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By Root 474 0

had seen the culinary likes of Washington’s Hercules and Jefferson’s James Hemings. Pre-Civil War Philadelphia was a port city that depended on the money, shipping, and patronage of Southerners. Many from the Old South wintered in the city and enjoyed its cultural attractions. In the early years of the nineteenth century, Philadelphia was also a place that beckoned to African Americans; its Quaker heritage made it a potential safe haven for those fleeing from the South. The city continued to maintain connections with the Caribbean, and following the Haitian Revolution of 1804, it received an increase of immigrants from that island, both white and black, free and enslaved, many of whom joined the blacks working in the food-service industries of their adopted city. In 1810 it was estimated that there were eleven thousand free blacks living in Philadelphia and at least another four thousand fugitive slaves seeking asylum in various ways. The city’s black community grew by more than 30 percent in the decade between 1820 and 1830 alone. But by the 1830s, the conditions were not as welcoming: The free black community was at odds with the city fathers about political and social rights, though a growing abolitionist community mitigated some of the difficulties. Food and significant African American success in the service industry also helped smooth the way.

In Philadelphia, it was said, “if you’re in catering, you’re in the swim; if not, you’re in the soup.” This was because of a group of individuals who saw a niche in the market and filled it. In the North, with no slaves to staff midsize or bachelor house holds, a public butler, often a free person of color, was frequently engaged by those too small or too frugal to have their own servants. Unlike a private butler employed by a single family, a public butler organized meals and waited on a number of different house holds. Robert Bogle created the role of the caterer from that of the public butler, although the term “caterer” did not come into wide usage until the mid-nineteenth century. Bogle worked as such a butler and also as an undertaker. On occasion, he could be found presiding over a funeral during the day and a party later that evening with equal aplomb. Bogle also functioned as a waiter, and possibly purveyed meals, and provided staff as required for house hold events. From these multiple occupations and with his diverse talents, Bogle became the first of Philadelphia’s major black caterers. Soon black caterers became the norm in the city. They formed a union that was, in the words of sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois, “as remarkable a trade guild as ever ruled a medieval city. [The caterers] took complete leadership of a bewildered group of Negroes, and led them steadily to a degree of affluence, culture, and respect such as has probably never been surpassed in the history of the Negro in America.” Bogle opened a catering establishment on Eighth Street in Philadelphia. According to Du Bois, he was “the butler of the smart set, and his taste and eye and palate set the fashion for the day.”

Bogle became so famous that, in 1829, Nicholas Biddle, a prominent white Philadelphian, penned a multi-stanza ode titled “Biddle’s Ode to Bogle.” It began:

Hail may’st thou, Bogle, for thy reign

Extends o’er Nature’s wide domain,

Begins before our earliest breath,

Nor ceases with the hour of death;

Scarce seems the blushing maiden wed,

Unless thy care the supper spread;

Half christened only were that boy

Whose heathen squalls our ears annoy.

If, service finished, cakes and wine

Were given by any hand but thine,

And Christian burial e’en were scant

Unless his aid the Bogle grant.

Bogle’s origins are unclear, but he is listed in the 1810 census as living in Philadelphia’s South Ward, where most of the city’s African Americans then resided. When he died, in 1848, he was a beloved figure among Philadelphia’s elite, known for his able handling of all social situations—from weddings, christenings, and banquets to funerals—as well as