Adolphus Humbles (1845–1926) was a merchant, toll road operator, and an early supporter of the Virginia Theological Seminary in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

(a precursor to

Virginia University of Lynchburg Virginia University of Lynchburg (VUL) is a private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Christianity, Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia. VUL offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctora ...

). The University's main building, Humbles Hall, is named for him. He was African American.

Biography

Humbles was a successful merchant in Campbell County and operated the toll road between Lynchburg and Rustburg (the seat of Campbell County). He served as the Treasurer of both the Virginia State Baptist Convention and the Virginia Theological Seminary and College (now known as

), where the school’s main building bears his name. Also active in politics, he served as Chairman of the Campbell County Executive Committee for the Republican Party for thirteen years. Humbles built what is known as the Humbles Building at 901 Fifth Street in what is now known as the

Fifth Street Historic District Fifth Street Historic District is a national historic district located at Lynchburg, Virginia. The district encompasses 57 contributing buildings and 1 contributing object in a historically African-American section of Lynchburg. It includes a ...

. Humbles's adopted daughter, a white woman, was denied her inheritance of his estate because her adopted parents were in an interracial marriage, which was not recognized in Virginia at that time. Humbles was on the board of the True Reformers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humbles, Adolphus 1845 births 1926 deaths People from Lynchburg, Virginia

Biography

See also

References