First Black Man to Own A Store

So I am not sure what the real story or the real legend is. I have always been told that my great grandfather was the first black man to own his own store. In an earlier post I talked about the conversation that I had with the old woman who remembered the story. The conversation that I had with her was in 2009. When I started tracing my family history again in 2012, she was already deceased. Instead, I spoke with her daughter who was in her seventies. I asked her if she remembered the story that her mom told me. She indicated that when she was growing up she remembered hearing talk of the first black man who owned his own phone. She told the same story of how he called down to the store on Military and asked for someone to bring him some food. He was calling from his own home from his own phone. He lived on a railroad. Now according to this woman, he sort of disappeared after that incident. No one really knew what happened to him because they didn't see him at the store anymore. According to her, the store was owned by White people and he simply worked in the store as a meat cutter. She thinks it was in the early fifties. Now, by this time, he was no longer the owner of the other store, but he was working at Dowdle and Moss Grocery in the meat department. So perhaps this is when she knew him. After 1952, he is no longer listed in the city directories. And by 1957 his wife is a widow. So what happened to Farris Moore?

If anyone has ever heard of this story please leave me a comment.

Military Rd (Military Road)

This is the address of the old store that my great grandfather supposedly owned. I am still trying to find out more information. The little store still sits in the same place at 1108 Military Road in Columbus, Mississippi. It is not being used right now. I don't think it has been used for a very long time. But, it looks like the building is still being maintained.