The other force, the rise of the Negro mechanic, was made possible by overcoming much of the prejudice which had at first been encountered.  A great change in this respect had taken place in Cincinnati by 1840.[32] Many Negroes who had been forced to work as menial laborers then had the opportunity to show their usefulness to their families and to the community.  Negro mechanics were then getting as much skilled labor as they could do.  It was not uncommon for white artisans to solicit employment of colored men because they had the reputation of being better paymasters than master workmen of the favored race.  White mechanics not only worked with the blacks but often associated with them, patronized the same barber shop, and went to the same places of amusement.[33]

Out of this group came some very useful Negroes, among whom may be mentioned Robert Harlan, the horseman; A.V.  Thompson, the tailor; J. Presley and Thomas Ball, contractors, and Samuel T. Wilcox, the merchant, who was worth $60,000 in 1859.[34] There were among them two other successful Negroes, Henry Boyd and Robert Gordon.  Boyd was a Kentucky freedman who helped to overcome the prejudice in Cincinnati against Negro mechanics by inventing and exploiting a corded bed, the demand for which was extensive throughout the Ohio and Mississippi valleys.  He had a creditable manufacturing business in which he employed twenty-five men.[35]

Robert Gordon was a much more interesting man.  He was born a slave in Richmond, Virginia.  He ingratiated himself into the favor of his master who placed him in charge of a large coal yard with the privilege of selling the slake for his own benefit.  In the course of time, he accumulated in this position thousands of dollars with which he finally purchased himself and moved away to free soil.  After observing the situation in several of the northern centers, he finally decided to settle in Cincinnati, where he arrived with $15,000.  Knowing the coal business, he well established himself there after some discouragement and opposition.  He accumulated much wealth which he invested in United States bonds during the Civil War and in real estate on Walnut Hills when the bonds were later redeemed.[36]

The ultimately favorable attitude of the people of Detroit toward immigrating Negroes had been reflected by the position the people of that section had taken from the time of the earliest settlements.  Generally speaking, Detroit adhered to this position.[37] In this congenial community prospered many a Negro family.  There were the Williams’ most of whom confined themselves to their trade of bricklaying and amassed considerable wealth.  Then there were the Cooks, descending from Lomax B. Cook, a broker of no little business ability.  Will Marion Cook, the musician, belongs to this family.  The De Baptistes, too, were among the first to succeed in this new home, as they prospered materially from their experience and knowledge previously acquired in Fredericksburg,