ISSUE 51, BLACK CULINARY HISTORY, Part 3: Savannah Restaurateurs of the Gilded Age
Savannah Restaurateurs of the Gilded Age
African American cooks, bakers, eating house owners, and cafe keepers dominated Savannah’s culinary world during the final decades of the 19th century. At its pinnicle was Abraham Cobb, head chef at various times of the two great temples of hospitality in the city, Screven House and Pulaski House. (I’ve supplied his bio in ISSUE 1 of Foodlore & More.) Today I wanted to supply a list of the other black culinarians who ran establishments in the city in the 1880s-1890s. This is intended as an aid for further research.
African American Restaurateurs Savannah 1880-1895
Ashley, William 6 E Broad 1883
Baker, Alexander Market 1886
Baker, Katie 12 Market 1886, 1889
Baker, Lizzie 14 Market basement 1883-1885
Beach, E W Broad nw cor Olive 1885
Boyce, Mrs. Lydia 17 S Broad 1883-1886
Brown, Alice W Randolph 4 s President 1885
Brown, John 28 ½ Houston 1884, 37 W Broad 1885-1886
Brown, Haywood A. 51-51 ½ Broad 1889-1891
Brown, L Market basement 1885
Brown, William B.* 182 Bryan 1882-1891
Butler, C 1 Market basement 1883
Carter, Joseph H. 30 ½ E Broad 1883
Charlton, Amy* 12 Market basement 1883-1891
Clemence, Joshua 73 ½ E Broad 1891
Coffee, John H. 175 Bryan 1891
Cole, Wilkes F. 70 W. Broad 1891
Coles, O 11 Market basement 1884
Collins, Annie 8 Market basement 1888-1889
Collins, Wade 8 Market basement 1883-1890
Cooper, Asbury H. 70 W Broad 1889
Cooper, Tina 182 Bryan 1880
Dennis, Emanuel M ss Canal 3rd w of W Broad 1883
Evans, Harriet 47 E Broad 1883
Graham, Edward W Broad sw cor Indian 1883
Grimes, Charles 4 Market basement 1884-1888
Green, Lucy 16 Market basement 1883
Helam, Jane/James S Broad sw cor Reynolds 1883-1888
Johnson, Abraham L. 9 Market 1889
Johnson, Thomas Arnold ne cor Liberty 1883
Law, Richard 9 Market basement 1885-1886
Lewis, Nannie/Annie 7 Market basement 1885-1891
Marshall, Martha Liberty ne cor Reynolds 1883-1884
McAllister, Daniel rear Randolph sw cor Bay 1883
Matthews, Warren C 5 Bay 2nd e of E Broad 1883-1885
Menderson, Franics 50 E Boundary 1883-1884
Morehead, E 28 S Broad 1883
Morel, Peter/Jane 15 ½ E Broad 1890
Nash, Daniel E. Broad 1880-1883
Pleasants, Lewis M. 45 Arnold sw cor Wheaton 1888-1890
Quarterman, A 73 ½ E Broad 1890
Rhett, Leah 6 Market basement 1884-1891
Sanders, William E. Bilbo Canal 1883
Scott, Virginia 38 W Broad 1890-1891
Simmons, Olivia 12 Market 1888-1891
Singleton, Nero Montgomery, ne cor Bay La 1880
Vaughan & Co. 19 Jefferson 1890-1891 [F. B. Vaughan & T. E. Ferebee]
Washington, Hattie 97 ½ Jefferson 1886
Whiteman, James E. 26 S. Broad 1888-1889
Wright, Edward Q2 Liberty 1891
Young, William J. 9 Market 1890
*Major W. B. Brown & family left Savannah for California in November 1906.
*Amy Charlton died in November 1906 and buried at F. A. B. church. “Mrs. Charlton was one of the old citizens and for many years kept a restaurant in the basement of the city market” Savannah Tribune (November 3, 1906), 5.
W. Collins listed as butcher as well