10/17/2025
The first wealthiest Black family in the United States fron 1859 - 1925 as well as the largest Black owned Home and Landownership and first owned Black owned golf course in the United States:
An formerly enslaved man who rose to become a wealthy and successful farmer, entrepreneur, and community leader in Kansas, known as the "Potato King".
Groves is remembered for his remarkable achievements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming one of the most prominent African American businessmen of his time.
In 1880, he married Matilda Stewart, and together they rented 9 acres to start their own farm. Through their hard work, they were able to save enough to purchase their first 80 acres near Edwardsville, Kansas, by 1884. This was the beginning of becoming the potato king of the world.
Groves consistently credited Matilda's hard work and devotion as vital to their success. She is believed to have played a key role in the daily farming operations and their overall business strategy.
Junius and Matilda had 14 children, 12 of whom survived to adulthood. All of Groves' children were integral to the family's farm and business holdings.
In a 1919 interview with The Country Gentleman magazine, Groves proudly declared,
"every one of my boys a farmer; every one of my girls married to a farmer; every man and boy of them in overalls and working hard".
The Groves family also prioritized education and leadership. His son, Charles, graduated from Kansas State Agricultural College and served as president of the Sunflower State Agricultural Association. Groves' daughter, Ida Mae, was the association's secretary.
As a testament to his commitment to his descendants, Groves strategically acquired enough land including an additional 1,600 acres for wheat in northwest Kansas to ensure a farming legacy for future generations.
Many Groves descendants still live in the Edwardsville area today, with one of the family's streets bearing his name. Family members continue to advocate for their ancestor's story to be taught in local schools.
Charles A. Groves (1881–1912): Their first child.
Walter Purtee Groves (1882–1970): Known as "Theodore," he was a successful farmer and was deeply involved in the family business. He worked on the farm alongside his father.
Frederick Elzra Groves (1883–1968): A farmer like his brothers.
Ida M. Groves (1885–1939): Served as secretary for the Sunflower State Agricultural Association.
Ora Andrew Groves (1886–1970): Remained in the Edwardsville area and was active in the family's agricultural business.
Lillian Groves (born 1888): A daughter who married a farmer.
Junius George Groves Jr. (1890–1965): Another son who was involved in the family business.
Sylvester J. Groves (1891–1935): Also worked on the family farm.
Etnia Edith Groves Flemming (1893–1961): A daughter who married and raised a family.
John Arthur Groves (1895–1962): Joined his siblings in working for the family farm and associated businesses.
Cornelius Vivian "Chick" Groves (1898–1969): The youngest of the sons.
Theodore Washington Groves (1903–1966): Continued the family farming tradition.
Trent Lockett: A former professional basketball player and a descendant of Junius G. Groves.
Nijah Kimbrough-Johnson: A Groves family descendant and advocate for teaching his story in schools. She was instrumental in getting a street in Edwardsville renamed in his honor in 2024.
At one point, he produced an astonishing 721,500 bushels of potatoes in a single year, more than any other farmer in the world. His success was celebrated by Booker T. Washington in his 1907 book, The Negro in Business, where Groves was hailed as "our most successful Negro farmer".
Groves obtained his seed potatoes from a variety of sources, including Idaho, and cross-bred them with other potatoes to develop better-performing varieties for his Kaw Valley farm. This method is similar to the modern-day practice of using certified, disease-free seed potatoes to improve crop vitality.
He experimented with crop rotation to maintain soil health, a practice proven to increase yield. Groves was known for experimenting with irrigation systems, an advanced technique for the period that would have given him a significant advantage, especially during dry years. The alluvial soil of the Kaw Valley, enriched by the Kansas River, provided a naturally fertile starting point for his efforts.
Junius Groves was the wealthiest African Americans in the nation by the first decade of the 20th Century. His holdings were estimated to be worth $80,000 in 1904 and $300,000 by 1915.
The Groves family mansion, a 22-room brick home, complete with electric lights, two telephones, and hot and cold running water in all of the bedrooms, was the largest in the area and had its own railroad spur facilitated by Union Pacific railroad. The Groves even owned 3 other large Mansion.
Groves relationship was union Pacific, was a profitable relationship, first by putting union Pacific, specific on the map and Groves famously invented a powered potato sorter that could process a railroad car's worth of potatoes in a single hour.
In the early 1900s, he founded the community of Groves Center near Edwardsville, selling small tracts of land to African American families. He also built a golf course for African Americans, the first in the United States.
1895, the Kansas State Agricultural Census recorded Groves as owning 400 acres of potatoes, 170 acres of apple trees, 160 acres of corn, and 50 acres of cherry trees. He also owned 21 cows, nine horses, and 24 hogs.
The family also owned the Cross Road Grocery Store in Edwardsville, invested in mines in Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and Mexico, had stock in Kansas banks, and held a majority interest in the Kansas City Casket and Embalming Company. Junius Groves co-founded the State Negro Business League and later served as its President.
Groves suffered financial setbacks in the 1920s due to racism because he was them most whites in Kansas, including a loss of around $90,000 in a cattle venture. Groves built three mansions, all burning down “mysteriously,” the last in 1968.
Junius Groves died of a heart attack at the age of 66 in Edwardsville on August 17, 1925. One local newspaper reported his funeral was the “largest ever in Edwardsville,” with over 3,000 people attending. He was buried in Franklin Cemetery, Grinter Heights, Wyandotte County, Kansas. His wife Matilda survived him, dying on August 28, 1930, at the age of 66.
Following Junius G. Groves' death in 1925, his descendants faced an array of challenges that threatened to dismantle the agricultural and financial empire he had built. These obstacles were rooted in broader systemic inequities facing Black Americans, and they ultimately led to the loss of much of the family's land and wealth.
Just five years after Groves' death, the country entered the Great Depression. A combination of poor market conditions and low crop prices made it difficult for the family to sustain the massive farming operation. In 1930, the Knights of Pythias of Missouri, a fraternal organization that had extended a $50,000 loan to the family, foreclosed on the Groves farm. This sale on the courthouse steps resulted in the family losing hundreds of acres of land, including their home and the core of the business.
Groves' success was an anomaly, and his story illustrates the larger difficulty of building generational wealth for Black families in the early 20th century. While he accumulated significant assets, systemic economic barriers meant his descendants faced major hurdles in preserving that wealth. The heirs' property laws that disadvantaged many Black landowners also contributed to the high rate of land loss among African Americans during this period.
Groves’ will directed that his land holdings be kept intact within the family, but the complex task of managing such a large enterprise without its founding visionary was daunting. Business rivalries and differing viewpoints among family members about how to run the operation also played a role in its decline, as highlighted in interviews with merchants who said they "were not going to buy at the price the family wanted".
Groves' phenomenal success likely generated resentment, as suggested by historian Rollen Holland, who noted that Groves' dominance in the potato market made him "too big for his time". This created a difficult environment for the family to operate in and may have contributed to their economic downfall.
Heirs' property laws did not directly target Black Americans but functioned to cause Black land loss due to systemic racism and lack of access to the legal system. The issue is a complex legal and historical one, but it primarily arises when a property owner dies without a will and the title is not properly probated.
