exertion was necessary on his part to enjoy life,
or to better his economic condition. Finally, William Smith, a shrewd
sailor of New York, managed to accumulate considerable wealth.

The statistics of the census of 1850 give further evidences of this
general progress. Of the 50,000 free people of color in the State of
New York over 15 years of age in 1850, sixty were clerks, doctors and
lawyers and about 55 were merchants and teachers.[29] There were,
moreover:

2 apprentices 3 barkeepers 4 bakers
1 blacksmith 122 barbers 21 boarding house keepers
28 boatmen 33 butchers 8 cigar makers
12 carpenters 39 carmen 95 cooks
107 coachmen 2 confectioners 1 gunsmith
24 farmers 7 gardeners 3 merchants
2 hatters 11 ink makers 1144 laborers
3 jewelers 21 ministers 4 painters
24 musicians 434 mariners 2 mechanics
15 marketmen 4 printers 23 tailors
44 stewards 808 servants 23 shoemakers
12 sextons 8 teachers
207 engaged in other
occupations

Many Negroes used wisely the money which they obtained from these
businesses. Out of a free population of 50,000 Negroes, 5,447, or
about one in ten was in school during this period. In a pamphlet
entitled the _Present Condition of Free People of Color_ published by
James Freeman Clarke in 1859, the author stated that they were no less
neat in person and attire than their white neighbors.[30] One year
during the period from 1850 to 1860 Negroes of New York City invested
in business carried on by themselves $775,000; in businesses of
Brooklyn $76,000. That same year these free Negroes purchased real
estate in New York worth $733,000, and in Brooklyn $276,000.[31]

With complete freedom in New York, free Negroes made more efforts to
improve their condition. There were established several newspapers
which served not only to present their cause to the public but also as
economic factors. First of these must be mentioned a publication
called _Freedom's Journal_ or _The Rights of All_. This paper, edited
by James B. Russworm, the first Negro college graduate in the United
States, and Rev. Samuel F. Cornish, was established in March,
1827.[32] Another journal, styled _The Weekly Advocate_, changing its
name later to