“Drayage was vital to a seaport town. Tons of merchandise were transported to and from the surrounding countryside, and between wharves and mercantile houses. Even firewood and drinking water were brought into the borough….A run-down horse and a makeshift cart were the minimum necessity for getting started. The established draymen usually owned at least two horses, or mules, and several carts and wagons. The work of these proud, independent men caused them to travel throughout southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina and they established contacts with some of the most prominent merchants in the area.”
Tommy L. Bogger, Free Blacks in Norfolk, Virginia, 1790-1860: The Darker Side of Freedom. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. 1997, p. 67
“A visitor to Norfolk in 1828 called drayage ‘the business of the negroes’ … In addition, a historian labeled drayage as ‘the only occupation in which Norfolk’s free blacks faced no competition from whites.’ But a close investigation reveals that whites had begun to enter that field between 1850 and 1860. Economic considerations disposed them once again to seek employment in a traditionally black field.”
Bogger, p. 69
*Efforts to memorialize the cemetery have been sponsored by the Bethel Burying Ground Project. Locate the photograph by putting these terms in the Google search box — “black drayman” “bethel burying ground” — with the quotation marks.
The cemetery’s nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places is 70 pages long and has lots of photographs and maps.
1st U.S. Colored Cavalry 
Leslie: Particularly interesting to me. Thank you! Mark Michael Ludlow RPA
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Glad to do it!
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One of my ancestors Ambrose Lewis was a Free Negro living in Fredericksburg Virginia. He and my direct ancestor Charles Lewis were in the Revolutionary War from Fredericksburg. After the War Ambrose was a Draymen who serviced the ships. He had several cases against Ships that did not pay him which he filed with the courts in Fredericksburg.
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The community that my Lewis ancestors lived in was near the River and their lives revolved around tthe river. Many owned houses and business in that area which was on Prince Street and other streets near the river. Ambrose and Charles Lewis my ancestors were Seamen and Soldiers during the Revolutionary War. They joined as Seamen from Fredricksburg where they were serving indentures on the Page Galley. After joining they transferred to the Dragoon Ship which patrolled the Rappahannock.They were draymen before and after the Revolutionary War.
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