Was a a lawyer in Washington,D.C.,Sardis,Mississippi,and Memphis Tennessee.He was a part of Howard University's first graduating class in 1872.In 1875,he moved to Mississippi and was elected a member of the
Mississippi House of Representatives in 1883.In 1885 he moved to Memphis
where he was appointed Assistant Attorney-General in Shelby County.He
held that position for two years before turning to private practice.
Josiah was born a slave in the Cumberland Mountains of East Tennessee or
North Carolina to Nancy Settle.His daddy was the owner of the family,also
named Josiah,and at the time of his birth,his master was moving the household from their home in Rockingham,North Carolina to Mississippi.
His daddy was wealthy,having been a slave trader while that was possible .He was the son of David and Rhonda Settle.He had two daughters by his first
wife,who died in 1829 in childbirth.Nancy Ann was a slave of Azariah Graves,
a North Carolina militia general in the war of 1812,and may have been a child of his or someone in his family.Josiah Sr.Josiah Sr. and Nancy had ten children Josiah Sr. kept a large number of slaves on his plantation in Tishomingo County.Josiah Sr.felt devoted to Josiah's mama and children by
her,and in the 1850s manumitted her and their children.As the state forbade
the presence of free African-Americans,in March 1856,they moved to Hamilton,Ohio,although Josiah kept his slaves and plantation in Mississippi
and lived there in the fall,winter, and Spring.In 1858 Josiah's married and in
1861,when the American Civil War began,the elder Josiah sold his land and slaves in Mississippi and moved to Ohio and supported the Union.He died
in the Spring of 1869.
Josiah first attended schools near Hamilton,although faced discrimination
in school until the school until the school received a new school in the spring
of 1866,Josiah started preparatory school in Oberlin,Ohio,and entered Oberlin College in 1868.At Oberlin,he participated in an integrated baseball
club called the Resolutes which included African American Simpson Younger
and a number of whites including Phil Dixion and Patrick J.Hannigan.The Club played against a number of semipro and professional clubs and was
very successful,its only losses coming to the Cleveland Forest City's.The next
Year he graduated from Howard in 1872 in the schools first class along with
James Monroe Gregory and Arthur Clough O'Hear; Arthur died in 1876 in
Charleston, South Carolina.During his last two years at Howard,Josiah
in the education division of the Freedmen's Bureau and in the last last part
part of his senior year he became reading clerk of the Washington,DC of
Delegates under Alexander Shepherd.He also began teaching at the university of before graduating,and after graduating joined the new law department
and was admitted to the DC bar.He also was active in DC politics,and served
as a clerk in the Board of Public Works,as an account in the Board of Audits,
and as a trustee of the county schools for the district.He also an active pioneer Hilldale neighborhood.
He supported Ulysses S.Grant in the 1872 Presidential Election and campaign
in Maryland and in his home state of Ohio.Josiah return to Mississippi in March 1875 and was admitted to the bar in that state.His work at first brought him to various locations throughout the state,finally settling at Sardis in Panola County in northwestern Mississippi,forming a partnership
with D.T.J.Matthews.In the summer of that year he married Theresa T.Vogelsang from Annapolis,Maryland in Washington,DC. Theresa was the only daughter of William & Charity Bishop who were prominent freedmen in Maryland.In August,he was nominated to the position of District Attorney
in Mississippi,but the 1875 election in Mississippi was overwhelmingly won
by Democrats and Josiah lost.In 1876 and 1880 he was selected as a delegate
to the Republican National Conventions.In 1876,he initially supported
Roscoe Conking and Stewart Lyndon Woodford before turning to Rutherford
Hayes and Chester Arthur.
In 1882,Josiah was encouraged to run for congress,but endorsed James Ronald Chalmers who ran as an independent Democrat and was awarded
the seat after some controversy.Josiah Josiah was made chairman of the
Republican Congressional Committee and campaign vigorously.In 1883,
the Republicans and Independent Democrats again sought a joint ticket
for state legislature,which Josiah opposed.Josiah ran for a seat that year as
an independent and was elected by a large majority.He was very successful
as a speaker in the legislature,Josiah decided to sit only one term.After
adjournment, he decided to move to Memphis and focus on law.
In the spring of 1885,shortly after moving to Memphis,he was appointed
Assistant-Attorney General in Shelby County.He held this position until
the end of Peter Turner's term as governor in January 1887.His firm was
Humbert,Griggs,Settle, & Matthews.
From March 1886 to September 1887,Ida Bell Wells-Barnett was boarded with the Settles at their home on Lauderdale Street and Josiah was one of a number of father figures for the budding journalist and activists.Ida and
Theresa became close,Ida moved out when she felt the wealthy Settles' were
cheap and asking for too much money.Ida would later criticize Josiah in
her paper,Free Speech and called him a "sycophant" in her writings.
This was in response to Josiah and fellow African-American lawyer and
fellow African-American lawyer Thomas Cassels' representing members
of Rev.Taylor Nightgale church on charges that Taylors' leadership was
militant and incendiary "on the race question." Taylor was was convicted
and fled Memphis rather than serve his sentence of 80 days in prison.
In private practice in 1905,Josiah and Benjamin F.Booth represented Mary Morrison in a case challenging state law mandating segregation on street
cars,the judge ruled in favor of the state law.In 1900 Josiah reported that
"we haved faced unreasoning prejudice."We have faced unreasoning prejudice.We have found,not our clients,but ourselves on trial,and not
ourselves alone,but the whole race with us.In the early 1910s,Booker T.Washington wrote that Josiah told him that as a lawyer he did not faced
discrimination from judges,lawyers,or juries.
In 1906 he,Robert Reed Church,M.L. Clay, and T.H. Hayes founded the Solvent Bank &Trust Company at 392 Beale Street in Memphis.
Josiah was an Episcopalian,and in Memphis attended Emmanuel Episcopal
Church.In 1910,he helped organize a Memphis chapter of Sigma Pi Phi along
with James Carroll Napier of Nashville.In Memphis,he was a member of a
circle African American elites which included Robert Reed Church his daughter Mary Church Terrell and her husband Robert Heberton Terrell,
Roscoe Conking Bruce,Charles Hookses,and Samuel A.McElwee.Josiah was
the first president of the National Negro Bar Association (NNBA),serving
from 1905 until 1913.The NNBA was affiliated the National Negro Business
League which had been organized by Booker T.Washington.
On March 20,1890,Josiah married Fannie McCullough,director of music at
Lemoyne Normal Institute.About that time the Settles lived on South Orleans Street.
Josiah died in in Memphis after a long illness.He had two sons,Josiah T, &
Temoy.His sister,Cornelia A. married James Matthews Townsend in 1871.
Josiah was born a slave in the Cumberland Mountains of East Tennessee or
North Carolina to Nancy Settle.His daddy was the owner of the family,also
named Josiah,and at the time of his birth,his master was moving the household from their home in Rockingham,North Carolina to Mississippi.
His daddy was wealthy,having been a slave trader while that was possible .He was the son of David and Rhonda Settle.He had two daughters by his first
wife,who died in 1829 in childbirth.Nancy Ann was a slave of Azariah Graves,
a North Carolina militia general in the war of 1812,and may have been a child of his or someone in his family.Josiah Sr.Josiah Sr. and Nancy had ten children Josiah Sr. kept a large number of slaves on his plantation in Tishomingo County.Josiah Sr.felt devoted to Josiah's mama and children by
her,and in the 1850s manumitted her and their children.As the state forbade
the presence of free African-Americans,in March 1856,they moved to Hamilton,Ohio,although Josiah kept his slaves and plantation in Mississippi
and lived there in the fall,winter, and Spring.In 1858 Josiah's married and in
1861,when the American Civil War began,the elder Josiah sold his land and slaves in Mississippi and moved to Ohio and supported the Union.He died
in the Spring of 1869.
Josiah first attended schools near Hamilton,although faced discrimination
in school until the school until the school received a new school in the spring
of 1866,Josiah started preparatory school in Oberlin,Ohio,and entered Oberlin College in 1868.At Oberlin,he participated in an integrated baseball
club called the Resolutes which included African American Simpson Younger
and a number of whites including Phil Dixion and Patrick J.Hannigan.The Club played against a number of semipro and professional clubs and was
very successful,its only losses coming to the Cleveland Forest City's.The next
Year he graduated from Howard in 1872 in the schools first class along with
James Monroe Gregory and Arthur Clough O'Hear; Arthur died in 1876 in
Charleston, South Carolina.During his last two years at Howard,Josiah
in the education division of the Freedmen's Bureau and in the last last part
part of his senior year he became reading clerk of the Washington,DC of
Delegates under Alexander Shepherd.He also began teaching at the university of before graduating,and after graduating joined the new law department
and was admitted to the DC bar.He also was active in DC politics,and served
as a clerk in the Board of Public Works,as an account in the Board of Audits,
and as a trustee of the county schools for the district.He also an active pioneer Hilldale neighborhood.
He supported Ulysses S.Grant in the 1872 Presidential Election and campaign
in Maryland and in his home state of Ohio.Josiah return to Mississippi in March 1875 and was admitted to the bar in that state.His work at first brought him to various locations throughout the state,finally settling at Sardis in Panola County in northwestern Mississippi,forming a partnership
with D.T.J.Matthews.In the summer of that year he married Theresa T.Vogelsang from Annapolis,Maryland in Washington,DC. Theresa was the only daughter of William & Charity Bishop who were prominent freedmen in Maryland.In August,he was nominated to the position of District Attorney
in Mississippi,but the 1875 election in Mississippi was overwhelmingly won
by Democrats and Josiah lost.In 1876 and 1880 he was selected as a delegate
to the Republican National Conventions.In 1876,he initially supported
Roscoe Conking and Stewart Lyndon Woodford before turning to Rutherford
Hayes and Chester Arthur.
In 1882,Josiah was encouraged to run for congress,but endorsed James Ronald Chalmers who ran as an independent Democrat and was awarded
the seat after some controversy.Josiah Josiah was made chairman of the
Republican Congressional Committee and campaign vigorously.In 1883,
the Republicans and Independent Democrats again sought a joint ticket
for state legislature,which Josiah opposed.Josiah ran for a seat that year as
an independent and was elected by a large majority.He was very successful
as a speaker in the legislature,Josiah decided to sit only one term.After
adjournment, he decided to move to Memphis and focus on law.
In the spring of 1885,shortly after moving to Memphis,he was appointed
Assistant-Attorney General in Shelby County.He held this position until
the end of Peter Turner's term as governor in January 1887.His firm was
Humbert,Griggs,Settle, & Matthews.
From March 1886 to September 1887,Ida Bell Wells-Barnett was boarded with the Settles at their home on Lauderdale Street and Josiah was one of a number of father figures for the budding journalist and activists.Ida and
Theresa became close,Ida moved out when she felt the wealthy Settles' were
cheap and asking for too much money.Ida would later criticize Josiah in
her paper,Free Speech and called him a "sycophant" in her writings.
This was in response to Josiah and fellow African-American lawyer and
fellow African-American lawyer Thomas Cassels' representing members
of Rev.Taylor Nightgale church on charges that Taylors' leadership was
militant and incendiary "on the race question." Taylor was was convicted
and fled Memphis rather than serve his sentence of 80 days in prison.
In private practice in 1905,Josiah and Benjamin F.Booth represented Mary Morrison in a case challenging state law mandating segregation on street
cars,the judge ruled in favor of the state law.In 1900 Josiah reported that
"we haved faced unreasoning prejudice."We have faced unreasoning prejudice.We have found,not our clients,but ourselves on trial,and not
ourselves alone,but the whole race with us.In the early 1910s,Booker T.Washington wrote that Josiah told him that as a lawyer he did not faced
discrimination from judges,lawyers,or juries.
In 1906 he,Robert Reed Church,M.L. Clay, and T.H. Hayes founded the Solvent Bank &Trust Company at 392 Beale Street in Memphis.
Josiah was an Episcopalian,and in Memphis attended Emmanuel Episcopal
Church.In 1910,he helped organize a Memphis chapter of Sigma Pi Phi along
with James Carroll Napier of Nashville.In Memphis,he was a member of a
circle African American elites which included Robert Reed Church his daughter Mary Church Terrell and her husband Robert Heberton Terrell,
Roscoe Conking Bruce,Charles Hookses,and Samuel A.McElwee.Josiah was
the first president of the National Negro Bar Association (NNBA),serving
from 1905 until 1913.The NNBA was affiliated the National Negro Business
League which had been organized by Booker T.Washington.
On March 20,1890,Josiah married Fannie McCullough,director of music at
Lemoyne Normal Institute.About that time the Settles lived on South Orleans Street.
Josiah died in in Memphis after a long illness.He had two sons,Josiah T, &
Temoy.His sister,Cornelia A. married James Matthews Townsend in 1871.
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