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BPD Officer George Frederick honored on memorial.
It took over 120 years, but the first known Black police officer to ever serve the Beaumont Police Department has been added to the city’s police memorial as of the fall of 2022. As much as those who now serve in the footsteps of the late BPD Officer George Frederick would like to know about the life and times of the pioneer in the police department, few details remain of the public servant’s years on this Earth prior to his untimely death at the hands of a domestic violence suspect.
According to information from the Beaumont Police Department, research into history of Texas Police Officers killed in the line of duty led to the discovery of Beaumont Police Officer George Frederick, the first documented Black police officer in Beaumont, unknown to the department until 2022. Previously, Officer John Freeman, sworn into the Beaumont Police Department on April 20, 1917, had always been regarded as being the first Black Beaumont police officer.
What BPD efforts did uncover revealed that Officer Frederick was born “in about 1860,” in Texas, to parents including A. (Aggie) Frederick. U.S. Census data from 1870 record Frederick as living with his mother at an approximate age of 10, and a sibling named Francis “Franny” E. Frederick, who was born in 1863. Frederick was married to a woman named Kate Anderson from 1848-1924; Anderson later remarried, and acquired the surname Wilson. Anderson-Wilson is buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Beaumont. Frederick’s mother is buried at Blanchette Cemetery in Beaumont. No records have survived of Frederick’s final resting place.
BPD is hoping that, by sparking a search for Officer Frederick’s surviving relatives, the man who died a hero can be properly recognized for his service to the community.
Archived reports of Officer Frederick’s death provided the most comprehensive facts about the Beaumont Police Officer in 1902 – albeit predominately confined to the few moments surrounding his death. As told, Officer Frederick was “off-duty” at his house when he heard gunshots on May 3, 1902. Pinpointing the location of the blasts to an area near 5th Street, behind the schoolhouse not far from his home, Officer Frederick punched in to work.
“He responded to the source of the shots in his official capacity; thereby putting him in ‘on-duty’ status,” BPD reported.
Upon arrival, Officer Frederick discovered that two quarrelling sisters were the root of the commotion. During the course of the altercation, Ella Morris Dickinson shot her sister, Zena “Lizzie” Morris Bayo, through the neck; Dickinson then warned Officer Frederick that if he entered the home, she would shoot him, too.
Officer Frederick entered the home of the fatally injured woman, followed in short succession by the gun-toting sibling. A flurry of gunfire ensued.
News reports from 1902, a time when Spindeltop was booming and Beaumont was a bustling population of just approximately 3,0000, detail that the woman who had just gunned down her sister stalked Officer Frederick to the scene of the original shooting, and opened fire on the police officer. Officer Frederick returned fire, striking his attacker. Beaumont police, as well as deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, arrived to find a scene with one woman dead, a police officer critically wounded, and an assailant shot by law enforcement.
The following day, on May 4, 1902, Dickinson succumbed to her injuries, never facing prosecution for the murder of her sister or the shooting of Officer Frederick. Had Dickinson survived, she would have added another murder to her alleged spree of criminality: On May 7, 1902, Officer Frederick succumbed to his injuries at the age of 42. He was survived by his wife, Kate Anderson Frederick, his mother, and his sister.
At the time of his death, the Beaumont City Council appropriated funds to cover Officer Frederick’s funeral expenses, with the community remembering the man of the law as “a good and faithful officer,” who had been of service to the Beaumont Police Department “for some time.”
Although the uncovered documentation of Frederick’s service to the Beaumont Police Department was indeed enough to have the officer officially recognized and added to the Beaumont PD, State of Texas and National Police Officer memorials, finding Officer Frederick is still an open mission for BPD. Anyone with any additional information in reference to Officer George Frederick’s relatives or burial site is asked to contact Sgt. Bobby Anderson at bobby.anderson@beaumonttexas.gov or (409) 980-7256.
— Jennifer Johnson