In June of 2006, Kathy Lauder and Mike Slate published a book of essays, From Knickers to Body Stockings. The essays were chosen by Lauder and Slate from their Nashville Historical Newsletter which was first published in January of 1997. I am posting with permission from Lauder and Slate, one of the essays, Robert “Black Bob” Renfro: Tennessee’s First Black Entrepreneur. It was written by Larry Michael Ellis, who wrote and published Spizerinctum, The Life and Legend of Robert “Black Bob” Renfro, in 2004. A link to Spizzerinctum will be included at the end of this page.
Robert “Black Bob” Renfro:
Tennessee’s First Black Entrepreneur
By Larry
Michael Ellis
Robert “Black Bob” Renfro is mentioned by name in at least
25 records during the period that Nashville-Davidson County was part of both
North Carolina and Tennessee, and he is listed as both a slave and a
freeman. Part of John Donelson’s epic
river voyage, his group left the Donelson party on April 12, 1780, at the Red
River near present-day Clarksville. His
master, Joseph Renfro, was a kinsman of the group’s leader Moses Renfro. Indian attacks drove them from what had
become Renfro Station, probably in June 1780.
Accounts differ as to the sequence of events which followed, but we do
know that Joseph Renfro was killed near present-day Coopertown at what came to
be known as the Battle Creek Massacre.
Folk legend says that Black Bob saved his mistress and her
children. Other historical accounts
state that only a Mrs. Jones escaped.
Nevertheless, Bob’s mistress, Olive Renfro, did arrive at Fort
Nashborough where she petitioned for and was granted “letters of
administration” for the estate of Joseph Renfro.
Bob does not appear in an official record until August 8,
1792, when he was sold by Olive Renfro (now Shaw) in what appears to be a
three-party transaction. Bob became the
property of Josiah Love, whose financial troubles involved him in several
lawsuits, with Andrew Jackson serving as
his lawyer. One foreclosure on Love
lists Bob as his only asset. Around the
same time, Love entered into another complicated transaction in which two
people claimed ownership of Bob: Robert Searcy, a prominent lawyer, and Elijah
Robertson agreed to let the courts determine the true owner. In November 1795
the Court ruled Searcy was the rightful owner.
In the meantime, on January 16, 1794, the Davidson County
Court agreed that “… a certain Negro called Bobb [sic] in the town of Nashville be permitted to sell Liquor and
Victuals.” This was the origin of what
came to be known as “Black Bob’s Tavern.”
A 1797 record lists an assault occurring at the “house of Black
Bob.” This establishment was probably
located on what is now Third Avenue, south of the Public Square.
An unusual event occurred in April 1800 when schoolmaster
Anderson Lavender assaulted Bob.
Lavender was indicted by the Davidson County Grand Jury. When he agreed to pay court costs, the case
was dissolved. This was a significant
moment in legal history: a white man was indicted for assaulting a slave and
the case was not simply dismissed.
Andrew Jackson, Archibald Roane (future governor), and David Campbell
were the judges when the suit was heard before the Superior Court.
Robert Searcy maintained ownership of Bob until 1801,
five years after Tennessee became a state.
Searcy believed that Bob had more than paid back his investment and
agreed to free him. However, freedom and emancipation are not synonymous terms. Fifty-three of Nashville’s most prominent and
influential citizens, one of whom may have been a woman, signed a petition to
the General Assembly requesting that Bob be emancipated, “giving him all the
privileges that is [sic] usual to
persons in a similar situation….” The
Fourth General Assembly of the State of Tennessee Chapter XCIII on
November 10, 1801, granted the request and further stated
that he “shall in the future be known as Robert Renfro.”
The emancipated Robert Renfro opened a new “House of
Entertainment” in 1802 that was located on Main Street (current day Second
Avenue). Robert then purchased a life
estate in Lot #25 from Robert Searcy on Main Street where he built and operated
his business until a fire destroyed the establishment in 1814. He then rented and operated the “stone tavern
on the public square, near the courthouse….”
Robert Renfro continued to be involved in court cases, prevailing
in at least three cases before white juries.
In an 1805 breach-of-contract case he sued Charles Dickinson (who was
killed the following year by Andrew Jackson), and the appeals process
established several Tennessee legal precedents.
Renfro’s name is listed on militia and tax roles, as well as in the
records of several other legal transactions.
The last record mentioning Robert Renfro dates from 1816.
Although no record has been found of his death, his name does not appear in the
1820 US Census of Nashville.
***
Click the link to read a preview of Larry Michael Ellis' book.
The book Spizzerinctum is fiction based somewhat on historical fact.
