REV. A. H. MILLER.
Rev. A. H. Miller, the subject of this brief sketch, was born a slave in St. Francis county, Arkansas, March 12, 1849. He has lived in Arkansas all his life, with the exception of a brief period just after the war, which was spent in St. Louis, Mo. After remaining in St. Louis about one year he returned to Arkansas, worked by the day, and saved enough money to give himself one session in Southland College, near Helena, which constitutes the major portion of his school advantage. He was chosen by the people of his county to represent them in the Arkansas General Assembly, in 1874, and served his whole term honorably. It was with the small amount of money he saved while a member of the State Legislature that he began his remarkable career as a financier. He is a man of economical habits, and gives close attention to his personal business. He has amassed a handsome little fortune, being regarded as one of the wealthiest negroes in East Arkansas. Rev. Miller has travelled extensively, and is well known in the Baptist denomination. He is somewhat a philanthropist, and has the credit of being one of the first to make a personal gift to the National Baptist Publishing House. He has filled many important places in the work of his denomination. He is prominent as a local leader, and is at present a member of the Helena School Board. Mr. Miller owns and rents some fifty houses in Helena, and is building more for that purpose.
MR. S. BOYCE.
MR. S. BOYCE.
Mr. Stansbury Boyce, of Jacksonville, Florida, has made a start in the right direction, and I hope that many colored men will follow in the lead he has taken. I have mentioned many men who have stores and are doing a successful business, but Mr. Boyce is the first one I have found who operates a regular department store on the plan of a city store of the same kind. Each department is in the hands of a colored girl, who has been trained by Mr. Boyce as a saleslady, and I am very confident that the girls in his store understand their work and know the quality of goods quite as well as white girls doing the same work. The store is patronized as much by white people as it is by colored, and Mr. Boyce said that in the "millinery department most of his trade came from the best class of white ladies." I hope those who read this short sketch will see what a great blessing stores like this would prove to the colored people if we had them all over the country, not only to make money for the owner, but for the purpose of giving employment to a large number of well-educated girls who can't find anything to do outside of teaching and domestic work. I found Mr. Boyce not only a successful merchant, but a very intelligent and polished gentleman. His wife has charge of the millinery department, and she thoroughly understands her work.
ISAAC JOHNSON.
Isaac Johnson, Manufacturer and Dealer in Florida Curiosities, Jewelry, Novelties, Live and Stuffed Alligators, Chameleons, Shells, Palmetto Fans, Fly Brushes and all kinds of Alligator Tooth Jewelry—such is the wording of the billhead handed me by Mr. Johnson, the only colored man in the country who owns a store where all kinds of curiosities are made and sold. His store is in Jacksonville, Florida, and when walking down Hogan street your attention is frequently attracted to large crowds gathered on the left-hand side of the street. This is the great curio establishment sometimes known as the "Alligator Store," and is owned and operated by Mr. Isaac Johnson.
Mr. Johnson, when a boy, was employed on the very spot where he is now proprietor to assist around the store. He showed great ability, and as time went on this boy began to take hold of the work and manifested a deep interest in all curiosities. And from stuffing alligators he began to make very many pretty designs from different parts of this animal, thus showing his ability in various directions, which was soon recognized by those who employed him.