Robert Reed Church

Who was Robert Reed Church?

Robert Reed Church was an African-American entrepreneur and landowner who lived most of his adult life in Memphis, Tennessee. His father Captain Charles B. Church was a white steamship owner. His mother was Emmeline, a mixed-race slave owned by his father. According to family accounts, Emmeline was the daughter of a white planter from Lynchburg, Virginia and a "Malay" Malagasy princess.

By 1878-79 Church had acquired considerable wealth and was able to move his family to safety during the yellow fever epidemics that swept through Memphis. As the city was depopulated by epidemic, the land was devalued. Church saw a great opportunity in Memphis real estate and increased his property holdings throughout the city. His properties would grow to include undeveloped land, commercial buildings, some residential housing, and bars in the red-light district. It is estimated that he was able to collect approximately $6,000 a month in rent from his properties. Multiple sources refer to Church as the first black millionaire, although it is now generally accepted that his wealth reached only about $700,000.

He is most famous as the father of Mary Church Terrell.