James Aiken, son of Jane Rhodes Aiken Hall, was born into slavery in 1861. In 1891, he married Mary Smith.[1] The couple would have sixteen children, one of whom would become comedian Moms Mabley.[2]
He owned and operated several businesses. The only Black member of the Brevard, North Carolina fire department, he was killed in 1909 when a fire engine exploded.[3] He is buried in
New French Broad Baptist Church Cemetery in Pigsah Forest, North Carolina.[4] James was a Mason and a Noble Grand of the IOOF.
"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS1W-QYV : accessed 16 November 2018), James P Aiken, Brevard Township (south part) Brevard town, Transylvania, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 112, sheet 5A, family 85, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,219.
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