The Prosser's Famous Terrapin Soup and a Storied Family of Activists

James Prosser Osbourn, got into the same business his grandfather started. They both were restaurant owners in Philadelphia. His grandfather James Prosser, went into business in the early 1800s with two brothers by the names of Thomas and William LeCount. They made their restaurant a cornerstone with one of their notable culinary achievements being that they were the only ones who "laid in a large stock of terrapin and oysters". 

On top of being an important restaurant owner in Philadelphia, James Prosser (his grandfather) was also an avid supporter of abolition. He attended two colored conventions in his lifetime. The colored conventions are an extremely important part of Black American history. They offered blacks a body to politically and socially organize, starting in the year 1830 well into the years following the American Civil War. James took part in one in the city of Philadelphia in 1855 and a second one in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1865.