How did a son of former slaves make his way from Mississippi to Europe, become an influential nightlife figure in Moscow, and later, in the Ottoman Empire?

Let's talk about Frederick Bruce Thomas' eventful life for today's #BlackHistoryMonth figure.

Hannah and Lewis Thomas gave birth to Frederick Bruce on November 4, 1872 (a Scorpio!). Not long after the Civil War, the Thomases became black landowners of some 200 acres in Mississippi. They would experience many gains and losses, often using their land as collateral.

In 1879, they would go on to donate land to to the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Sadly, their livelihoods would become ensnared in a vicious plot by William H. Dickerson, a rich & well known white landowner in Coahoma County, to swindle them out of their land & fortune.

Dickerson used false complaints from white neighbors & falsified debt to pressure the Thomases into transferring the farm & their personal property to him. They filed a lawsuit, a long legal battle ensued, which concludes with the nearly penniless Thomases relocating to Memphis.

There, they rented a house & like many at the time, took on boarders. A boardee, Frank Shelton, for unknown reasons refused to pay rent and argued with Lewis, who told him & his wife they'd have to leave. Frank would later make two attempts on Lewis' life. The last was fatal.

A week after his father's murder, Frederick left Memphis and began drifting from Arkansas to St. Louis and eventually to Chicago. There, he worked as a waiter in upscale dinning rooms such as the Auditorium Hotel. He would relocate to New York for and work at the Clarendon.

His talents and charm landed him a job as the personal valet to a businessman, Percy G. Williams. He would soon turn his eyes to Europe, first landing in London and then finding employment as a valet in Paris. He quickly began learning French and traveled widely across Europe.

In due time, Frederick found gainful employment as a maître d'hôtel at famous Moscow entertainment venues such as Aquarium & Yar Restaurant. Constantly building his linguistic fluency in a smattering of languages , as well as his skills, he soon ventured out as a businessman.

Frederick Bruce Thomas reinvented himself as Fyodor Fyodorovich Thomas, and gained celebrity for his entertainment venues. By the end of 1912, he'd come to manage Aquarium and open a new venue called Maxim, famed for risqué performances.

By this time, Thomas had already married twice, had a family, & acquired riches unthinkable for someone of his background at the time. Yet just on the horizon was the Bolshevik Revolution - it left him nearly penniless & drove him and his family to Constantinople, of all places.

In 1919, Thomas had to start over all again in Constantinople. He sought investors & eventually found partners to help open "Stella Club." It was located in the northern part of Pera. On August 31, he would change the city's nightlife by introducing a jazz-band act at his venues.

Over the years, Thomas experienced several financial gains and loses, as the nightlife in Constantinople proved challenging. Eventually, he was able to open another venue, Maxim, which catered to the upper end of popular tourist tastes. Jazz had swept through the city!

Things were seemingly well, but the geopolitical situation - the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire and formation of the Republic, increasing secularization and hostility to foreigners - caused many anxiety. He'd soon lose his business to wealthier competitors and fall into debt.

I don't want to spoil the end (and this was long!) but Frederick Bruce Thomas made a name for himself. We can think of him and others as stars in this beautiful constellation of sounds that we call jazz, especially so in Turkey.