[2] Another source claims that he was born April 14, 1892 on a farm near Kosse, Texas and both of his parents were enslaved.

[4] The 1971 Illinois Blue Book listed his birth as being on July 4, 1899 in Chattanooga.

[5] In 1930, he became a deputy clerk of the Municipal Court of Chicago, a job that he would hold through the 1970s.

[6] He was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1954 serving from 1955 to 1979 representing the 3rd, then 11th and finally the 22nd districts.

[5] He was married to Margaret Smith who was also a member of the Illinois Senate.