Edward J. Roye was a black businessman and politician. Roye opened the first bathhouse/barbershop in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Roye was born on February 3, 1815, in Newark, Ohio. He
Edward J. Roye was a black businessman and politician. Roye opened the first bathhouse/barbershop in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Roye was born on February 3, 1815, in Newark, Ohio. He received his education in Newark schools, but very little else is known about his early childhood. His father sold his property in Newark in 1822 but he left Edward and his mother behind.
Roye became a barber and in 1832 enrolled at Ohio University in Athens. After graduation, he taught school in Chillicothe. He then moved to Terre Haute, Ind., where he opened the city’s first bathhouse/barbershop.
By 1840, the mood of the country was changing. Whites wanted to remove all Blacks and send them to Africa. It was during this time, Roye decided to leave the United States for Liberia.
After acquiring great wealth, he returned to visit the U.S. on his own ship. Years later Roye served as chief justice, speaker of the House, and finally, the President of Liberia in 1871. He began a program of reconstruction for his nation intending to build new roads and schools. In order to build, he needed more funding. Roye sailed for England where he began negotiations with London banks. The results proved disastrous, the terms of the