SAVANNE – The Georgia Historical Society recently announced the unveiling of a new historical marker in Chatham County to commemorate Bynes-Royall Funeral Home Inc., Savannah.
“The Bynes-Royall Funeral Home has provided funeral services in Savannah for over 140 years,” said Elyse Butler, manager of GHS Marker. “This new historic marker, along with Louis B. Toomer: Founder of Carver State Bank and The McKelvey-Powell Building, underscores the importance of West Broad Street (now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) as a historic business and cultural epicenter for Savannah’s blacks Local community.”
Maj. William Royall opened the Royall Undertaking Company after the yellow fever epidemic of 1876. His job changed the funeral home in Georgia by training black undertakers to work in the industry. In 1955, Frank and Frenchye Bynes bought the business that would later play a role in the civil rights movement as a meeting place with civil rights icons such as Martin Luther King Jr. and WW Law. Today it is the oldest continuously black-run business in Savannah and is owned by Byne’s descendants.
In his remarks, Savannah Mayor Van R. Johnson II said, “Today we honor history – Georgia’s history, Savannah’s history, black history. We honor the resilience and perseverance of a family. We honor service to God, community and citizens in the most difficult moments of their lives. We honor the Bynes family and generations past, present and future. “
Speakers for the inauguration included Johnson and Olga M. Williams, a fifth generation Bynes entrepreneur; Megan M. Wilkerson, chief of the Department of Energy and Environment and a fifth generation Bynes; Frenchye Bynes-Jones, co-owner of Bynes-Royall Funeral Inc. and a fourth generation Bynes; and Elyse Butler, historical marker manager for the Georgia Historical Society.
The Georgia Civil Rights Trail Initiative was founded in 2015 as part of the ongoing work of the Georgia Historical Marker Program to recognize the diversity of Georgia’s past and generally focuses on the economic, social, political, and cultural history of the civil rights movement. This is the newest mark on the way.
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The marker is located at the intersection of Barnard Street and West Hall Street in Savannah’s Historic Landmark District. For more information on the Bynes-Royall Funeral Home Inc. historic marker or the Georgia Civil Rights Trail marker program, contact Patricia Meagher, GHS Communications Director at (912) 651-2125, ext 153 or email pmeagher @ georgiahistory. com.
Bynes-Royall Funeral Home
During the final years of the rebuilding, Major William Royall founded the Royall Undertaking Company to serve African Americans who were denied funeral services by Savannah’s white funeral homes. With no formal corpse training available in the south until the early 20th century, Royall’s company trained many prominent black funeral directors in the state through an apprenticeship program. In 1924 the company moved to West Broad Street, now known as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Savannah’s African-American cultural and business district. In 1955, Capt. Frank Bynes Sr. and Frenchye Mason Bynes took over the business and renamed it the Bynes-Royall Funeral Home. Like many black funeral directors during the civil rights movement, Bynes-Royall provided a safe place to meet and organize. Bynes-Royall moved here in 1963 and remains the oldest black-owned company in Savannah.
Erected by the Georgia Historical Society and Save Our Youth Savannah
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