r
who placed him in charge of a large coal yard with the privilege of
selling the slake for his own benefit. In the course of time, he
accumulated in this position thousands of dollars with which he finally
purchased himself and moved away to free soil. After observing the
situation in several of the northern centers, he finally decided to settle
in Cincinnati, where he arrived with $15,000. Knowing the coal business,
he well established himself there after some discouragement and
opposition. He accumulated much wealth which he invested in United States
bonds during the Civil War and in real estate on Walnut Hills when the
bonds were later redeemed.[36]

The ultimately favorable attitude of the people of Detroit toward
immigrating Negroes had been reflected by the position the people of that
section had taken from the time of the earliest settlements. Generally
speaking, Detroit adhered to this position.[37] In this congenial
community prospered many a Negro family. There were the Williams' most of
whom confined themselves to their trade of bricklaying and amassed
considerable wealth. Then there were the Cooks, descending from Lomax B.
Cook, a broker of no little business ability. Will Marion Cook, the
musician, belongs to this family. The De Baptistes, too, were among the
first to succeed in this new home, as they prospered materially from their
experience and knowledge previously acquired in Fredericksburg, Virginia,
as contractors. From this group came Richard De Baptiste, who in his day
was the most useful Negro Baptist preacher in the Northwest.[38] The
Pelhams were no less successful in establishing themselves in the economic
world. Having an excellent reputation in the community, they easily
secured the cooperation of the influential white people in the city. Out
of this family came Robert A. Pelham, for years editor of a weekly in
Detroit, and from 1901 to the present time an employee of the Federal
Government in Washington.

The children of the Richards, another old family, were in no sense
inferior to the descendants of the others. The most prominent and the most
useful to emerge from this group was the daughter, Fannie M. Richards. She
was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 1, 1841. Having left that
State with her parents when she was quite young, she did not see so much
of the antebellum conditions obtaining there. Desiring to have better
training than what was then given to persons of color in Detro