TOPIC XXXVI.
THE AMERICAN NEGRO AND HIS POSSIBILITIES.
BY GEO. L. KNOX.
GEORGE L. KNOX.
The subject of this sketch, George L. Knox, was born in Wilson County, Tenn., September 16, 1841. He was a slave, spending his early life on the farm and in following the vocation of shoemaker, which he learned while serving a master.
In 1862 he joined the Union forces in the Civil War; after the termination of that terrible crisis he went to Indianapolis, where he learned the tonsorial art. He did not stay any great while in that city, but went to Greenfield, Ind., not many miles away, where he concluded to make his home. He established himself in business in a small way, and by dint of persistency, thrift and integrity, such as has marked his course ever since, he, in a few years, succeeded in gaining a competence. He took an active part in politics as a Republican, of which party he has been an unswerving member up to this time. He won great respect for himself and family among the whites, and the older Greenfieldians never visit Indianapolis without dropping in to see George, as they so familiarly call him.
In 1895 he moved to Indianapolis and finally became the sole proprietor of the Bates House barber shop, said to be the most elegant shop in the country. He is a member of the M. E. Church, which has greatly honored him by sending him as a delegate-at-large to the general conference in New York in 1888, and to Omaha, Neb., in 1892. He has filled numerous offices in the local church.
He has been very active and prominent in Republican councils in his new home. Has served as delegate-at-large to the National Convention that met in Minneapolis, Minn., 1892, where Benjamin Harrison was nominated for the Presidency. He was selected as an Alternate Delegate-at-large to St. Louis, Mo., in 1896, when President McKinley was nominated. His voice has been heard all over the state in advocacy of the principles of his party.
In 1892 he look charge of the Freeman and since that time he has given the publication considerable attention, the results of which are shown by its very large and very wide circulation. The active management of this well-known paper is in charge of his son, Elwood C., who is rapidly developing as a man of business and affairs.
History has, since time begun, shown the rise, decline and fall of empires, nations, races and individuals. It is but fair to say that the fate of the Negro has been cast along these lines that were as fixed as the stars in their courses. There have been exceptions to the laws of civil and political change. We have read with joy the triumph of the black man of ancient times, his power in battle, his eminence in letters, his skill in science, his genius as an agriculturist, his patience as a herdsman. In the great cycles of changes, it stands to reason that the wheel of civil and political fortune will again revolve in the Negro's favor.
The history of the black man's past in no wise serves to usurp the functions of present duties. Notwithstanding the fact that there are lowering clouds and muttering thunders, yet there is every indication of a day, to express it boldly, that is coming that will outshine the glittering sun.
'Tis not much that the American Negro asks in this racial warfare; his aid has always been scant and rare; he has been thrown on his own resources, buffeted about until he has become hidebound, as it were, to those circumstances which have been so hurtful to the progress of other nations.