Charles Ward Chappelle (July 11, 1872 – February 28, 1941) was an early 1900s African-American aviation pioneer and medal winner, electrical engineer, and businessman who was president of the USA's African Union Company, Inc., whose mission in the early 1900s was to create small, modernized African cities for blacks with leased land from the Gold Coast of West Africa. Several hundred thousand dollars in capital was raised during that time period for construction and modernization on the Gold Coast through the stock market, and infrastructure metal deals were made with companies such as U.S. Steel. In the beginning of Chappelle's business, he was reported to have made contracts with 82 tribal chiefs in Gold Coast, West Africa, for the exportation of gold, cocoa, rubber, and mahogany. The money was to be used to develop 440 miles with the African Central Railroad and the West Coast Steam and Harbor Company, both African-American and African joint ventures. Early life C. W. Chappelle was one of 18 children, born in Eatonton, Georgia, on July 11, 1872, to African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E. church) Reverend George W. Chappelle and Anna Johnson Chappelle. He learned his skills by attending Knox Institute in Georgia, and Morris Brown University in Atlanta, Georgia, and several United States correspondence schools. He started earning wages at the age of 10 through odd jobs such as working in lumber yards, brick and mortar positions. After receiving an education, Chappelle also worked as a school teacher in White Plains, Georgia. According to the State of Georgia Marriage Certificate (1897), Charles W. Chappelle married "Nita" Blackwell in Georgia, with his father Reverend George W. Chappelle performing the marriage ceremony. U.S. census records (1910) show that Chappelle lived with his wife Nita in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for several years. Later, single again, Chappelle moved to Brooklyn, New York. He traveled to several countries in Africa, starting in 1909, and in 1912, media reports show that he worked in Africa for at least eight more years as president of the African Union Company, Inc. International businessman Chappelle was the first head electrician of U.S. Steel, and used his friends there to help the African Union Company, Inc., that had been formed at 1821 Dean Street in Brooklyn, New York, with branches in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Gold Coast of West Africa. (African Union Company officials included Charles W. Chappelle, president; Joseph L. Jones, secretary; John T.