Madam C. J. Walker
On December 23, 1867, Sarah Breedlove was born on a plantation near the village of Delta, Louisiana. She was the fifth child born to recently freed slaves, Owen and Minerva. She was their first child born free. Her mother died in 1874 and her father died in 1875. She went to live with her sister Louvinia and her husband. In 1877 they moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi where Sarah picked cotton. At age 14 she married Moses McWilliams. He died two years later. Breedlove and her daughter A'Lelia went to St. Louis. Two of her brothers were barbers there. She worked washing clothes for $1.50 USD a day. She also attended night school. In 1894 Breedlove married for the second time to John Davis. But the marriage failed as he was unfaithful to her.