The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-09-27

One Black Man who Has Made Fame and
Fortune In Business.

ohe MACK man Who Has Made fHme and
Fortune In Business.
The sun printed In July an account
of the banking and insurance features
OF the True Reformers' association of
Richmond, Va, of which the Rev, w.
w. Browne was the founder and is now
the controlling influence, Any one IA
millar With the work Of the True Re
formers win admit that Mr.. Browne
has a remarkable head for business.
He is a pure African in features and
characteristics. and his ancestors must
have belonged to the trading tribes Of
the west coast of Africa, He undoubt-
edly inherited his knack of organizing
and controlling business enterprises.
He has no technical. scholastic, OF bust
ness education. ..
The fifteenth annual meeting Of the
True Reformers has Just been held in
Richmond. 1t was one OF the most
important meetings OF the order ever
held. There were 500 delegates in at
tendance. One of the most important
propositions submitted to the meeting
! was made by A, V. Norval, that $40, 900
be appropriated to purchase all the
right and title in the plans of the or
| der upon which Mr.. Browne held a
| copyright. The question of purchase
| had been made a special order at the
previous annual meeting. Mr.. Browne
was asked to state what he considered
fair price for his plans and the like,
and named $4,000. DR.. T. S. p. Miller
of New York made an address explain
ing the value of Mr.. Brownies plans and
labors to the True Reformers and the
the Afro-American race and moved that
$4,000 be given to him. Amid great
excitement the motion was put, and of
the 500 delegates only twenty voted in
the negative
In speaking of this action and of Mr..
Brownies work, a prominent New York
member of the order, who has just re-
turned from Richmond, said to a Sun
reporter;
Fifteen years ago an obscure negro
from the wilds of Georgia migrated to
Richmond, poor and friendless and
almost ignorant of the alphabet. Yet
he possessed a fertile and active brain
He approached some friends later and
told them if they would help him Sc
cure few dollars he would show them
what he could do by putting banking
system in operation. Many of these
people laughed at Browne and his
ideas; some said he was either crazy or
a fraud But he kept hammering
away, and finally succeeded in finding
persons willing 10 advance the required
capital. How much do you suppose it
was? One hundred and fifty dollars
was the capital which became the foun-
dalton of the gigantic superstructure
we have to-day. This was the capital
on which Mr.. Browne has built a bank
ing system unlike any, other In opera
ton any where, the phenomenal success
Of which is admitted on all hands. He
simply put in motion a machine for
gathering in the pennies of his, race.
Beginning III Richmond, as his
headquarters, he has succeeded in put
ting his system in operation in nearly
every city, town and hamlet in Virgin
ia, and has many lodges in nineteen
other states of the Union, with q total
membership of over thirty thousand
In the space Of fifteen years he has dis
bursed over two hundred and fifty
Thousand dollars and purchased over
one hundred thousand dollars worth of
real estate. Many of the buildings
owned by the order are paying ten and
fifteen per cent. on the Investment. 1t
is but just and fair that a man who
has accomplished so much for the order
should be paid handsomely for his idea,
as he crystailized 1t into a system. UNI
der which the order is now working.
do not think fifty thousand dollars at
al excessive.
DR.. T. S. P. Miller, of New York,
chairman of the committee on banking
and insurance, and his associates ex-
amined the books of the bank, and
found them kept in the most simple
and accurate manner, The system Is
extremely simple. This committee had 4
twenty-five thousand dollars in gold
placed before It on a table in the bank
silver and paper money. This was glo-
nv enough for the down -trOQQn1 negro
VINO mas staggered under a burden of
ignorance ana poverty 1or Two hundred