James Walter Witherspoon was the type of person that Turbeville Mayor Dwayne Howell remembers as “a pillar of the community.”
“He was a man that followed the rules and regulations, whatever they were, and you were going to follow them, too,” Howell said during a ceremony recognizing the intersection of Hickory Grove Road and Pope Street in Turbeville as the James Walter Witherspoon Crossroads.
Born Aug. 30, 1925, in the eastern portion of Clarendon County, Witherspoon would ultimately become Turbeville’s first black police officer and firefighter. He also worked tirelessly within Clarendon School District 3; it was there that he and Howell met.
“I had come to coach football and ended up being the principal,” said Howell. “He had a special place in the hearts of nearly everyone who knew him.”
Howell reiterated that Witherspoon, being a lawman, was a stickler for the rules.
“Back when we had adult education at the high school, he would sit his chair in the hallway, and that door would open, and he’d peer around the corner,” Howell said. “If you weren’t supposed to be there, he’d escort you out.”
Howell said Witherspoon was never boorish with folks he had to correct.
“Never a horse word was spoken to anyone by him,” said Howell. “He was always polite and respectful, even when chastising. I always really appreciated that.”
Witherspoon died Sept. 21, 1994, after getting an infection after hip surgery, Howell said during the ceremony.
The push to name a road in his home community after him began in earnest in 2009.
“The problem with renaming a road is that everyone’s 911 addresses will have to change,” said Howell. “But you can rename a crossroads area, and it doesn’t affect that.”
Albert Mobley said he and a friend, now deceased, began the process of trying to get a road named after Witherspoon.
“I want to thank the town of Turbevile for acknowledging Mr. James,” said Mobley. “He was a mentor to me. I spent many a day with him.”
Seeing Witherspon’s example as the first black cop and firefighter in Turbeville led Mobley to become a state trooper and fireman himself.
Sylvia Dickey Whatley said that Witherspoon was her church and adopted father.
“He was honest and a man of very strong moral principles,” said Whatley. “He was a man of his word. the Bible says that having integrity is being of a condition of being without a blemish. That was James Walter Witherspoon.”
Whatley said that Witherspoon always kept up with his church members. The deacon would frequently go visit those on Monday who did not come to church on Sunday.
“He’d want to know why you weren’t in church,” Whatley said. “He was going to make sure you were there next time.”
Sylvia Witherspoon McFadden, one of Witherspoon’s nine children with his wife of 60 years, said she counted it a blessing to see the crossroads named after her father.
“I am especially grateful that God has blessed my mother to still be with us, along with his only living sister,” McFadden said.
Willie Witherspoon, the oldest son, agreed.
“We thank you so much, Turbeville, for what you’ve done here today in honor of our father,” he said. “We feel the presence of God here today, because of our daddy and who he was and what he meant to us.”
