On September 18, 1921, The New Orleans States displayed on its title page the following distorted sketch of the late Caesar Confucius Antoine by W. O. Hart:
A telegram to The States from Shreveport three days ago told of the death of C. C. Antoine, colored, who had been lieutenant-governor of Louisiana and sometimes acted as governor of the State.
The death of Antoine, widely known in New Orleans, cuts off another link with Reconstruction days.
At the request of The States, W. O. Hart, Louisiana historian, contributes the story telling how Antoine went from a barber's chair to power and affluence.
Caesar Confucius Antoine, who was a native of New Orleans, was in many respects one of the most remarkable of the colored politicians who thrived in reconstruction days in Louisiana.
He was a native of New Orleans, but appears to have been unknown until he was elected from the Parish of Caddo, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1868.
He was a very small man and light in weight. He was coal-black in color and always dressed with the utmost neatness and simplicity.
When the Constitution was adopted he was elected to the State Senate from Caddo Parish and held that office for four years. In 1872 he was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor on the ticket headed by W. P. Kellogg, and though that ticket was defeated by the Democratic ticket which carried the names of John McEnery, of Ouachita, for Governor, and Davidson B. Penn, of New Orleans, for Lieutenant-Governor, Kellogg and all those returned as elected by the Returning Board, were recognized by President Grant and served out their full terms of four years.
Antoine like many of the other colored Legislators of those days acquired an almost perfect knowledge of parliamentary law and presided over the Senate with dignity and impartiality.
He was a man who, in general, had the respect of all parties. He was renominated on the ticket with S. B. Packard in 1876 and with Packard remained in the State House, which was the old St. Louis Hotel, until April, 1877, when President Hayes, having withdrawn the Federal troops, the semblance of Government which Packard established, disappeared and the Nicholls Government went into full possession of all the State Offices.
My recollection is that he held some Federal office after this but I am not certain what it was.
In a suit which he brought against D. D. Smith and the heirs of George L. Smith, reported in the 40th Annual (1888), beginning at page 560, considerable of the record of Antoine is given.
How He Made Money
The suit was brought after the death of George L. Smith, to recover two hundred shares of the capital stock of the Louisiana State Lottery Company, which at the time of the suit, had a very large value. The allegations of Antoine's petition and his evidence in the case were to the effect that on March 31st, 1873, he purchased from Charles T. Howard the lottery stock at sixty cents on the dollar, that is twelve thousand dollars for all, and that he was induced by George L. Smith, who also owned 225 shares of the stock, to transfer it to D. D. Smith, a cousin of George L. Smith, because as Smith said to Antoine: "We are both engaged in politics, and it would not do to have the stock in our name—more especially myself, as I was Lieutenant-Governor, and President of the Senate; that questions in regard to the charter of the Lottery Company might come up, and that, in case of a tie vote, I would naturally have to vote on it; and, probably, my vote might be challenged."
Smith had been Tax Collector and also speculated in salary warrants for account of himself and Antoine and Antoine's profits therefrom were three or four thousand dollars.
Partner Of Pinchback
When Antoine first went into politics he was the proprietor of a barber shop in the city of Shreveport; a few years afterwards, he engaged in the cotton factorage business in New Orleans, in partnership with P. B. S. Pinchback; also once Lieutenant-Governor. He acquired an interest in a newspaper establishment; had a grocery store and purchased and operated a small plantation in Caddo Parish. He also purchased some city lots in Shreveport and a $1300 residence in this city, this in addition to the twelve thousand dollars he paid for the Lottery Stock.
The Supreme Court, after stating the above facts, commented thereon as follows:
"We cannot refrain from expressing some surprise at the auspicious good fortune that seemed to attend his efforts, whereby his hitherto slender income and limited means had yielded such a comfortable little fortune within so few years.
"Money matters appeared to have been so easy with him that he could loan a friend a thousand dollars, payable on call."
The opinion of the court was rendered by Mr. Justice L. B. Watkins, and the court concluded that the acquisition of the stock by Antoine was so tainted with fraud that he was entitled to receive no redress at the hands of the courts and the judgment of the lower court which was rendered by Judge Albert Voohries, presiding in Division "E" of the Civil District Court, was affirmed.
Antoine was represented in the suit by Rouse and Grant and Thomas J. Semmes, America's greatest lawyer, while the defendants were represented by the firm of Leonard, Marks and Brueno. Everyone connected with the case is now dead except Pinchback who, over eighty years of age, is now living in Washington.
When under the Wheeler Compromise after the election of 1874, the Democrats secured a majority in the State House of Representatives, an effort was made to impeach Kellogg, which, if successful, would have made Antoine Governor, but what benefit the Democrats could have derived therefrom, it is impossible to say because even if Antoine had then resigned, as was thought possible, the President of the Senate, who would become Governor was or would be a Republican as the Democrats had but nine of the thirty-six members of that body. However, the impeachment trial properly speaking, was never held.
As soon as the Senate which had adjourned, heard of the impeachment resolution, it immediately reconvened and sent for the Chief Justice, John T. Ludeling, and the Court of Impeachment was opened without waiting for the presentation of the charges from the House of Representatives, and Kellogg was "triumphantly" acquitted.
The Item, a New Orleans newspaper, featured the following sketch of Isaiah T. Montgomery by Stanley Cisby Arthur in its Sunday magazine section on September 25, 1921:
One of the most interesting figures at the meeting of the secretaries of the Federal Farm Loan Association, was an aged negro, "Uncle" Isaiah T. Montgomery, of Mound Bayou City, Bolivar County, Mississippi. "Uncle" Isaiah is not only one of the wealthiest farmers in his district, but he founded the town of Mound Bayou, which is composed exclusively of colored people, who run the stores, the banks, the postoffice, the schools and the peace offices, but "Uncle" Isaiah was a former slave and a body servant of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy.
Black of face, with white hair and a white chin beard "Uncle" Isaiah looks exactly the part of the regulation stage "Uncle" of the old regime. He looks every bit of his 74 years but his mind is exceedingly bright and he recounted the happenings of over half a century with the utmost clarity of speech and showed many evidences of his education, which he says he gave himself. When he took recourse to a piece of paper and a pen to estimate the ginnage of his community, he set down words and figures with Spencerian exactness. His handwriting was truly a revelation to the interviewer.
"I was born on Hurricane plantation, in Warren county, Mississippi, in 1847, and my father and I were owned by Joseph E. Davis, brother of Jefferson Davis. The plantation owned by the late president of the Confederacy adjoined the Hurricane, and was called Brierfield plantation," said the aged colored man and former slave who is now a prosperous banker in the town he founded. "I was about nine years old when I first remember Jefferson Davis real well. I was working in my master's office when his brother came back from Congress and I was told to meet the steamboat Natchez in a row boat and get Mr. Jeff.
"When the Natchez blew her whistle as she came around a bend of the river I rowed out and Mr. Jeff got in my boat with his grips and things and I took him to shore and toted all his things into the 'White Room' where Mr. Jeff staid for a considerable spell. While there I was his personal attendant, I blacked his shoes, kept his room in order, held his horse for him and other little things that a servant like I was was supposed to do. On one of his trips down the river on the Natchez (Mr. Jeff and Captain Tom P. Leathers, the historic commander of that boat, were close friends), he brought his wife and daughter, who was afterwards Mrs. Hayes, and they all were very kind to me because I was Mr. Jeff's personal servant all the time they were at the Hurricane.
"When the war between the states came I staid on the Joseph Davis plantation all during the fighting. In '62 or '63, anyway, after the battle of Corinth, the Yankees commenced overrunning the South and Mr. Joe, took all his stock and colored people to Jackson, and later on to Alabama. He had me return to the plantation with my mother and act as sort of caretakers and we were there when Admiral Porter's Mississippi squadron made its way up the river. It seems sometime before a gunboat, the Indianola, had been sunk in the river, just off the Hurricane plantation and folks in the neighborhood had dismantled her.
"When Admiral Porter came up the river he stopped at the plantation so as to look at the wreck and see if her guns could be found. But they had been thrown overboard and had gone down in the quicksand. The Admiral asked me if I wanted to go with him as cabin boy. I said yes, and ran to get my mammy's consent which was given. This was in April of '63 and a few months later I was with the Admiral in the siege of Vicksburg and later the battle at Grand Gulf. Soon afterwards I got a sickness from drinking Red River water and when I was sent back to Hurricane I found my parents had gone to Cincinnati and when I got word of this to Admiral Porter he secured transportation there for me.
"When the war was over Mr. Joe Davis got in touch with my father and had him come back to Hurricane plantation and after we got there he made a proposition that we could buy the two plantations, Hurricane, that Mr. Joe owned, and Brierfield, of 4,000 acres, that Mr. Jeff Davis owned. While he could not sell to colored people under the existing laws, through a court action by which my father, Benjamin T. Montgomery, and my brother William T. and myself, agreed to pay $300,000 for the combined properties, they were turned over to us and we were to pay six per cent a year on the whole until it was paid off.
"Our first year working the plantation resulted in almost disaster as we suffered from an overflow and when the first payment came around we were only able to pay $6,000. When we sent this to Mr. Joe Davis with our excuses he sent us back a canceled note for the rest of the $18,000. The Davis brothers, were gentlemen, sir. Well, we kept the plantation going for thirteen years and in that time we ranked as third in the production of cotton in Warren county. While we were growing cotton I became very well acquainted with Captain John W. Cannon, the commander of the famous steamboat the Robert E. Lee. He and Captain Tom Leathers, the commander of the Natchez, were always having some sort of a fight or another and I saw the famous race between the two when they actually settled the matter for good and all.
"The death of Mr. Joe Davis and taking over of his properties by his heirs lost us our holdings and I became interested in the Yazoo Delta. I heard that the Y. & M. V. was asking colored people to come in and open up the country and after going over the situation I decided to select Mound Bayou for the seat of my future operations. This place was selected because between Big and Little Mound bayous there was an old Indian mound. This was in 1887 and it certainly was a wild territory, it had rich land but it was thickly grown over with oak and ash and gum, and acres and acres of cane. Well, I plundered around here and induced other colored folks to settle there. I founded Mound Bayou Settlement—the railroad folks wanted to name it Montgomery, a few years ago but I made the original name stick.
"Building up our community was slow work. All the colored folks bought their places on 10-year contracts and it was hard work for some of them in the face of a few crop failures, overflows, boll weevil and other set-backs but we succeeded. Mound Bayou Settlement is now a town of a little over 1,000 population and there are about 2,500 in the country nearby. The town is of wholly colored population and we have three big churches, one costing $25,000, another costing $15,000 and another $10,000. There are several other less pretentious places of worship, as well.
"We have two big mercantile establishments. The largest being the one I founded and known as the Mercantile Co-operative Company which now has a $20,000 stock. We also have the Mound Bayou State Bank, with $10,000 capital, a $3,000 surplus, with resources between $150,000 and $200,000. I am a member of the board of directors and we make a great many loans to our colored people to see they get out their crops, and being in the staple cotton belt, we make most of it on this crop.
"We have just completed a consolidated school house, 95 feet square, three stories high, with 16 large class rooms. It cost us $100,000 which was raised by a local bond issue. We have a seven to eight months' term and employ an agricultural expert, co-operating under the Smith-Lever national fund and a very fine domestic science class.
"The town has a mayor and a board of aldermen, all office holders being colored folks, and the present mayor, B. H. Green, was the first man born in the settlement. I was mayor for over four years, being the first to hold the office, resigning it to hold the office of receiver of public monies at Jackson, Miss.
"We have four gins that can handle over 5,000 bales and our people now feel that the upward trend of the cotton price will make for further prosperous times."
Uncle Isaiah Montgomery remembers his services with the Jefferson family, first as slave and afterwards as a trusted servant, with the kindliest feelings. He told of the periods in 1880 and 1883 when Jefferson Davis returned to the old Brierfield and Hurricane plantations, spending several weeks at the old home once or twice a year. He usually had Mrs. Davis with him and the aged negro said that Mrs. Davis was a remarkable woman.
"She displayed a wonderful interest in the future of the colored race," he said. "It was the impression made on me by this lovely woman that helped confirm my belief in the ultimate outcome of my work and efforts toward race betterment, education and uplift of the negro. Mrs. Jefferson Davis had a broader comprehension of the race's needs than anyone with whom I have ever come in contact with. With her death the negro lost one of his greatest friends.
"Mr. Jefferson Davis was a wonderful man, too. My thoughts frequently go back, now that I am approaching the end of my days, to the time I was his personal servant as a barefoot boy. I truly believe, when he got his last sickness, had I been near to nurse and care for him, that he would have lived many more years. I knew, and so did my wife, what he needed in the way of food and we could have done for him as no one else could.
"It was the influence of Jefferson Davis and his sweet life that has guided all my efforts in bettering the life of my colored brothers and if I have succeeded it was because of them."
The American Magazine in July, 1914, gave the following account, an achievement of "Comebacks" of recent date:
Beaten Once, Perry Tried Again—and Succeeded.
For years Heman E. Perry, a negro, traveled over Texas for white companies, selling old line life insurance to his people. But he had a vision of someday founding a company under negro management, to transact its business and make its investments among the colored race.
Finally, plans outlined and prospectus and other literature completed, he undertook the arduous task of organizing his company. He applied for a charter under the laws of Georgia, which require that the full $100,000 capital shall be raised in two years, or the charter be revoked.
To raise $100,000 among white men, or even $100,000,000, is a comparatively easy task, for they are accustomed to corporate investments. But Mr. Perry was to raise $100,000 among a people whose investments had taken the form of horses and houses, and who did not understand the value of commercial paper, especially when purchased for $150 with a par value of $100. In other words, he had to sell 1,000 shares of stock, one, two or three shares at a time, and he must do this among a people who had never before raised $100,000 for a business venture.
For two years, at his own expense, Perry traveled throughout the South. Then, with a scant thirty days left, he found himself with but two thirds of the money in hand. He hastened to New York hoping to obtain a loan from some bankers. They put him off until the last day slipped by. Then began Perry's heart-breaking task of returning the money he had collected. He returned every dollar with four per cent interest—money that he had spent all his own cash in collecting.
This was enough to crush any ordinary man. But after three months Perry met a selected assembly of negro business men in Atlanta, ready to begin all over again.
He retraced his first long journey, constantly hearing, "You failed once, you'll fail again." But he continued his fight, and on June 14th, 1913, after $105,000 had been paid for Georgia state bonds, the first and only old line legal reserve life insurance company in the world managed and operated by negroes formally began business. It now operates in nine states, and has over $2,000,000 insurance on the lives of negroes, because Heman E. Perry would not acknowledge defeat, and had the power to "come back" and conquer.
George F. Porter
ANNA MURRAY-DOUGLASS—MY MOTHER AS I RECALL HER[1]
Looking backward over a space of fifty years or more, I have in remembrance two travelers whose lives were real in their activity; two lives that have indelibly impressed themselves upon my memory; two lives whose energy and best ability was exerted to make my life what it should be, and who gave me a home where wisdom and industry went hand in hand; where instruction was given that a cultivated brain and an industrious hand were the twin conditions that lead to a well balanced and useful life. These two lives were embodied in the personalities of Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray his wife.