Summary Justice

Reverend Jonathan Lyle Caston was born in Springfield, Illinois on April 16, 1897.  His father was John Tolbert Caston and his mother was Lena Finney Caston.  Caston’s father was a well known surgeon and minister and his mother was a school teacher. He moved to Missouri at age three and the family relocated several times during his childhood. He attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO, Western College in Kansas City, MO, The University of Chicago’s Divinity School, the University of Southern California, CA, and McMaster University. Caston was ordained in 1916.

In 1917, Caston married Violette Charlena Maupin and together they had three daughters, Victoria (1919), Gladys (1921), and Emily (1925).

Broadway Baptist Church in Columbia, MO was Caston’s first pastorship,begun in 1920, followed by Hill Memorial Baptist Church in Winnipeg, Canada, Mount Olivet Baptist Church in Portland, OR, Second El Centro Baptist Church, and finally, Trinity Baptist Church, both in California.

Mt. Olivet Baptist Church’s Pastor between 1928 and 1931, Reverend Dr. Jonathon Lyle Caston, was noted as one of the country's foremost brilliant orators both in and out of the pulpit, and his sermons in particular were well-attended. As an advocate for racial tolerance within the church community, Reverend Caston was often asked to preach about social justice in white churches. He organized a joint service between Mt. Olivet and the predominantly-white Sunnyside United Methodist Church in February 1930 and at various times addressed the Mt. Tabor Presbyterian Church, United Presbyterian Church, Woodstock Methodist Episcopal Church, and “the Friars,” a local group of white pastors.  He also organized a Race Conference in 1929 in association with the Mt. Olivet Brotherhood, a men’s fellowship group. In 1930, Caston was appointed a board member of the Oregon State Baptist Convention, and in 1931 he became the first African American clergyman to deliver an invocation at the opening of the Oregon Legislature.

Sometime before 1936, Caston divorced his first wife Violetta and married again, this time to a woman sixteen years his junior from Mississippi by the name of Ineza Cordelia Smith.  They have no additional children and Ineza remains married to Caston for the remainder of his life.

In January 1936, Dr. Jonathan Lyle Caston became the sixth pastor of Trinity Baptist Church. Under his dynamic leadership, the membership increased and soon outgrew its second home at 36th and  Normandie. In 1945, ten lots were purchased at Jefferson and Cimarron Streets, and on Sunday April 4,  1948, ground was broken for a recreational building which was used as the Sanctuary until one could be  built. Dr. Caston was a great minister, teacher, humanitarian, organizer, builder, and community leader.  Along with Reverend Ernest Redd, who assisted him for 11 years, the congregation came to full maturity  and a real identity as a family of God.

Character Sketch

Throughout the screenplay, Caston comes across as much more mature than his twenty-six-years of age.  He is helpful, an activist who has connections (like Vaughn), a healthy mistrust for the legal and political system which he exists within, and a deep empathy for those in less fortunate or in dire circumstances likely instilled in him by his  highly educated parents and Chicago University’s Divinity School.

Caston is smart and he is careful not to attract the attention of those who would hurt him. He is protective of his family – all females. He is developing his soon-to-be-admired speaking skills, but he fears his age and lack of real world knowledge and experience.  He is an idealist and constantly looks for the best possible outcomes to all the problems he encounters.  He is not afraid to “get his hands dirty” in order to help people.  Whatever “juice” his  education and position earn him, Caston is ready to expend if someone will benefit from it.

As a young family man with two daughters in 1923, Caston is friendly, approachable, outgoing and self-deprecating.  He easily makes new friends, looks for the good in everyone and is a key source of light in his community. And Caston enjoys fishing, hunting and golf whenever he can get a chance to relax.