Eugene Parker Booze

Eugene Parker Booze was born on July 14, 1878, in Adams County, Mississippi. He was described as being light skinned, and being able to pass as White. His older sister Trenma Ophelia Booze was married in 1893, to Charles Banks (1873–1923). Booze attended Natchez Junior College, and apprenticed in merchandising and cotton trading.

He married Mary Cordelia Montgomery (later known as Mary Booze) in 1901, the daughter of the founder of Mound Bayou, Isaiah Thornton Montgomery. Together they had two children.

Booze was on the executive committee of the National Negro Business League in 1907, and 1910, representing Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Booze and his brother in-law Charles Banks opened a mercantile business called Banks and Bro. in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Around 1903, Clark and Booze closed their mercantile and both moved to Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Booze and Banks founded in 1904 the Bank of Mound Bayou, one of the first Black owned banks in the state.

In 1909, Booze co-founded alongside Charles Banks the Farmer's Cooperative Mercantile Company in Mound Bayou, a store to sell affordable items to farmers. The store remained open until 1922.

Booze was a delegate at the 1924 Republican National Convention for the third district of Mound Bayou. His wife, Mary Booze, served on the Republican National Committee, and was the first African American woman to do so.

Booze owned extensive cotton lands, and was described at Mound Bayou's wealthiest citizen at the time of his death. The Booze House (c. 1910), 308 West Main South, is part of the Mound Bayou Historic District.