Ulysses Simpson (U. S.) Bond (1897–1967)

Prominent businessman and entrepreneur Ulysses Simpson (U. S.) Bond, like his father and brothers, was a member of a small group of well-educated, wealthy African-American businessmen who encouraged the advancement of minorities. He grew up in a progressive family that provided him with the opportunity to achieve a level of success not typically found in the town of Madison (St. Francis County), and with this success, he encouraged the growth of the black community and economy in St. Francis County.

U. S. Bond was born on August 1, 1897, in Madison. His parents were Scott Winfield Bond—a landowner, businessman, and notable resident of St. Francis County—and Magnolia (Nash) Bond. He was the tenth of the eleven sons born to Scott and Magnolia and one of four that survived into adulthood. In his early years, Bond was raised on the family farm in Madison. He worked with his family on his father’s various businesses and enterprises. When he was old enough, he went to school in the area.

After graduating, Bond continued his studies at Atlanta Baptist College, later known as Morehouse College, in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1913 to 1917. Then he completed a business course at Oberlin Business College in Ohio before he joined the family business, Scott Bond and Sons, with his father and his brothers Waverly, Theo, and John. In this partnership, Bond was the overall treasurer and manager of the family’s gravel operation. On April 19, 1925, Bond married Cliffie J. Carter, who helped him run his businesses.

Bond and his older brother Theo continued to run the family businesses after the death of their father and the dissolution of Scott Bond and Sons. They also followed in their father’s footsteps of diversifying business practices with their other joint and independent business ventures: the Funeral Director’s Exchange, which specialized in caskets and funeral supplies; Bondol Laboratories, which manufactured embalming materials; and the U. S. Bond Motel, which catered to black travelers along Highway 70. In 1953, U. S. Bond was named one of the ten leading black citizens of Arkansas. He followed in the family tradition of helping the black community in St. Francis County by providing assistance in creating and operating their own businesses. He also devoted his time and money to various philanthropic enterprises.

Bond died at age seventy on September 4, 1967, in Chicago, Illinois, after having been treated in the intensive care unit of the Illinois Masonic Hospital since August 15. He is buried in the Scott Bond Family Plot in Madison. Bondol Laboratories is still in operation today, although it is no longer owned and operated by the Bond family; it is part of Arlington Chemical Company.

For additional information:
“Bondol Laboratories, LLC Reaches Agreement with Arlington Chemical Company.” Funeral Home and Cemetery News, August 2009, p. 1B.

Chowning, Robert W. History of St. Francis County, Arkansas 1954. Forrest City, AR: Times Herald Publishing Company, 1954.

Rudd, Dan A., and Theo Bond. From Slavery to Wealth: The Life of Scott Bond. Fayetteville, AR: Phoenix International Inc., 2008.

“U. S. Bond Dies Monday in Chicago.” Daily Times-Herald, September 5, 1967, p. 1.

Stephanie Darnell
Forrest City, Arkansas