e r s in t h e n e i g h b o r h o o d b e c a u s eeveryone who lived there knew Officer Quarles was not aman to be trifled with. The youths told Quarles that "St.Paul must be in a sorry state to hire a nigger policeman.Smith reported that it took Quarles about three minutesto put all three flat on their backs and have someone inthe saloon call the patrol wagon. Quarles remained withthe department until his death on March 28, 1920."T H E FIRST Black officer to be appointed after the adoption of city-wide Civil Serxice was William F. \\'ilson,who was assigned to the Prior substation as a chauffeuron October 14, 1914. Wilson also has the distinction ofbeing the only St. Paul Black officer to lose his life in theline of duty. I le died in a fatal auto accident at Charlesand Snelling while an.swering a police call on February 6,1923."Fred E. Talbert and James A. Mitcbefl, xvho wereappointed in 1917, were the next to be added under theFall 1975257