Free (Business) People of Color

Antebellum Black Business Owners in New Orleans and Charleston

By Ramon Vasconcellos

A   through the streets of New Orleans in July , looking for any Black whom they deemed eli- gible for retribution in the deaths of four white police ocers, they came upon “e omy Lafon School.” Considered the best school for “Negroes” in Louisiana at the time, the mob, out of disdain for anything representing progress for “col- ored citizens,” let alone named aer any distinguished Black (Lafon), set re to the institution. e building had been erected just two years prior and was named in honor of one of the city’s most prominent Blacks, omy Lafon, a businessman and philanthropist during the Antebellum and postwar eras. Furthermore, Lafon donated a substantial portion of his wealth for civic improvements before and aer his death in  and is believed to be the United States’ rst Black millionaire. Similar philanthropic endeavors were engaged in by the “Brown Fellowship Society” throughout South Carolina, a group composed of free African American males for the purpose of assisting orphans

Broad Street in Charleston, South Carolina, showing St. Michael’s Church, 1861. The Antebellum period witnessed substantial business ownership by “Free People of Color”— or FPCs—in Charleston. Library of Congress

22 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Fall 2020 | www.MoAF.org and widows, and establishing school manumission that encouraged freedom Some even held more atypical posi- endowments. Founded in   in Charles- for mistresses and children. tions. Santiago Derom, a doctor, acquired ton, its membership consisted solely of Spanish custom, though dissimilar his talent for medicine from his master, mulattos representing the elite of the city’s in some respects, mostly adhered to the also a doctor, through coartacion in  . free African American population. Voic- French model. Aer the acquisition of the Considered a “distinguished” member of ing the importance of the organization’s Louisiana colony in   as a concession the city “with a large practice among purpose and supporting its stipulation of the Seven Year’s War, Spanish colonial the races,” Derom healed throat ailments. that members were selected according to administration permitted continued man- Records indicate that under the Louisi- their biracial ancestry, an aliate stated in umissions and accepted the social conven- ana Purchase in , he became the rst  , “[such organizations] add bone and tion for property distribution between the licensed African American physician in sinew to our strength as a people.” races. e Spanish also employed the prac- the United States. Many of Brown’s associates consisted tice of “coartacion” (self purchase) contin- e American era, which commenced of skilled professionals and, like Lafon of gent upon a master’s consent. Any savings with President omas Jeerson’s Loui- New Orleans, businessmen of substantial accrued from labor outside of a slave’s siana Purchase, would gradually adopt a wealth who, unlike most African Ameri- regular duties might be used to purchase new, less inclusive attitude toward New cans at the time, represented an elite sub- his or her freedom sometime in the future. Orleans’ FPCs. At the same time, global class of citizens within the free Black com- Under Spain, free Blacks began to political events like the successful slave munity. Moreover, the Society continued realize a signicant degree of economic revolt on the island of St. Domingue serving the needs of the Black community autonomy. As historian Laura Foner con- (Haiti) in  and the Cuban immigra- aer  and well into the th century. cluded, during the Spanish period, free tion of  increased the population of Lafon and the Brown Fellowship shared a Blacks “were guaranteed equal property New Orleans signicantly. Both migra- unique cultural pedigree common amongst rights and full rights to make contracts tions consisted of large numbers of whites Blacks in several cities and regions through- and engage in all business transactions.” and free Blacks, in the case of the latter, out the South: their mixed ancestry and eco- Prejudice would eclipse economics to the number of free Blacks increased from nomic stature. Most descended from either some degree, however, as free people were , in  to , by . a mixed-race background or from the union relegated to occupations in the personal For the most part, Americans govern- of a white father and a slave or free mother. service trades only: barbers, tailors and ing their newly acquired territory found Depending upon state laws and proscrip- seamstresses, for example. Although a few the liberalized attitudes toward race by tions, Louisiana being the most progres- could distinguish themselves as “white their Spanish and French predecessors sive, the biracial ospring could be freed collar” type entrepreneurs before and disconcerting. e recent inux of Carib- (manumitted) and sometimes received an aer the Civil War, nancial services and bean migrants only stiened the resolve education, inherited property (inclusive the legal professions were the exclusive of local politicians hoping to limit the of slaves) and learned occupational trades domain of white males. presence of Blacks. As a result, the state essential to local economies. Many residing With slaves occupying the lowest eco- legislature passed a resolution in  in cities along the south Atlantic and Gulf nomic tier under colonial (and American) prohibiting the entrance of free Blacks coasts established small businesses despite administrations and whites controlling from other states nor could they possess systemic prejudice against their color. Con- the professions, FPCs had no choice but rearms without legal permission. At its sequently, the Antebellum period witnessed to exploit and develop niche markets for worst, free Blacks could not even insult or substantial business ownership by “Free their survival. Consequently, these “gens strike a white citizen without fear of legal People of Color”—or FPCs—in Charleston de coluer libre” (free people of color) reprisal. and New Orleans. found themselves occupying a necessary ough despite newly created laws pro- New Orleans’ free Black business com- economic middle ground between white hibiting certain freedoms and curbs on munity took root in the early th cen- society and slaves; however, regardless of their migrations, the FPC population of tury. French settlers, predominately male, their indispensability, they could never be Louisiana continued its ascendancy, par- engaged in liaisons with Native American socially equal with whites. ticularly in New Orleans. e US census and Black women, the latter of whom were Census data from Spanish Louisiana of  recorded  ,  FPCs in Louisiana, slaves. Such interactions were quite com- in   purports that New Orleans’ FPCs , of which resided in New Orleans. mon, with any resulting children taking held positions as cabinet makers, tailors, By  , ,  lived in the state and  on the status of the mother, either slave seamstresses, launderers and retailers. were New Orleans residents. Nevertheless, or free. Yet, in accordance with French One observer noted during a visit to the their numbers generally represented no custom, many fathers recognized their o- city in the rst decade of the th cen- more than  of the Southern Black pop- spring and, as records substantiate, freed tury that “[FPCs] are busied some in the ulation in part due to state prohibitions them at birth. As a result, by mid-century, mechanical arts for which they have great across the South that, during the s, bequests of personal property, education aptitude.” He further recognized the pres- restricted owners from freeing their slaves. and land were inherited by a burgeoning ence of those engaged in the “retail trade” In the wake of the ill-fated Nat Turner mulatto class. e colonial government as and the signicant number of grocers rebellion in Southampton County, Vir- well adopted a very liberal attitude toward throughout the city. ginia, in , many Southern states passed

www.MoAF.org | Fall 2020 | FINANCIAL HISTORY 23 laws (though oen not enforced) further Nineteenth century Louisiana historian (no relation to McCarthy), a female with regulating the lives of slaves and free Charles Gayarre observed how they “unlimited credit,” is said to have had Blacks. Consequently, Louisiana legisla- “shaped the dresses of the elegantes of the an export and, at times, a discounting tures followed suit either proposing or white race.” Gayarre estimated that many business. When she died in  , her adopting legislation restricting the liveli- of these designers garnered prot margins commission business had been appraised hood of FPCs. By  , FPCs could not as high as two-thirds of sales because they, at  ,, a considerable sum for any own establishments that might sell liquor like many whites, owned slaves. He said female (or male) entrepreneur at the time. such as coee houses, billiard halls or the slave women employed by these dress- e aforementioned businessman and retail establishments. As for slaves, with makers were, “A source of revenue to their philanthropist, omy Lafon, had a com- manumission restrictions becoming more mistresses.” mission business too during the  s, prevalent, particularly on the eve of the Small markets, grocery stores and vend- proceeds of which helped propel him into Civil War, the transition from bondsper- ing operations were oen owned by free owing a seat on the city’s stock exchange. son to free became less probable. women. An  city directory listed Caro- Upon his death in , Lafon had an esti- Yet, regardless of their tenuous social line Duminy, Elizabeth Fay (or Foy) and mated net worth of  ,; even more position, the free Blacks of New Orleans A.C. Pellebon as grocers; Jane Williams so than Macarty, a substantial estate for prospered. A vibrant, urban community of operated a confectionary. In the early any business owner, North or South, of white male businessmen oen sought the s, Rose Nicaud is said to have made any race. latest in European fashion, and free Black coee that served “like the benediction Regardless of wealth accumulation, tailors would service their needs almost that follows aer a prayer” from her stand however, societal prejudice could impede exclusively. One contemporary noted that located just outside of the city’s famous how FPCs invested savings acquired from FPC “tailors...they were almost exclusively extant building, St. Louis Cathedral. their businesses. For example, the Citizens patronized by the elite” and from their As mentioned, nancial services in New Bank of Louisiana amended its charter expertise “acquired individually fortunes Orleans were both owned and staed in  limiting ownership of its capital of several thousands of dollars.” by whites. Commission merchants, those stock to whites. Requiring that “no person Etienne Cordeviolle and Francois who held title and marketed commodi- who is not a free white citizen…shall be LaCroix, both tailors, established a retail ties like sugar and cotton, and exchange directly or indirectly owner of any part clothier business in  . By  , they had brokers that bought durable goods for of the Capital stock of said company” become, as advertised in a city directory resale, were operated by whites as well. resulted in the forfeiture of shares owned at the time, purveyors of “French cloth, Nevertheless, the historical record evi- by free Blacks. fancy cashmere...and clothing made in dences several FPCs, including women, Francois Boisdore and Jean Goule, a Paris.” In fact, according to one th cen- scratched the glass ceiling in nancial local building contractor and tin smith, tury historian, American tailors admired services and participated in merchant respectively, having a total of  , Cordeviolle’s work so much so they some- exchange businesses. invested, sued. A lower court and the state times copied his designs. e partners also Given the plethora of bank notes in cir- supreme court ruled in favor of the plain- invested in commercial real estate starting culation prior to the Civil War, merchants tis. e Louisiana Supreme Court found in the s; by the  s, they owned and other non-bank small businesses that the bank’s board of directors had no complete city blocks. sometimes engaged in the “discounting” sucient ground to amend their charter Another tailoring partnership in com- of these notes prior to their redemption. and that by using collateral pledged by the petition with Cordeviolle and LaCroix— e discounting agent would oer the plaintis, then removing them, violated Julian Clovis and Joseph Dumas—oper- note holder a percentage of the value the plainti’s rights. As time progressed, ated both in New Orleans and Paris. ey, based on interest rates at the time and risk New Orleans’ free Black community too, are said to have acquired signicant of non-repayment of the note in specie would not just have their economic liveli- holdings of commercial real estate. Broth- (gold or silver coin). According to R.G. hood disrupted, but the right to remain ers Phillipe Aime and Erasme Legoaster Dun Mercantile Credit Reports, Louisiana, within the state, regardless of nancial would follow a similar path purchasing from  , brothers Bernard and Albin status, eventually came into question. large estates from the proceeds of their Soulie (FPCs), engaged in money broker- Most of the rst Blacks to arrive at tailoring establishment; Phillipe became age services “doing a large” discount busi- Charleston, South Carolina, came as the wealthiest FPC in the city by   with ness. e report added that both served indentured servants during the late  th taxable property of  ,. Revenues as “private bankers...estimated worth and early th centuries. Upon termina- from “D. Mercier & Sons Emporium of between (k) to (k)” and had a tion of their contracts, they became free; Fashion and Fair Dealings” allowed the credit rating that was “st rate.” West Indian freed Blacks from Barbados proprietor, Dominique Mercier, to even- Drosin Barthelemy McCarthy, related (a source of Charleston’s white popula- tually become a plantation owner. His by marriage to the Soulies, operated a dry tion too) also supplemented a growing sons, too, due to the net income of the goods business and functioned as a com- community of settlers. At the time, lib- Emporium, enhanced their wealth as suc- mission broker in  . Six years later, eralized attitudes in the colony regarding cessful realtors in the city by the end of the he retired from selling dry goods, and by intermarriage allowed for biracial unions, th century.   had a desk with “B & A Soulie” as a oen resulting in children. Furthermore, Free women of color also proved nota- broker; by that time the Soulie brothers the sentiment toward emancipation, ble to New Orleans’ fashion industry. were commission brokers. Cecee Macarty prevalent throughout the states aer the

24 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Fall 2020 | www.MoAF.org Library of Congress Illustration of the port of New Orleans, circa 1842. Many free Blacks in New Orleans, regardless of their tenuous social position, prospered in the mid-19th century.

Revolution, motivated many South Caro- trust acting as the beneciary. e ben- Emancipation of Slaves” in  . Although lina slaveholders to free their slaves. As to eciaries could then exercise emancipa- passed, “evasions” occurred and trust- their numbers,  free people resided in tion rights whenever they chose. William eeship was not eectively curtailed; in Charleston according to the   census, Ellison, a free mulatto and cotton gin practice, Blacks continued holding one which represented  of its population. manufacturer with family in Charleston, another in trust until  . ough only  of Charleston’s demo- “purchased” his daughter Maria in this Business ownership and working occu- graphic by , their increasing numbers manner in . Aer technically purchas- pations of FPCs closely mirrored that of and the incessant migration of more freed ing her, he immediately vested her owner- their counterparts in New Orleans. Brick Blacks to the city, because of restrictions ship in trust by “selling” her for “one cent” masons, blacksmiths, butchers, carpenters placed on the liberties of freed people in to Col. McCreight. e trust stipulated and barbers were, like in New Orleans, other states, alarmed some whites. Gover- that though owned by McCreight, he was personal service trades avoided by many nor Geddes felt that continued immigra- to allow her to reside with the Ellison fam- whites. Females performed domestic tion could lead to a “disturbance in our ily. Under the trust, William Ellison could services; skilled women worked in the domestic tranquility.” As a result, in  , emancipate at any time; upon his death, needlecra trades. Some, like William the state legislature passed a law prohibit- the agreement required that McCreight Ellison, though not a citizen of Charles- ing immigration and outlawing manumis- “secure her emancipation as soon as pos- ton, manufactured cotton gins and sold sion. ose slaveholders still wishing to sible here or in another state.” them throughout the state and as far as free their slaves would have to adopt more Free Blacks seeking to directly confront Mississippi. sophisticated, legally intricate estate plan- the   law without resorting to mea- Before purchasing himself at , Ellison ning devices in hopes of circumventing sures taken by Ellison and others oen apprenticed as a cotton gin manufac- the   law. met with disappointment in the courts. turer. Once freed, he purchased land and One universal approach adopted by Still, South Carolina, in hopes of clos- slaves for the purposes of manufacturing many owners involved the establishment ing the freedom loopholes inherent with and retailing gins. Records from   of a “trusteeship” with the creator of the trusteeship, passed “An Act to Prevent the support that he sold  gins with his

www.MoAF.org | Fall 2020 | FINANCIAL HISTORY 25 Library of Congress Depiction of Turner’s Rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, 1831. In the wake of that event, many Southern states passed laws regulating the lives of both slaves and free Blacks. By 1859, free people of color could not own establishments that sold liquor, such as coffee houses, billiard halls or retail establishments.

blacksmith enterprise realizing ,  in only practiced carpentry, but also man- and good management. e “Antique and sales. No information is available regard- ufactured harnesses; the Ingliss’ would Mixed” architecture of Jehu Jones’ “Jones ing his competitors of either race, but his supply a family of barbers to Charleston; Hotel,” coupled with its convex windows, personal and realty holdings identied in the Ellisons of Stateburg, South Caro- is said to have been situated on prime real   indicate he was one of the wealthiest lina, were cotton gin manufactures up to estate being located (also) on Broad Street FPCs in South Carolina. the Civil War. Richard and Joseph Der- next to the famous extant St. Michael’s Richard Holloway of Charleston, in eef, wood merchants and factors (lend- Church. Established in the early th cen- addition to his carpentry business, had a ers), with Richard considered one of the tury, the hotel, like Lee’s, attracted the rather unique sideline; he trained slaves wealthiest FPCs in Charleston, were con- elite given it “was unquestionably the best in his cra for their master’s benet, and sidered “men of great business habits” and in the city.” Visitors could expect to nd one even stayed with him for four years highly inuential. “the comforts of a private house” along beginning in  . Free Black crasmen Free Charlestonians serviced the hospi- with a “table spread with every luxury the also trained their families, thereby allow- tality industry, too. Eliza Lee, owner of the country could aord.” ing their businesses to exist as “going Mansion Hotel located on Broad Street, e concept of insurance and how risk concerns,” which could sustain future hosted the elite of the city. Apparently, management associations would serve generations. Holloway and his family not it had a reputation for superb cooking the needs of African Americans into the

26 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Fall 2020 | www.MoAF.org th century was, in part, practiced by or Exploitative” has somewhat refuted the American economy. ese principles e Brown Fellowship Society. Fraternal Woodson’s thesis. are indispensable to the success of all organizations established in the early th For instance, William Ellison (South people, regardless of skin color. century composed of white employees like Carolina) is rumored to have treated at remen, brick masons and other skilled least some of his  slaves harshly, and laborers were precursors to modern day records indicate he freed none. Sarah Ramon Vasconcellos is a history professor life insurance companies regarding the Johnson, a Charleston seamstress, adver- and lecturer in Accounting and Econom- benets of membership. Similarly, the tised for the return of her runaway slave ics at Barstow Community College in Browns would pay beneciaries annuity in . Apparently, even less arduous Barstow, CA. He has published numer- stipends and absorb the burial costs of its tasks were not enough to keep slaves ous biographical and topical articles members; in essence, acting as de facto from desiring their freedom. October  on the history of the West, particularly insurers. editions of the New Orleans Daily Pica- related to nance. Ramon has also taught Under its motto of “Charity and Benev- yune and Daily Crescent described how a Economics and History at the University olence,” members could claim sickness “recently freed” slave named Kate Parker of London. benets of .  per week, have a “horse, had been charged for “nearly beating her hearse and [pallbearers] for a cost of four slave to death with a cowhide.” Sources dollars,” and would make relief payments Andrew Durnford, a sugarcane planter to indigent Black non-members. In hopes residing in Plaquemines Parish outside Francis, Hannah J. Investing in Citizenship: of abiding social norms in order to main- of New Orleans, remarked how when Free Men of Color and the Case Against Citi- tain their presence as an integral body to he recaptured his runaway slaved named zen’s Bank. MA esis. University of New Charleston’s freed Blacks without invok- Jackson, he would “x him so the dogs Orleans. . ing the ire of whites, the Browns prohib- would not bark at him.” When Jackson Hair, William Ivy. Carnival of Fury: Robert ited discussions concerning religion or successfully escaped a few months later, Charles and the New Orleans Race Riot politics at its meetings. Durnford, seemingly not very inclined as of . Louisiana State University Press: e Humane Brotherhood, also of to his whereabouts or rationale for escape, Baton Rouge, LA.  . Charleston and organized in  , accepted commented, “He had the audacity to go “free dark men” who were excluded by the away with all the irons I had put on him.” Hanger, Kimberly S. Bounded Lives, Bounded Browns. It, too, acted similarly for its It seems the complexities behind the treat- Places: Free Black Society in Colonial New membership regarding burial and annuity ment of bondspersons, irrespective of the Orleans, –. Duke University Press: type benets. Unlike the Browns, how- owners’ color, may have something to do Durham and London.  . ever, membership consisted of carpenters with the enigmatic, historical inclination Harris, Robert L., Jr. “Charleston’s Free Afro- and tradesmen, not mulatto businessmen of humans toward cruelty. American Elite: e Brown Fellowship Soci- operating large-scale enterprises. Several years aer the race riot which ety and e Humane Brotherhood.” e Alluded to earlier, like many whites, engulfed New Orleans in July of , South Carolina Historical Magazine. Vol.  , some FPCs also owned slaves. e dichot- benefactors rebuilt the omy Lafon No. . October . omy of Blacks, whether mixed blood, School at a dierent location; the last of mulatto or of direct African ancestry, the Lafon schools would be demolished in Johnson, Michael P. and James L. Roark. Black owning those of their ethnicity has given the wake of Hurricane Katrina. e Brown Masters: A Free Family of Color in the Old rise to the questions of “why” and “how” Fellowship Society survived until  , but South. W.W. Norton and Company.  . they were treated. e “why”—exclud- by that time it had changed its name to Lightner, David L. and Alexander M. Ragan. ing the morality of slavery—is, to some the Century Fellowship Society. Until its “Were African American Slaveholders extent, attributable to the scarcity of “free conclusion, Century continued its phil- Benevolent or Exploitative? A Quantitative labor” available in the American South. anthropic activities toward Charleston’s Approach.” e Journal of Southern History. e fact that personal service trades might African Americans. Vol. LXXI, No. . August  . have required a labor force necessary to Black business leaders in New Orleans the scale of the operation, to some extent sustained their commitment to free enter- “Negro Businessmen in New Orleans.” For- explains the demand for slaves. prise, receiving nationwide recognition tune. November  . Historians examining the “how” have in the mid- th century. Fortune spot- Powers, Bernard E, Jr. Black Charlestonians: A drawn dissimilar conclusions. e late lighted several prominent members of Social History, –. e University of African American historian and co- this exclusive group in a November   Arkansas Press: Fayetteville.  . founder of Black History Month, Dr. article entitled “Negro Businessmen of Walker, Juliet K. e History of Black Business Carter G. Woodson, surmised that Blacks New Orleans.” Noting that all observed in America: Capitalism, Race, Entrepreneur- held one another for the purposes of buy- were large-scale businesses with a pre- ship. Macmillan Library Reference USA, An ing a loved one out of slavery. To some dominately white clientele, the publica- Import of Simon and Schuster Macmillan: extent, this adheres with the practice of tion made several observations for their New York. . trusteeship employed (and discussed) by continued success. According to the several Black families in South Carolina. writer, “education, capital and a sense of Wikramanayake, Marina. A World in Shadow: Recent scholarship examining whether community amongst ‘Negroes’ (Blacks)” e Free Black in Antebellum South Caro- these Black masters were “Benevolent would allow for greater participation in lina. Columbia, SC.  .

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