Robert Orrick owns the largest livery, sale, and feed stable in the city of Winchester, Va. Mr. Orrick was born a slave. He began business for himself in 1859, which was before freedom was granted. This he did by paying to his master a certain amount of money for his time. He married a freeborn woman, and as a slave could not transact any business, all business matters had to be done in his wife's name. The amount named for his time by his owner was $65 per year. His first business venture was hauling baggage and freight, and by degrees his work developed into a regular livery business. He now owns forty horses and some forty-five different kinds of vehicles. His residence and stable join, and are valued at about ten thousand dollars. In the country he has two farms of three hundred acres, valued at one hundred dollars per acre.
MR. N. T. GANT.
Mr. N. T. Gant, of Zanesville, Ohio, is a very interesting man; looks enough like the late Frederick Douglass to pass for his brother. Mr. Gant was born a slave in Virginia. He bought his own and wife's freedom. For his wife he paid fifteen hundred dollars. He moved to Zanesville before the war, and began life as a truck farmer. He made money like magic, and owns several farms now, after giving all of his children good homes. The property now used as "Gant Park" was sold by him for twenty thousand dollars, with the understanding that no intoxicating drinks were to be sold on the ground. His residence in Zanesville was a part of the park. He has one of the best-furnished homes in the State of Ohio. Among the leading business and moneyed men of Zanesville, Mr. Gant is considered one of them.
CASPER TITUS.
Norfolk, Va., can boast of a progressive man in the person of Casper Titus, a thriving florist, in Huntersville, Norfolk, Va.; carries about 3,000 feet of glass; grows plants, flowers, and vegetables; has a good patronage from white as well as colored; is the leading colored florist south of Baltimore; began business with ten lilies and eight geraniums, the few brought to him by his wife. The total number of lilies to-day is 500, with a spring sale of about 5,000 plants of different varieties.
MR. J. STEPHENSON.
Mr. J. Stephenson, watchmaker and jeweler, does a good business in Norfolk, Va., and has a splendid stock of goods. He began first by repairing watches and clocks, until he had built up a trade, and at the same time saved enough money to put in a small stock of goods. His trade is by no means confined to colored people. His success simply shows what can be done when the proper effort is put forth.
MR. W. J. OVERTON.
Mr. Overton, of Clarksville, Tenn., was for years before his death foreman and manager of the Clarksville ice factory. He began work there as a fireman. Mr. Overton had the confidence and respect of the best people in the city. He, by hard work and good management, saved enough money to purchase splendid property.
J. W. PAGE.