A Black Business in County for ½ Century

George Harrison started out working for Grady Thomas (this name will mean something to
readers, at least to those in their 70s) at a grocery store, and then moved on down the street
(Hwy 25 near Pendarvis) to Oswalt Body Shop (“Now a church,” he says.) He washed and
cleaned cars at first, but all the while watching what others were doing, like sanding and taping.
When his boss saw he could move up, he put him in the next job and that is how he learned to
do body work. Oswalt sold the business and moved to Johnston, and Harrison moved with him,
learning new things all along.
In Johnston he learned to work on cars under the hood. He knew he was gaining a
reputation for good work because he heard that people would come in and ask for him, “the
colored boy who works on cars.” A man by the name of Barfield was around and in the
business. “They were selling cars also, something I got into.”
In 1974 he pulled away and got into his own business, bought some land in Trenton, built a
house (and later married) and moved everything from Johnston there where he not only
worked on cars, under the hood, and worked on the body (Paint and Body shop), but he also
sold cars (his son Wendell, Jr., still maintains the car sale business on 29 Pine House Rd.)
Another of his diverse interests was a Club that he started in Trenton, at his house, where
people gathered for fun and entertainment. Men and women joined the group and they met at
his place. However, his wife was getting tired of cleaning up after the group and finally
suggested to George that he should take them to Edgefield to that old club place (called the
“Hole in the Wall”) that he had years ago, in his youth. He followed her wishes and that is what
eventually brought him to Edgefield where he built a large metal building and his business
continued to grow. And the Club continued for 15 more years. “It has been many years since
the club ended, but people still talk about it. We had great contests; eating, dancing, weight
lifting, to name a few. I would announce the winners with a microphone! He said, “The Club
pulled a lot of people together, and some pulled apart.”
Once again, he wants to mention the name of the person who helped him with the building,
William Brown Singleton (“Or was it Wm. Singleton Brown?”, he wasn’t sure at the moment).
This is the man who gave him a reasonable price to construct a large metal structure with three
open spaces for cars to enter, the place that has made growth possible, George says, “He
made it possible for me to do the work that I do.” He has continued in the building for 30 years.
His home is still in Trenton.
Mr. Harrison and his wife (now deceased) had 5 children, the one son and four daughters.
“All my daughters I gave extra schooling to. Three are nurses and one is an office worker.”
They are: Tonya Stevens, Sharon Gaines, Yama Smith and Jennifer Smith. Mr. Harris did not
graduate from high school, and only went to the 8 th grade. He speaks of how important
education is for young people.
Along the way he says he trained some 15 people; ten have their own businesses now,
some in Virginia, Florida and California.

At one point in the interview Mr. Harrison made a phone call and soon two men entered the
building where we were seated and joined us, one 32 years old and the other, Joe Rouse, is
73, like George Harrison. Tonio Collins, age 32, has been on the payroll since he was 13 when
he started out sweeping the floors and helping with clean-up. He wanted to “speak from the
heart” about his boss, Harrison. He spoke of being able to mature under his supervision, that
he had given him something to do to stay out of trouble. He also noted that he started to skip
school and because his mother found out (he would erase the messages from school that were
on the phone) she would come to Harrison’s business to take him to school. Speaking of his
boss, Collins says: “He changes peoples’ lives. Gangs are taking over and we need more
entrepreneurs to pull young people away from gangs and give them work to do.”
George Harrison has dreams about his next half century, but not before he talks about his
great lifetime friendship with Rouse. Together as children they had worked at the Mims store
on Highway 23, giving them a little money to save for a bike ($19.95). When they went to buy
the Angus Racer (with gears, “no other black children had them”) up town, they were asked
where they got the money which the two refused to tell. “Mr. Mims went up to the store and got
the man to sell us the bikes,” said George. “We also were the only two black children who had
a Shetland Pony. When we got in trouble on the school bus and could not ride it anymore, we
rode our ponies to school. Mr. Joe Dorn (who told us we were going to make history) met us
and said to get those ponies off the W.E. Parker grounds, and we went back home.”
The dream of the next 50 years has to do with more Giving than Getting. “Thirty years ago men
needed jobs but they could not afford a car. I was able to sell them something at reasonable
prices so they could accept jobs and drive themselves.” He continues to do so, and believes he
will be able to help more. “I will find a way for a man, who gets sick or breaks a bone and
needs time off from work, more time to make those payments. The next 50 years will be more
of a time of Giving.”