Commerce and Community

Commerce and Community. Soul Voices Frenchtown Heritage Trail. , Many will walk these streets and learn about the history of a community that was steeped in commerce. Frenchtown was an area where business establishments, operated by men and women and blacks and whites, snuggled up close to the homes of the infamous as well as the affluent. In the neighborhoods earliest days, gardens, stores, churches, and houses lined the Macomb Street corridor and slowly radiated into the less settled areas. As a selt-sustained enclave that was both needed and despised, commerce was established to supply every necessity of the predominately African Americans that made the area their home. Merchants were both Black and White with each race walking a fine line of respect between each other as they supplied fresh meat, vegetables, clothing, medicine. laundry service, cafes, and entertainment., Many women were proprietors of establishments in Frenchtown. Some others were not owners, but were managers, cooks. hostesses, clerks, cashiers, and others who were forces with which to reckon. Included among them was the oft-mentioned Miss Margret A. Yellowhair, the owner of the Capital Theater on Macomb Street. But, of equal importance were Mrs. Mckenney, co-owner and cook at a restaurant on Macomb Street; Mrs. Davis of the Eldorado Cafe; Naomi Wilson of the Chicken Shack Restaurant; Patsylee Payne, owner of Pat Wee Nursery; Mrs. Dorothy Nash Tookes, owner of Tookes Hotel; Mrs. Marian Hadley, owner of Harley’s Grocery; Ms. Bessie Dixon, an innovative entrepreneur/business woman and property owner; Mrs. Carrie Hoffman; Mrs. Geraldine Roberts, owner of Economy Drug Store; Rebecca Bryant, owner of Mack's Sandwich Shop; Beatrice "Bea" Duffee, owner of Bea's Shack Cafe across from the Leon Theater; Rebecca Dobbins who, along with her husband Charlie Dobbins, owned and operated super-X Grocery on Virginia Street for over 30 years; and a vast array of other women. , There were also white women who along with their husbands owned and operated businesses. There was Mrs. Lee who owned Lees Variety Store. One owned a store on the corner of Georgia and Macomb. Another partnered with her husband in Mac’s meat market on Carolina and Macomb Streets. Several others were scattered throughout the neighborhood., (Captions) , This photograph of the Laurence C. Hartsfield Grocery Store was taken in the early 1900s. It appears to be the same building on Macomb Street that later housed the Capital Theater opened in the 1920s by Miss Yellowhair. (Courtesy of State Archives of Florida), Beauty-Culture Class Graduation Day, Class of 1939. Mrs. McGreen (center in dark dress) was the instructor of the school which was located in the 400 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard next to the Yellowhair house. Rosena Davis is standing on left. (Courtesy of Harry, Matthew, Lillie Dean, the Paul Roberts, Sr Family, and Marilyn Higgs), Sylvester Bright, Jr. was the son of Reverand Sylvester Rath and Lucille Lettia Boyer Bright. The Bright family was from Jacksonville and moved to Tallahassee in 1937. Their ten children were Sylvester, Jr., Arthur Robert, Alpheus Leonard, Cornelius Edison Blythe, Sarah Rosetta (Smith), Charles William, Lucille Estella (Wilson), Richard Samuel, Dolores Ann (Bass), and Margruetta (Hall). (Courtesy of Darryl Gilliom Scott), Edith Young Crump along with her husband Edward “Ned” Crump, owned Crumps Tavern on Macomb Street. Edith the proprietress and a savvy, respected and highly intelligent female entrepreneur in an environment that had the reputation of being predominantly male, unsavory and rough. (Courtesy of Jessie Simmons Alexander), Mrs. Beatrice “Bea” Duffee operated Bea Shack Café on West Tennessee Street. She catered to the celebrities of the “Chitlin Circuit “ who were preforming at the Red Bird Café as well as the local citizens. While she was plating up hot dishes of fried chicken and collard greens, her son Ed Duffee, Jr. was often snapping a shoe shine rag atop dusty wingtips across the street in front of the Leon Theater., Bishop Robert Anthony Grant (1878 - 1939) was the 50th Bishop in his African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. He followed in the footsteps of his father Bishop Abram Grant, the 19th Bishop of the Church and a former pastor of Bethel AME Church. Prior to becoming an AME prelate in 1928, R.A. Grant graduated Lincoln High School and was a green grocer in Frenchtown who sold fresh locally grown vegetables and fruits. He also was a drayman who rented wagons and horses to the residents of the city. Grant conducted his enterprises in a store on the corner of Georgia and Macomb Streets. He attended Florida State Normal and Industrial School (Florida A and M University) and Wilberforce College where he was valedictorian of his class. (Courtesy of Ann Roberts and Borrie Roberts Ashcroft), Reverend William Washington was born shortly after the end of the American Civil War and lived on North Copeland Street in one of the two stately houses he owned. He farmed his large back yard and produced many delicious fruits and vegetables. In addition to these spacious homes, he was the proprietor of rental properties on Pinellas Street, Cleveland Street, and Lake Bradford Road. For several years, he was an associate pastor at Bethel AME Church on Virginia Street. Reverend Washington was one of the respected and influential members of the Frenchtown neighborhood. (Courtesy of Johnella Reid Bell and sons), Albert C. McKinney was a Tailor who brought his own special flavor to Frenchtown with his business, McKinney Style Shop, located in the 300 block of Macomb Street. McKinney Style Shop also sold newspapers and magazines that reflected the Black experience including the Pittsburgh Courier, the Afro-America, the Miami Whip, the Florida Sentinel, Ebony, and Jet to name a few. Mr. McKinney afforded many young gentlemen employment while they were attending high school. One of his former employees, Mr. Willie Deas, often speaks of Mr. McKinney as the person who gave him his first job. After his establishment closed, he was employed by the State of Florida. Mr. McKinney was a civic-minded citizen, very active in several local organizations, and in the Civil Rights Movement. As a member of the local Chapter of the NAACP, he held the office of president in the early 1950's. After his term ended, he continued to advocate for civil rights in the Black community. He was a member of Bethel M. B. Church and very active in the Masonic Lodges. Mr. McKinney was married to Mrs. Ruby B. Hayes McKinney, and was the father of Joseph C. McKinney and Annie B. McKinney Wilson. (Courtesy of Annie McKinney Wilson)