THE
AS A
Tradesman and Mechanic.
Address of Bishop H. M. Turner before the African
Congress at the World's Fair in
Chicago, August 15, 1893.
Ladiea and Gentlemen :
In attempting to treat this subject
briefly, I shall employ the term African,
as comprising ail divisions of the Afri¬
can races or their descendants, whether
living upon the continent of Africa, or
scattered over any portion of the globe.
For, as a fountain cannot rise above its
source, so no portion of a people can
rise above the intellectual powers of their
primogenitors, however fortunate may
be their environments. Man is an evolu¬
tionary being and not involutionary.
Whatever greatness he may possess must
be innate, aboriginal, belonging to the
original stock. I would not attempt to
question the potency of human imbibi¬
tion, or absorption; for that we are
largely the creatures of circumstances
is a fact too thoroughly settled to call
for theory, speculation, or even logical
deduction. That language, customs,
manners and education all enter to a
greater or less degree into our make-up,
must be conceded by every sane person.
The African or Negro races have been
the subject of idealistic speculation for
many generations, both in this country
and in Europe; many styling them an
inferior division of the human family,
while others have contended that they
are iflen holding a common rank with
other divisions of mankind, when cir¬
cumstances conspired to impart the same
oast and intellectual and moral advan¬
tages. I use the term African races be¬
cause all Africans are not alike in every
particular. Some Africans are intensely
black, while others are brown; others
olive color, and others still may be
classed as virtually yellow, while not
possessing a drop of Caucasian blood in
the manner that color is modified in this
country. Size and feature differences
between the Kroo, Mandingo, Pessey,
Vey, JolofF, Congo, Kaffir and Zulu
tribes are too manifest in their varieties
to call for discussion. Certainly the va¬
riety is as clearly exhibited as the differ¬
ences that exist between the English,
Irish, French, Germans, Spanish, Rus¬
sians, Italians and other peoples that
inhabit Europe, and possess language
and characteristics which specialize them
respectively.
Therefore, in the treatment of this
subject, I shall not search for any partic¬
ular race or variety of the African peo¬
ple. Yet, we are familiar with the fact,
that that portion of the African races,
which is generally denominated in this
country as the Negro race, is from equa¬
torial Africa, for they and their de¬
scendants stand out most prominently
before civilized mankind at the present
day.
As to the origin of the African, I shall
pause just long enough to say, that after
over forty years' reading, and having
visited the continent of Africa more
than once, I know nothing beyond the
fact that he is here, and that I find him
a human being, possessing the traits
and habitudes peculiar to mankind—
talking, singing, thinking and acting
like a man with special peculiarities,
the same as the Chinaman, Indian,
Australian and other divisions of man¬
kind, which go to distinguish them from
people inhabiting more civilized por¬
tions of the globe. The Negro is a
man to all intents and purposes. The
same number of bones, muscles, arteries,
and the same configuration which enter
into the mechanism of other races attest
the truthfulness of the assertion; and
the mediciues of the world which ope¬
rate in the same manner, cure the
same disease, destroy the same fever
and serve as a remedy for the same
maladies prove it to a demonstration.
Revolting as the theory may appear to
some present, I believe that all humanity
started black—that black was the origi¬
nal color of mankind. That all of these
white people present descended from
black ancestors, however remotely in an¬
tiquity they may have exisited. The
Bible assures us that God dug this world
out of blackness. " Darkness was upon
the face of the great deep " is the declara¬
tion of Holy Writ. If theoretical geology
is entitled to any consideration whatever,
the time was when the poles of the earth
and the now icebound arctics were so
warm that the flora of the now tropic
zones grew there luxuriantly, and the
same animals that now live at the equator
roamed abroad in that ancient forest.
This has been verified by the bones which
have been found there of the animals
now restricted to the tropical regions.
So as I see it, instead of black being an
abnormal color, an execrated color,
a color to be despised and made the
badge of degradation and infamy, to
the extent that it involves the hu¬
manity of those who are black, if it is
any color at all, it is the primordial, most
ancient and original color of mankind.
I have reached this conclusion after
years of meditation, with such lights as
revelation affords to my understanding,
aided by the stylus of geology and the
archaeological collections found in the
British Museum. Yet my interpreta¬
tions may be greatly at fault and my
conclusions wholly absurd, but scien¬
tific analyses undoubtedly makes black
the base of all color, and the black man
is, therefore, a primitive man.
The late learned Prof. Winchell ad¬
vanced a similar theory you may remem¬
ber some years ago and was dismissed
from Vanderbilt University ; but unless
I am incorrectly informed, he held that
the black races of Africa were the oldest
portions of humanity, and that the
whites were the product of a new crea¬
tion, having no consanguineous con¬
nection with the blacks. If I have quoted
this learned professor accurately I beg to
differ. I believe that the present black
races are younger than the whites—in
other words, that the whites, although
black at that time, had an existence
when the arctic region was as warm as
the tropics are now, and humanity had
no existence within thousands of miles
of the equator, because of the intense
heat which then prevailed there, but
that climatic, electrical and other influ¬
ences which we shall not attempt to
enumerate and define, have been modi¬
fying, transforming and bleaching this
primitive stock of mankind which, has
been operated upon by the agents that
are cooling off the world, till he appears
to-day as our brother in white, refined
polished and mighty.
At the time, however, this primitive
or now white race was black and inhab¬
ited the warm and sultry regions known
at this time as the frigid zones. Africa,
the present home of the black races, had
not sufficiently cooled off and purified its
atmosphere to support animal life; there¬
fore, it was not inhabited by animals or
human beings in any form. Ages had
to roll by before nature adjusted itself to
the conditions that would admit and sus¬
tain mankind. How the people that
now inhabit Africa ever came into exist¬
ence on that giant continent, if this
theory is tenable, would have to be hy¬
pothecated at this remote period. They
may be the product of a new creation or
the rejuvenation of some of the original
stock who migrated in process of time
toward the equator, as nature prepared
herself for their reception. But the char¬
acteristics and idiosyncrasies of the Afri¬
can races show without doubt that they
are still in the arena of boyhood and
girlhood.
It must be granted nevertheless (and
we now approach historic times), if the
voice of history is to be credited, that
mankind has been subject to fluctuations
through a series of past ages and that
2iia j played an honorable part in
the drama of the world's highest ad¬
vancement. To illustrate : The E^vd-
tians, wealthy, polished and powerful
poised on the pinnacle of national splen¬
dor and were the wonder of the world
for an indefinite period. When they
3
referred to the Greeks they spoke of
them as vile, impure and with whom
no social equality was possible, while in¬
termarriage would have been received
as a gross misalliance. But as the cen¬
turies crept on, Greek students applied
to Egyptian philosophers for lessons in
the wisdom of Egypt, and the Greek star
began to arise, and culminated in the
kings of Greece wedding Egyptian
queens, and Greece finally planted her
feet upon the neck of crumbling Egypt,
and became teacher of the world in lit¬
erature, philosophy and science. But
when we search into history more deeply
we discover that great as is the antiquity
of Egypt, she was preceded by a famous
and illustrious race still more ancient.
Greece freely confessed that her first
lessons in civilization were from this
more ancient race known as Ethiopians.
Down from Ethiopia came Egyptian
civilization, as her own priests admitted.
In the most ancient temples of Egypt
sacred paintings were found representing
black priests conferring upon the red
Egyptians the instruments and symbols
of the sacerdotal office and imparting to
her that knowledge, wisdom and piety
which laid the foundation for the bril¬
liant culture of the inhabitants along the
Nile.
Accepting the above as the voice of
history, it would appear that black has
figured prominently at a very early date.
For the same black Ethiopians, for all
we can tell at this advanced period, in
the scale of progression, may have been
the projectors and builders of what is
fenerally called the Egyptian Pyramid,
'or a number of learned men, as you
are aware, have contended that the pyr¬
amids antedate the Egyptians. For all
attempts to decipher such hieroglyphics
as give date to the building of the pyra¬
mids are but little, if any more, than
hypothecation.
The drift of nature, whether inter¬
preted speculatively or historically,
would therefore appear to be whiteward.
Primitive man, who doubtless has exist¬
ed for ages longer than our chronology
fixes it, in my opinion was black, and is
the father of the white races of the
earth; and the same black, primitive
man gave to the intermediate color or red
Egyptian civilization, learning, science
and philosophy, including skilled labor
in its highest form, and this red race has
transmitted to the white races letters,
poetry, logic, meehanism and all the
fundamen tali ties that the white races
have embellished, refined and improved
upon, until it has reached the grandeur
of this world-famed Chicago Exposition.
So that as I see it, it is folly to speculate
upon, and entertain doubts as to what
it can accomplish or not. For God and
nature seem to have started with black
to build this universe, and all the pro¬
gressive steps which have been taken
through all the ages, and have culmi¬
nated in the grandeur of the nineteenth
century, have had black for their base.
Having thus far dealt with what some
may regard as abstract theories, let us
inquire if the African or black man pos¬
sesses mechanical genius and the power
to succeed as a tradesman. For these
two branches of industry constitute the
test of self-government, business in
every form, mercantile relation and civ¬
ilization, with all its appendages.
First, does the African possess the in¬
tellectual ability to construct and manu¬
facture such buildings and necessary ap¬
paratus as are desired by civilization ?
My reply is, that he does. Mechani¬
cal genius is the highest test of intellectu¬
ality, because it involves meditation,
prearrangement of device or plan, and
such association of ideas and concerted
execution as evolve and combine har¬
mony, symmetry and beauty. All these
attainments, I maintain, the African
possesses, and will prove the assertion
by presenting a list of names of persons
known to the writer, many of whom are
still living, which we think will be more
satisfactory than any process of reason¬
ing which could possibly be presented.
For after all, ocular and auricular evi¬
dence is the most convincing species of
testimony, and mankind prefers it, re¬
gardless of their culture and natural at¬
tainments.
In the list of names which I shall now
present, many of whom were slaves,
none are referred to but master mechan¬
ics in their respective branches.
First, let us mention James Snowden,
foreman of Goodrich & Co.,of Augusta,
Ga., the largest contractors in the State.
The contractors were white men, but Mr.
Snowden managed, directed and execut¬
ed the building of the most stately man¬
sions, which made the Goodrich Compa¬
ny famous in their day. Yet they were
dependent upon this black foreman.
Samuel W. Drayton of Augusta, Ga.,
4
though as black as ebony, for almost a
generation before the war, constructed
and built the finest carriages and buggies
in the city, which found purchasers in the
most wealthy men of the day, and the
supply was never equal to the demand.
Mr. Drayton manufactured his carriages,
buggies and sulkies from the rough
timber, as it came from the sawmills,
and built them invariably by such plans
as he would draft with his own paper
and pencil.
William J. White and William Bare-
field, of Augusta, Ga., were also promi¬
nent first-class undertakers previous to
the war, and held the highest rank of any
mechanics of that class in the city.
Luke Allen, now of Atlanta, Ga., and
about ninety years of age, built a large
number of the finest dwellings in Athens,
Ga., for the most wealthy citizens before
and since the war.
Horace King, who lived near Colum¬
bus, Ga., was the finest bridge builder of
his day. For many years he constructed
railroad, county and city bridges in Ala¬
bama and Georgia, and could rarely ever
keep up with the demands made upon
his time and attention, by reason of the
popularity of his genius and attention to
business. He died some ten years ago.
Alexander Hamilton, carpenter and
contractor, i3 admitted to have no supe¬
rior as a mechanic in Atlanta, Ga.
Thomas Scott, William McHenry and
Andrew Allen hold a similar rank in
the same city.
James Patterson, carpenter and con¬
tractor, of Columbia, 8. C., was regarded
by the most wealthy and fastidiously
critical as one of the greatest mechanics
of his day, and built many of the costly
edifices which made Columbia known as
the city of lordly palaces, until it was
burned at the approach of Gen. Sher¬
man's army during the late war. He
died in 1848.
Joseph A. Peacher, of Columbia, S. C.,
whose daughter was my devoted wife for
thirty years, and who built the great
Edgar mansion after the plans drafted
by himself, was not only a famous house
builder, but one of the finest machinists
in that city.
Green Gilliard, also of Columbia, S. C.,
was a popular and thriving mechanic.
He built many of the fine stores, churches
and city buildings which gave that city
its fame for beauty and ornamental resi¬
dences, But it is useless to add to thig
list, for all the fine, costly and embel¬
lished buildings of Columbia, S. C.,
were erected by the skill and industry of
black men, and the same may almost be
said of Charleston, S. C. This includes
carpentry, brick masonry, plastering,
cornice and moulding, with center pieces
and vaulted work for parlors, halls and
everything necessary for ornament and
beauty, church steeples, spires, domes
and minarets being no exceptions.
Alfred Devault and Joseph Beden-
baugh, of Newberry, S. C., Jesse Posey,:
of Abbeville, S. C., and scores of others
might be mentioned, who ranked as
first-class carpenters.
William Fisher, however,, commonly
known as Bill Fisher, who lived in Co¬
lumbia, S. C., and who worked in various
sections of the State, was the prince of
black mechanics. From 1834 up to 1860
the name of Bill Fisher, though black as
ink, and who was brought from Africa
when a boyr was a household word. He
could only be employed by the richest
men of the day, for the reason that poor
men and ordinary livers were not able to
employ him. His work was unique and
singularly gorgeous and ornamental,
and he followed no plans but his own.
Professional architects could make no
drafts for him that he would not ridicule;
but to the contrary, New York archi¬
tects would come to him for instruction
and higher conceptions often, in the
drafts they were making for buildings in
other sections of the country. The stu¬
pendous and inimitable residence which
he built for Col. Nick Pee, one of the
wealthiest sons of South Carolina, was
such a marvelous piece of architectural
skill that people came from far and near
and spent whole days inspecting it. The
revolving stairway which he built from
the basement out through the top of the
house, yet connecting with every floor
of the mammoth building without the
variation of the sixteenth of an inch,
elicited the admiration of the most cele¬
brated architects of New York City, and
throughout the country. Col. Nick Pee,
knowing that he was an extraordinary
genius, told him to take his time ana
regard money as no consideration. Bill
Fisher took him at his word, and spent
seven years in its construction, with a
large number of workmen whom he had
employed. Gen. Sherman's army burnt
it to the ground, much to the regret of
white and colored in every part of the
5
State, as all desired the building to re¬
main as a monument to the greatest
mechanic that ever lived in the United
States. Singular to say, too, the first
draft of all of his buildings, or what¬
ever he was about to construct, was
made with a stick on some level plat of
ground and from there transferred to
paper. I do not believe that Bill Fisher,
though a native African by birth, had
his superior in mechanical genius upon
the face of the globe.
We will next notice a few mechanics
known as blacksmiths.
William Benefield, of Augusta, Ga.,
for many years was a carriage and
l>uggy blacksmith, who made every
iron, screw and nut connected with
them, with taste, neatness and beauty,
which were universally admired.
Madison Davis, of Athens, Ga., was
another carriage blacksmith whose work
was sought for in every direction.
Charles L. Bradwell, for many years
before the late war, was at the head of a
large carriage manufactory in Savannah,
Ga., and was regarded as having no equal
in his line of business.
Friday Jackson, of Abbeville, S. C.,
also the " boss " blacksmith of the great
establishment of Thomas Jackson, who
built carriages and buggies for the rich
men far and near.
Alexander Simington, Professor of
blacksmithing at Clarke University, At¬
lanta, Ga., is regarded as the peer of
any man in his profession, and the same
might be said of W. P. Sloan of the same
city.
William Drakeford, now dead, was
another blacksmith, who could turn his
hand to almost any kind of work in iron.
Numbers of others might be mentioned
who are master blacksmiths, some of
whom trained white men, after they had
served out their apprenticeship and were
regarded as competent workmen.
We will next notice a few of a long list
of master brick masons, who would have
been a credit to any race or any country.
Peter McLain of Augusta, Ga., now
eighty odd years of age, Isaac Petite,
and Alexander Rattan, of Washington,
Ga., Samuel Haines of Columbia, S. C.,
and George Black, of Newberry, S. C.,
were masters of their trade and could do
the finest work possible for men to per¬
form, not merely in laying brick, but in
plastering and ornamenting in the most
creditable manner.
In rock masonry, the black man has
equally excelled. Anthony Murphy, of
South Carolina, commonly known as
Tony Murph, could chisel, shape, and
polish any kind of stone in the most pic¬
turesque manner, and spent his life at
that occupation.
Samuel Hudson, of Columbus, Ga.,
whose father was a native African, could
cut stone and marble with such delicacy
and polish, that his materialized concep¬
tions were sought to ornament the
mantelpieces, and parlor tables of the
most wealthy families in that city, be¬
fore and since the war.
Jacob McKinley, of Atlanta, Ga., is
not only a first-class stone mason, but
contracts with the city and other persons
on a large scale, and invariably gives
satisfaction.
Anthony Weston, of Charleston, S. C.,
was the chief millwright for a hundred
miles around that city, being able to
construct any kind of mill and manu¬
facture every part of its machinery.
Anthony Greer, of Anderson, S. C.,
was equally as proficient at the same
business. These celebrated millwrights
are both dead, but many of the large
mills they erected are still running, and
will be for years to come.
Jabez Story, wagon builder of South
Carolina, Nicholas Wright, cotton-gin
manufacturer, John St. Clair, wheel¬
wright were all master mechanics in
their respective businesses.
Among the tailors who are masters in
their profession let us mention but a few
names compared to the galaxy we might
present.
Samuel Weston, who for.a generation
before the war, run the largest tailoring
establishment of any man in Charleston,
S. C., also David Pickett, James Bare-
field and Burrell Raiue, of Columbia,
S. C.
James Porter, of Savannah, Ga., stood
alone in his profession among a host of
would-be-competitors in that city.
James Dunn, of Abbeville, S. C., long
before the late war, was complimented
by the public press, and represented as
being so perfect in his profession, that
he could fit a man by the glance of his
eye.
Uiysees Ridley, of Augusta, Ga., Wil¬
liam Finch, of Atlanta, and Jefferson F.
Long, of Macon, are now regarded as
masters of their occupation.
James Waddleton, of Columbia, S. C.,
6
and William Pollard, of Macon, Ga.,
were for many years recognized as first-
class jewelers and watchmakers, and
were patronized by the rich and poor.
S. J. Hatcher, of Selma, Ala., now holds
a similar rank among the first-class
watchmakers and jewelers.
Among the engineers let us mention
Phillip Green, of Augusta, Ga., William
Collins, of Columbia, S. C., Cornelius
King, of Little Rock, Ark., as masters of
their occupation, and many others could
be named, who have been trusted with
life and property.
Frederick Turner of Atlanta, Ga.,
black as ebony, is not only a first-class
engineer, having passed all the examina¬
tions the State and county require, but
in addition has invented what he enti¬
tles an Air-Traction Engine. While he
says he wants more time and money to
put his new invention into perfect oper¬
ation, it has already attracted the atten¬
tion of some of the most skilled machin¬
ists, who are trying to find out the se¬
cret of its motor force. If some of the
rich and enterprising men of the coun¬
try would support Mr. Turner finan¬
cially to put his new invention upon the
market, it would revolutionize the loco¬
motion of the world, and enrich the man
or men who assisted him, while the
name of Frederick Turner would go
down to coming ages as a benefactor of
mankind.
As for shoe and bootmakers, and
painters, they are literally innumerable.
One of the finest organ manufacturers
is found on Bermuda Island. His in¬
struments rank among the best in the
country, because of the sensitiveness of
their touch.
Carrie Steel Logan, of Atlanta, Geor¬
gia, grateful for mercies conferred, asked
God what he would have her do; she
was shown an orphan asylum in a dream,
and that Heaven desired her to con¬
struct and run the same. She imme¬
diately dropped every thing else and went
to work, and without a dollar to com¬
mence with. There stands the stately
brick edifice with a number of adjacent
houses, and nearly a hundred colored
orphans being fed, clothed, educated
and trained for usefulness. She is one
of the best and most successful women
in the nation. She needs more money
and space for her Heaven-commissioned
work, and God will send her help.
As for first-class dressmakers among
colored ladies, we have only to mention
the names of Mrs. Hester Glover of Bos¬
ton, Mass., Mrs. Theresa Cooper of New
York, Mrs. Jennie Dorsey and Mrs.
Fannie Amos of Philadelphia, Mrs. Belle
Warley of Louisville, Ky-, and a hundred
others found in various parts of the
country.
While I have mentioned only a few
names, who are or were well known to
me, I think I have presented sufficient
evidence, by the witnesses I have placed
upon the stand, to prove that the Afri¬
can races have the ability to make first-
class and master mechanics.
We now come to the second proposi¬
tion, which is: the African as a trades¬
man. In other words, as I understand
it, has the African the ability to keep
stores, realize a profit, engage in com¬
merce and do business in keeping with
the methods of civilization ? My answer
is that he has.
I shall assume, however, that owing
to the fact that Africa has been cut off
from contact with other portions of the
globe for a period that virtually runs
back into undated antiquity, and is:
therefore recognized as a heathen conti¬
nent, especially the equatorial Africans,
that their mathematical and reasoning
powers have not been developed to the
extent that the powers of the Europeans
have. Nor have circumstances contri¬
buted to this development in the same
ratio. The temperate and frigid zones,
where life requires more plans and a.
greater struggle for existence, tend to
develop business relations to a degree
that the tropical climate does not; for
the reason that the lavish provisions of
nature do not demand it.
The same amount of clothing is not
necessary, and the study of the texture
and fabrics of the vegetable kingdom,
not being an indispensable necessity, is
neglected ; and that neglect allows those
analytical powers of the mind to lie
dormant, which, if cultivated, would im¬
part a higher cast to the intellects of the
inhabitants, and thus tend to a higher
development of business relations.
On the other hand, the warmer
climates being so productive of eatables
the year round, consisting of fruits, acids,
animals, fish, fowls, and everything to
satisfy hunger, but little skill is com¬
paratively necessary to human exist¬
ence, beyond what involves the tact of
gathering or catching what nature has
already provided. Thus the necessities
which have stirred the thought, genius,
mechanical and commercial skill of the
white race, who have occupied colder
portions of the globe for dateless ages,
as they struggled with radical changes*
of climate and with snowr, frost, ice,
blizzards and other contrary elements,
have not operated with the same effect
upon the African, and called for the same
meditation, concentrated thought, plans
and schemes, which have done so much
to advance the Caucasian races. More¬
over, assuming as I do, that the present
black race is the junior race of the
world, and that the cooling process of
the globe will bring about the same
necessities for life's struggle which the
white race has already encountered, puts
the commercial grandeur of the Negro
in the future. But, that he now pos¬
sesses all the intellectual germs requisite
to these high business relations, is evi¬
dent in the fact that he is a man, an in¬
tellectual and moral being with all the
wants incident to humanity, and that
he will at some future day measure
arms with the most advanced races in
commerce and business relations, which
includes buying, selling, shipping, bank¬
ing, exchanging, bartering, economizing,
saving, profit and loss, and all commer¬
cial intercourse, needs 110 argument.
But that the American negro will
never excel in commerce with his pres¬
ent surroundings I verily believe, for the
reason that here he is overshadowed by
the white man, who has the business ex¬
perience of ages and the cunning and
tact, which greed and high culture com¬
bined invariably project. Weakness is
meanness, and savors of jealousy aud
treachery, as is manifest in the petty
jealousies and treachery which exist
among the Irish of the present day, and
has existed in all ages, where a few weak
people are looking up to a dominant
race.
There are eight or ten million of col¬
ored people in this country who are vir¬
tually deprived of their legal rights and
are proscribed, cold-shouldered and de¬
spised to such an extent that in the
main they despise themselves. There¬
fore they have comparatively no confi¬
dence in each other, because there is no
power vested in each other. Thus
meanness, treachery and jealousy stalk
abroad among the negro race and will,
1 fear, for an indefinite time to come.
Such a condition of things will militate
against the black man being a great mer¬
cantile factor, and this is why I have no
faith in the future of the black man in
this country and favor a gradual exodus
to Africa from whence he came; and at
the same time I believe that this nation
is duty bound, by every consideration in
the sight of Heaven and earth, to aid
him with a hundred million of dollars or
more for the purpose of establishing a
national nucleus on the continent of
Africa, where he can work out his own
salvation, and develop the germs of com¬
merce and business which now lie dor¬
mant in him. For he can never receive
the patronage as a tradesman in this
country where he is ignored by the
whites and shunned largely l>y the
blacks in consequence of jealousy and
the perfidy that grows out of weakness.
However, I am happy to say that in
the face of all these odds, the black man
has given evidence of his ability to be a
tradesmau.
Stephen Smith, of Philadelphia, for
years a coal merchant, began business
with sir>, and died being worth >,uuo.
lleuben Robinson, of South Carolina,
long before the late war, commenced
farming w ith sloium and died the owner
of two hundred and thirty slaves, though
he and his slaves were of the same color
and of the same race. lie also owned
two large merchant mills and seven
thousand acres of land, the real value of
which would have likely amounted to
nearly half a million dollars.
James Tate, of Atlanta, (!a., who has
been keeping a dry goods and grocery
store for many years, lia* acquired a
standing in commercial circles that re¬
flects credit upon the race.
John T. Scliell, a large and prosperous
shoe merchant in the same city, who
handles twenty thousand dollars a year
in business transactions, and who started
twelve or fifteen years ago upon five dol¬
lars, has displayed a busine>s capacity,
that any man might be proud of.
And thus we might speak of F. H.
Crumbly, Charles McHenry, I. P. Moyer
and a number of others iu my own city
with hundreds of others in Baltimore,
Philadelphia, Charleston, Savannah,
Nashville, New Orleans, (Jalveston, and
other places where the colored merchants
are found owning large stores and doing
a lucrative business.
Mr. Jackson, of Bermuda Island,
owns a large three-story, stone-built,
dry goods store, far excelling any white
merchant on the Island—having coun¬
ters and salesmen behind them in each
story, doing a business of about a hun¬
dred thousand dollars a year.
On the Island of St. Thomas, Barba¬
dos and in Demerara, 8. A., you find
colored merchants by scores, dealing in
dry goods, hardware, salt, acting a3
druggists and trading in everything
known to civilized business. Black Af¬
rican merchants found at Bathurst,
Sierra Leone, Liberia, Accra, Lagos and
elsewhere in Africa, keep a large num¬
ber of English, French, German and
Spanish ships employed all the year
round. I have seen along the coast of
Africa a ship unload twenty-five thou¬
sand dollars worth of merchandise on
the wharf for the use of one black Afri¬
can merchant.
General R. A. Sherman, of Monrovia,
Liberia, Africa, can write a few words
on a piece of white paper, and drop it in
the postollice, and for that bit of paper a
ship will return from Liverpool or Lon¬
don with twenty thousand dollars worth
of goods, without a word being said as
to when and how he is to pay for them.
And so we might speak of Henry Cooper
and Mr. Williams, and others of the
same place. Also of J. H. Part, Henry
Ambler, of Lagos, and Frank Semirk, of
Gie Apantoo.
But in conclusion, as I fear this paper
is already too long, I have only to say
that the Africans and their descendants
have all the intellectual and moral gen¬
ius that any other portion of the human
family can lay claim to, both in the field
of mechanism, letters and mathematics.
Whatever he does not know, lie can
learn as rapidly and as perfectly, if you
will give him a half chance, as any of
the most honored divisions of mankind.
In addition to his aptitude to acquire
knowledge in general, he is instinctively
or by special endowment the greatest
linguist on earth. Africans who can
speak from twenty to thirty languages
along the African coast, are no rarity,
and possess the most retentive memory
known among nations of the world.
His oratory, when brought under cul¬
ture, in many instances is literally as¬
tounding. Dr. Edward Everett Hale, of
Boston, Mass., says that he is about to
furnish the world with the fifth part of
music. The black man is therefore an
indispensable necessity to the growth,
progress and civilization of the world.
Without him, mankind would be incom¬
plete, nature would have a vacuum, and
the world would be unfinished. With¬
out the black man Christianity itself
would lack an equipoise. For, while the
white man gives it system, logic and ab¬
stractions, the black man is necessary to
impart feeling, sanctified emotion, heart¬
throbs and ecstasy. Thus God and na¬
ture need the black man, for without
him there would be an aching void in
earth and heaven. The universe would
be in want of a balauce wheel, and the
God of eternity would again have to
light the forges of creation and perform
another day's work before the morning
stars would sing together and the sons
of God shout for joy.