Stirrup, Ebenezer W. F. AT&T Miami-Dade County African-American History Calendar, 1995. | The Black Archives History & Research Foundation of South FL, Inc.
Ebenezer W. F. Stirrup provided many goods and services to the African-American community. His businesses included private horse and buggy transportation, rental housing, various real estate ventures and a lucrative drygoods store in Coconut Grove. The drygoods store was owned in partnership with William Burdine, founder of the Burdine’s department store chain.
Stirrup’s businesses were primarily located in the settlements known as Cutler, located in the far south end of Dade County and in Coconut Grove-two major population centers during the 1920s.
Born in 1873, in Harbor Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas, Stirrup migrated to Key West in 1888 and settled in Miami in 1894. He married Charlotte Jane Sawyer. They had 10 children, and although Stirrup did not receive a formal education, he insisted that each of his children obtain a college degree.
Stirrup was as generous as he was successful. A noted philanthropist, he donated the land on which Christ Episcopal Church was built in Coconut Grove.
Stirrup enjoyed success, wealth and community-wide recognition until his death in 1957.
Item 2: 1995 Calendar