He was born in 1874 in Shelby, North Carolina as the son of a former slave. He become self-sufficient at the early age of 7 by working as a water boy for the railroad. He made his way to the State of Oklahoma in the early 1900’s, where he settled in as a share cropper outside the town of Earlsboro.
He was a very successful farmer, and after many years of saving his earnings from farming, he had the opportunity to purchase the land on which he was leasing. A few years later, oil was discovered on the land.
Oil Well, Earlsboro, Oklahoma
He was an astute businessman and owned the mineral rights to his new land purchase. He used the money that he earned from his oil and gas royalties to purchase additional mineral rights and eventually owned more than 6600 acres of land by the time of his death.
He built a school for the black and native children because they could not go to school with the white children. He owned a Ford dealership, a cotton gin, a grist mill, and several buildings. It was rumored that he was also financing a moonshine operation.
Farmers State Bank, Boley, Oklahoma
After the bank in the all-black town of Boley, Oklahoma was shut down due to a failed robbery attempt in 1932 by Pretty Boy Floyd’s gang, he bought the bank and paid off all of the depositors. Ebony Magazine listed him as one of top 10 black millionaires in the United States in April 1949.
Ebony Magazine, April 1949