William A. Feilds
*The birth of William A. Feilds is celebrated on this date in c. 1852. He was a Black schoolteacher, principal, and politician. Born a slave in West Tennessee in 1874, Feilds married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Fields, age 20, in Shelby County, TN. In 1882, Sholes’ Memphis City Directory listed Feilds as a “teacher 5th District school, r county.”
According to the 1883 (Sholes) and 1884 (Weatherbe) city directories, William A. “Feilds” was employed as the principal of Shelby County’s 5th District school. He served one term as a Republican legislator in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1885 to 1886. He was also elected a member of the Shelby County court and a justice of the peace.
He is the paternal great-great-grandfather of Vanessa Williams, actress, singer, Miss America 1984, and actor Chris Williams. William Feilds died on September 9, 1898.
