In 1887 , together with A. L. Scott , Samuel Roebuck , George Turner , J. H. Thompson , Sandy Goodloe , D. A. Williams , A. T. Walker , R. C. O. Benjamin , and J. T. Jones he incorporated the Robert Brown Elliot School of Technology in Birmingham , the first school of its kind for blacks in the US By 1887 , he was a leader in the Baptist Church in Alabama : he was president of the Ministerial Association in Birmingham , a member of the board of trustees at Selma University , and president of the Negro American Publishing Company affiliated with the Birmingham '' Negro American Journal '' . In 1889 , he was in a delegation to meet with President Benjamin Harrison to discuss needs of Republicans in Alabama and advocate for greater inclusion of blacks in Republican politics . He was a attendee of the 1889 American National Baptist Convention in Indianapolis where William J. Simmons led the push to provide aid for blacks fleeing violence in the South and moving to the North . In 1896 he was an Alabama at-large delegate to the 1896 Republican National Convention in St. Louis , Missouri and supported William McKinley
1896 Republican National Convention
1896 Republican National Convention
William R. Pettiford