Col. McKee. Creation: 1860-1869. Photographer: Keeler, F. S. Collection: Cartes de visite. Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Colonel John Mckee
Transcript below
Colonel John Mckee
Born in Alexandria, Va. around 1819. Worked as a brick maker, then waiter in James Prosser’s restaurant in Philadelphia. Married Prosser’s daughter, and ran the restaurant until 1866. Bought properties throughout Philadelphia. Owned acres of land in West Virginia, Georgia, and Kentucky. Fought in the American Civil War. In June 1870, enlisted in the 12th Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Became lieutenant colonel of the 13th Regiment in 1872. Turned more than 4,000 acres into McKee City, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, as a settlement for freed slaves and other African Americans moving North after the Civil War. At his death in 1902, was “the wealthiest negro in the United States”, with an estate of over $4,000,000.
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Many thanks to the speaker Linden D Anderson from the Schomburg Center
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