"C.H.James"

In 1883 an an African American man,C.H.James,walked into West Virginia's

countryside to barter trinkets for vegetables to sell at market.More than 12 decades later,his great-grandson,Charles H.James III,is still in the food sector running the $66 million C.H.James Restaurant Holdings,LLC,and teaching his three son the business.

It began in 1883 when C.H.James I moved to West Virginia from Ohio and and began selling goods on a mule cart,trading with coal miners.The miners had no cash,only scrip money,so he traded goods in exchange for produce that could grow.

His son,E.L. James would later say,"You have to diversify to survive."Just before the 1929 stock market crash,the company went bankrupt.The family was able to pick up the pieces and begin again,opening a small outlet store at Charleston's original farmers' market on Patrick Street,and the company reorganized under the name James Produce Co.Before the James family came to West Virginia they were involved in helping to organize part of the Underground Railroad railroad in Ohio.

The James Produce Company operated their second business on Virginia and Park St.on Charleston's West Side.