Page 108 - Sale 2271 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana - March 1, 2012

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THE ONLY BLACK-OWNED RAILROAD IN U.S. HISTORY
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(BUSINESS.)THE ENTERPRISE RAILROAD COMPANY.
Receipt for cargo
on Enterprise Railroad Company stationary, dated August 31st, 1894.
Partially-printed
piece of stationary, accomplished by hand. 4to sheet, written on one side only.
Charleston, SC, 1894
[500/750]
Launched in Charleston, South Carolina by businessman and politician Richard Harvey
Cain (1825-1887), and group of Charleston’s black elite, the Enterprise Railroad Company
is the only commercial railroad in American history founded and run entirely by African-
Americans. Incorporated in 1870 with capital of $250,000, the railroad was built and in use
by 1875, carrying both freight and passengers between Magnolia Avenue beyond the corporate
limits of Charleston to East Battery, making connections with all of the principle wharves
and rail depots. Cain was at this time a state legislator and served as president of the company.
The present receipt is for hauling nearly a half ton of corn and oats.
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(BUSINESS.) GAINES FUNERAL HOME.
Funeral Record Book of the
Gaines Funeral Home, in “The American Funeral Record, a Ready Reference
Day-Book for Undertakers.”
Partially-printed, accomplished by hand. Large ledger,
(14-3/4 inches tall) [32], 1-300 pages, Original leather-grained cloth-backed cloth-e
boards, in ledger-style with tabs.
[Pittsburgh, 1929-1934]
[2,000/3,000]
A RECORD BOOK FROM THE LONGEST OPERATING BLACK BUSINESS IN WESTERN
PENNSYLVANIA
.
A very detailed ledger covering an almost five year period, providing the
records and costs of funerals for African Americans in the East End Neighborhood of Pittburgh
from 1929-1934.The Gaines Funeral Home was established in 1919, in the historically
African American Homewood section of Pittsburgh. In 1923, the business moved to 220
Auburn Street in Pittsburgh’s East End neighborhood.This building was the former Mount
Ararat Baptist Church, so the funeral home gained the sobriquet “the Funeral Church.”
There are 300 funerals recorded in the present ledger; they are quite detailed and can provide a
potential wealth of genealogical information.The entries include the names of the deceased, dates
of birth, death funeral service, parents names, occupation, name of attending physician, clergymen,
and place of interment. In addition, the makes and models of the cars involved in the funeral are
provided as well as the type of casket etc. Some entries are quite intriguing: CharlesWilliamWells
Frazier for example lists his place of birth as African and occupation “Herb Specialist.”
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