Peter Jacob Carter rose from slavery to be an influential member of the General Assembly and sought-after political speaker during the 1870s and 1880s.
For seventy-five years Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune's pen name, Marion Harland, was nationally known to readers of her novels, short stories, and domestic advice.
An extraordinary orator who preached throughout the eastern United States, John Jasper in 1867 established Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church, in Richmond.