Some Outstanding Negroes
There have been quite a number who have
been prominent in llie field of politics, busi¬
ness and education. Mr. Lawrence, in the
accompanying article, tells of some of their
accomplishments.
ТИК
recent naming of a Liberty
Ship for James Merritt, a North
Carolina Negro, serves to call to
mind the fact that our State has pro¬
duced quite a nuint>er of persons of
color who have risen to prominence
in different walks of life. Merritt is
the only person of his race to have
a ship named for him. lie was the
founder of the Negro life insurance
company at Durham which, under the
presidency of its present head,
С.
C.
Spaulding, has grown to lie the largest
Negro insurance company in the
world. Spaulding, who is a business
genius, was a protege of James B.
Duke, and it was under the tutelage
of this Master Builder that Spaulding
was enabled to take over the company.
But while Duke could furnish the
funds it was Spaulding who had to
furnish the brawn and brain to enable
this company to nttain the eminence
which it today enjoys.
Spaulding is a man of wealth, but
he is a modest and retiring man and
lie enjoys the confidence and the
esteem of the people of both races.
Some years ago he purchased a
Lincoln automobile, which cost real
money. When the car was delivered
by the salesman, Spaulding turned to
his stenographer ami told her to pay
the gentleman for the car. “On what
bank shall I draw the check, Mr,
Spaulding?" inquired the stenogra¬
pher. “It does not matter” replied
the Negro financial magnate, which
is some going for a person of either
race in the land of the long leaf pine!
Congressman White
United States Senator Furnifold
M. Simmons first rose to prominence
on account of his success in defeat¬
ing the Negro, George White, for re-
election as a member of Congress.
White was the ino-l distinguished
lawyer his race has produced in our
State, and before his election to Con¬
gress he served with ability as
Solicitor of the New Bern district.
He was obnoxious to the white people
on account of his extreme views on
the question of racial equality, but he
was able to serve several terms in
By
К.
C. LAWRENCE
Congress because his district bad a
large majority of Negro voters, and
there was a sigh of relief over the
State when he was finally defeated.
It was the recollection of his services
in redeeming his district which
brought to Simmons his election to
the Senate in later years.
The retirement of White from Con¬
gress left his race unrepresented in
the Halls of Congress until a Chicago
district elected the Negro DePriest,
who will be remembered for his in¬
sistence upon the right to entertain
guests of his race in the House restau¬
rant — n controversy which was finally
settled by Carolina's Congressman
Lindsay Warren, now Comptroller
General, but then a member of the
House and chairman of the Restau¬
rant Committee. Warren's committee
ruled that while of course DePriest
hud a perfect right to take his own
meals in the official restaurant, this
right did not extend to the entertain¬
ment of his friends there.
Carolina Indians have produced
some quite different characters from
the famous hut notorious llenrv Berry
Lowrie, the Civil War outlaw. Hiram
R. Revels was a Carolina bom per¬
son of mixed Indian and Negro blood,
but his mental ability was such that
lie attracted the attention of a North¬
ern missionary, who caused him to be
educated for the ministry at a Negro
I'niversitv in Ohio. Immediately fol¬
lowing the Civil War, Revels became
the pastor of the Negro Methodist
church at Natchez, Mississippi, and
while filling this pastorate he was
elected as Secretary of State by the
legislature which contained a large
majority of Negroes because most of
the whiles were disfranchised for their
Civil War activities. While serving
in this capacity Revels was elected
to the United States Senate by a
Negro legislature, and lie was the first
person to fill the seat vacated by Jef¬
ferson Davis, who had resigned that
high office to accept election as Pres¬
ident of the Confederacy. Revels
served one term in the Senate and was
thereafter elected as President of
Alcorn University. He was succeeded
in the Senate by Nathan K. Bruce,
a full blooded Negro, and these are
the only two persons of color who
have occupied seats in the Senate.
Two Other Congressmen
Quite a different type from George
H. White was the Carolina Negro.
Henry P. Cheatham, who preceded
White in Congress. Cheatham was a
man of outstanding ability, and as lie
took quite a different position from
that of White on the race issue, he
was uniformly popular with both
races. Before his election to Congress,
Cheatham served as register of deeds
of his county and was in both branches
of the legislature. After his office-
holding days were over, he settled at
Oxford where he founded ail orphan¬
age which is still in existence; the
first Negro orphanage in our State.
Our State never had a liner citizen
than Henry P. Cheatham.
The third and remaining memlier
<>f his race to serve in Congress was
James E. O’Hara, of the Halifax dis¬
trict. There have been so many Ne¬
groes who have served in tin* General
Assembly that it would be tedious to
undertake to list them, and they did
not finally disappear from the legisla¬
tive halls until the race was practically
disfranchised tinder the leadership of
Governor Aycock at the turn of the
century. While Governor Hoey was
in office, a Negro walked into his
office one day and asked the Governor
if he recognized him. “Why certain¬
ly, Senator Fuller. The last time 1
saw you. you were Senator from
Warren County and I was serving
in the House as a Representative from
Cleveland," replied the Governor.
Fuller was a full-blooded Negro, a
man of ability and an excellent citizen.
Another Negro of decided ability
was James II. Harris, who served
in both branches of the legislature
from the metropolitan county of
Wake. President Roosevelt recently
( Continued on page twenty-three)
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