When Sam Crosby greets most people he knows well, he says, "Hello, my Friend." What a privilege to be one of his friends.

This man is a wealth of knowledge, honor, ambition, faith and a sense of what is important in life. Among many other accomplishments, we owe this respected attorney the credit for bringing recognition to Stephen Boykin and his publication, The American Banner. Way back in 1985 when Sam first read copies of the 1899-1902 Banner in the Alabama Archives in Montgomery, he had an "aha" moment. He knew he had stumbled on a critical part of history that had not been common knowledge before then. So, his mission to share the story began.

His discovery led to a Baldwin People Magazine article by Jackie Byrd in 1986, which was picked up by national news sources. Sam included a chapter on Boykin in his book, "The Sleeping Juror." More recently, efforts to recognize the significance of this man resulted in the 2018 dedication of a marker at the site of the Douglasville School Museum in Bay Minette.

It is overwhelming to imagine a day in the life of Stephen Boykin. He started a school in Bay Minette for African American children where he taught and also trained other teachers, he was one of the first businessmen in the naval stores plant, which later became Newport Industries, and then he manually typeset a newspaper specifically for Black readers.

In 1899, typesetting a newspaper was incredibly tedious. Tiny metal stamps were the same size as actually printed — no keyboard at all. Each letter is placed in a tiny tray exactly the size of a line of final print, then placed in the page size frame — backwards to boot. After a page is set, the printing process is just as time consuming — page by page inked and printed. A video on YouTube about type setting made me appreciate this man even more. He did all this in his home for three years. All by himself.

Two of our friends, Ethel Higgins and the Rev. D. L. Boykin, met us in Douglasville to shed a little more light on this story. Ethel assists James Williams in managing the museum housed in one of the original buildings of Douglasville School built in 1951. Ethel went to Vaughan Elementary before attending high school at Douglasville. Boykin, retired pastor of Union Baptist Church, is a grandson of the newspaper publisher and is only one of the family's outstanding citizens. They proudly showed us a display dedicated to The American Banner. The rare newspapers archived in Bay Minette and in Montgomery show just what a genius Stephen was. His content includes national news, local items and much wisdom and inspiration.

In his remarks at the dedication of the museum and historic marker in 1995, Sam listed many of Stephen's attributes.

• The publisher was true to his race. He included sections named "Race Gleanings" and "Race Notes."

• He was determined and brave, urging citizens to "maintain your rights."

• He was well-respected, and many advertisements were from white businesses, including the law firm of Frank Stone, the forerunner of Sam's legal business today.

• His wisdom is evidenced in quotes such as "Advertising other people's faults is a kind of advertising that does not pay."

• He had a great sense of humor: "Lots of people have extravagant ideas about everything except work."

When Sam Crosby rediscovered copies of the Banner, he was researching stories for the book he published in 1985, "Baldwin County Bench and Bar." It was revised for a 2002 publication, "The Sleeping Juror," to benefit the Alabama Law Foundation. These books demonstrate that Sam is much like Stephen Boykin, especially in the faith and wit departments. Full of stories that are funny as well as powerful, Sam recounts some of the hilarious but true anecdotes as well as providing a concise history. He sometimes looks at the legal profession through the eyes of his father who, "never had much time for attorneys."

Now, Sam, I know you certainly didn't want this story to give you any credit, but I just couldn't help myself. You are one of the greatest treasures in Alabama and you deserve a historic marker. It will read: My Friend.