"John Merrick" (7-9-1859-1919)

He was from the town of Clinton in Sampson County North Carolina.He did not know his father

and was raised by his mother who cared for him and his brother until they could labor.At twelve he worked at a brickyard in Chapel Hill helping to support his mother.When he was 18,the family moved to Raleigh,N.C. where he continued working on buildings at Shaw University.It was during this time that John learned barbering got married and became the father of a baby girl named Geneva.Later in life he had a son (John Jr) and another daughter (Martha).In 1880,he became part owner of the Merrick and Wright Barber Shop.John founded North Carolina Mutual and Provident Insurance Company in Durham North Carolina in 1898.This company had a deep impact on African Americans in the twentieth century for social as well as financial reasons.The growth of its premium income were from 1899,$840.00-1919,1,224,541.00.The twenty-first Annual Report of the Company shows that the total amount of insurance in force,the amount of insurance which had been written with the Company was twenty-six & a half million!The list of employees of the company in January,1920,was over 1200,with more 700 agents and 250 medical examiners.By 1948,is was the largest African American owned company in the country.Another company he created was the Merrick-Moore Spaulding Real Estate Company,incorporated December 8,1910.This company is also still operating.John was spiritual and was devoted to his church.He was not demonstrative religious enthusiast;he was a simple server of his faith.The controlling element in his life was love and it never occurred to that lip-profession could take the place of heart-service.John was was a close friend of Booker T.Washington with distinctly different viewpoints,particulary with regard to politics.