Robert Reed Church

Robert Reed Church Sr.
Born	Template:Birth date Holly Springs, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	August 29, 1912(1912-08-29) (aged 73) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Businessman, property owner, banker, philanthropist
Known for	First African-American millionaire in the Southern United States; founder of Solvent Savings Bank

Robert Reed Church Sr. (June 18, 1839 – August 29, 1912) was a prominent American businessman and property owner based in Memphis, Tennessee, gaining recognition during the American Civil War. He earned distinction as the first African-American millionaire in the Southern United States. Church built a reputable business career and founded Solvent Savings Bank, the first black-owned financial institution in Memphis, which offered credit facilities to African Americans for purchasing homes and expanding enterprises. As a dedicated philanthropist, he funded parks, playgrounds, and auditoriums to benefit the black community excluded by segregationist policies.

Born to a white father and black mother, Church initially worked as a steward aboard his father’s steamboat traveling between Memphis and New Orleans. He acquired his initial Memphis real estate in 1862 and strategically took advantage of the economic downturn following the yellow fever epidemics of 1878-79 by purchasing undervalued properties and businesses, anticipating their eventual recovery in value. His investments in real estate were crucial to his financial success. Notably, he was the first to purchase a $1,000 municipal bond that supported Memphis’s emergence from bankruptcy.

Early life

Robert Reed Church entered the world enslaved in 1839 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. His mother, Emmeline, was a black woman originally from Virginia, while his father, Captain Charles B. Church, was a white owner of steamships operating along the Mississippi River. Family lore suggests Emmeline descended from an enslaved Malagasy princess and a white planter from Virginia.

Following his mother’s passing in 1851, Church accompanied his father on river voyages where he worked as a steward. This role provided him with valuable business insight and connections, including with James Lewis, who would later become a political figure in Louisiana. In 1862, when Union forces captured Memphis and seized the riverboat, Church escaped and began working in Memphis as a stablehand and salesman. After saving sufficient funds, he opened a saloon and eventually owned several establishments along Beale Street.

By 1865, Memphis’s African American population had increased to around 20,000 due to escaped slaves seeking safety in Union-controlled regions. Church’s enterprises prospered within this growing community. However, racial hostilities escalated after the war, culminating in the Memphis Riots of 1866, when an Irish mob attacked black neighborhoods in South Memphis, resulting in 45 deaths among African Americans and widespread property destruction. During these riots, Church sustained a gunshot wound while inside his saloon.

Real estate empire

By the late 1870s, Church had accumulated considerable wealth. Anticipating danger during the severe yellow fever outbreak of 1878—following an earlier epidemic in 1873—he relocated his family outside Memphis for safety. The epidemic devastated the city: approximately 25,000 residents fled and over 5,000 perished. Property values collapsed during this period. Seizing this opportunity, Church acquired commercial buildings, residential units, bars located within the red-light district, and undeveloped land throughout Memphis. Eventually, his holdings generated rental income estimated at $6,000 per month.

Utilizing his fortune, Church invested in high-quality amenities for African Americans who were barred from many public facilities due to segregation laws. He developed a public park, playgrounds, a concert hall, and an auditorium that hosted graduations, political meetings, and cultural gatherings for the black community. Additionally, he sponsored an annual free Thanksgiving meal for impoverished African Americans. In 1906, Church co-founded Solvent Savings Bank—the first black-owned bank in Memphis—and served as its president; the institution provided loans aimed at fostering black entrepreneurship and homeownership.

Personal life

Details about Church's private life are scarce, as he seldom composed personal correspondence or delivered public addresses despite his significant impact.

He entered into matrimony three times. His initial union in 1857 with Margaret Pico lacked legal acknowledgment due to their enslaved condition. His second spouse, Louisa Ayres, was of mixed heritage and born into slavery. Together, they had two children: Mary Eliza Church (1863–1954), who became one of the earliest African American women to earn a college degree and was a civil rights advocate instrumental in founding the NAACP in 1909 and serving on the Washington DC school board; and Thomas Ayres Church (1867–1937). Church and Louisa eventually divorced.

His third wife was Anna Susan Wright, with whom he had two children: Robert Reed Church Jr. (1885–1952) and Annette Elaine Church (1887–1975). Robert Jr. carried on his father’s enterprises and engaged politically by establishing the Lincoln League in 1916, aiming to register African American voters and influence the Republican Party. He successfully registered 10,000 black voters in Memphis and worked alongside political figure E. H. Crump. Although he held considerable sway as an advisor to Republican presidents during the 1920s, he declined formal political appointments.

Robert Reed Church Sr. typically steered clear of direct political involvement to preserve his wide-ranging influence across racial boundaries. He served as a delegate supporting William McKinley at the 1900 Republican National Convention.

Death

Church passed away on August 29, 1912, following a short illness. His final resting place is Elmwood Cemetery located in downtown Memphis.

1953 burning of the Church family home

In 1953, amid a demonstration of fire-fighting equipment in Memphis, the residence of the Church family—originally constructed by Robert Church in a thriving, racially integrated neighborhood—was intentionally set ablaze. This act was retaliation orchestrated by Memphis Mayor Edward Hull "Boss" Crump due to the Church family's efforts advocating for black suffrage rights. The Tri-State Defender denounced this incident as "An act of infamy." By 1955, the property and adjacent land were cleared to develop public housing projects designated solely for African American residents.

See also

• Civil rights movement (1865–1896)

Further reading

• Biles, Roger. "Robert R. Church, Jr. of Memphis: Black Republican Leader in the Age of Democratic Ascendancy, 1928-1940." Tennessee Historical Quarterly 42.4 (1983): 362-382.
• Church, Annette E., and Roberta Church, The Robert R. Churches of Memphis: A Father and Son Who Achieved in Spite of Race (Memphis: A. E. Church, 1974)
• Ingham, John N., and Lynne B. Feldman, African-American Business Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994
• Kranz, Rachel, African-American Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs, Infobase Publishing, 2004
• Melton, Gloria B. Blacks in Memphis, Tennessee, 1920-1955: A Historical Study (Ph.D. dissertation, Washington State University, 1982)
• Lamon, Lester. Black Tennesseans, 1900-1930 (University of Tennessee Press, 1977)
• "Robert Church family of Memphis": interviews with Roberta and Annette E. Church by Charles W. Crawford
• Phelps, Shirelle, ed., Contemporary Black Biography, various volumes (Detroit: Gale Research, 1999)
• Smith, Jessie Carney ed., Encyclopedia of African American Business, Greenwood, 2006
• Lauterbach, Preston. Beale Street Dynasty: Sex, Song and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis (W. W. Norton & Company, 2015)