David Sutton Meredith
Longview, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
DAVID SUTTON MEREDITH WAS BORN ON FEBRUARY 2, 1869 IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY, VIRGINIA. MEREDITH CAME TO RUSK COUNTY, TEXAS IN 1891 AND MARRIED MINNIE BURR FISHER, A NATIVE OF BERLIN, TENNESSEE. THEY MOVED TO LONGVIEW IN 1895. IN NOVEMBER 1916, MEREDITH WAS ELECTED SHERIFF OF GREGG COUNTY AND SERVED UNTIL 1921 WHEN HE DID NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION. HE HELPED QUELL POTENTIAL RACE RIOTS DURING THE TUMULTUOUS LONGVIEW RED SUMMER OF 1919. AFTER LEAVING OFFICE, MEREDITH CONTINUED TO PLAY AN INFLUENTIAL ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY AND WAS INVOLVED IN THE ORGANIZATION OF THE REMBERT NATIONAL BANK AND THE LONGVIEW NATIONAL BANK. HE PASSED AWAY ON MARCH 14, 1934 AND IS BURIED ALONG WITH HIS FAMILY.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Virginia in 1869, David Sutton Meredith settled in Longview in 1895 and was elected sheriff of Gregg County in 1916. He served through the volatile summer of 1919, when he helped keep racial violence from erupting into full-scale riot during Longview's chapter of the nationwide "Red Summer." After leaving office he remained an influential figure, helping organize two of the city's national banks.
Why it matters
Meredith's tenure touches one of 1919's Red Summer flashpoints, when a wave of white-on-Black violence swept American cities and tested every local official's response.
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Related people
- · David Sutton Meredith
- · Minnie Burr Fisher
Related events
- · Longview Red Summer of 1919
Themes & tags
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