BoxRec

and "Tailsman".

He is mentioned in Archie Moore's 1960 autobiography
when Archie Moore was training to fight Rocky Marciano in 1955.
It mentions that "Poppa Dee'" had once been a Batamweight fighter and trainer
and was a second in Jack Johnson corner when Johnson fought
Tommy Burns in Sydney Australia in 1908
He owned a Barber shop in Detroit
and was doing fight promotions in Toledo Ohio
around the time Archie Moore fought Bob Satterfield in Toledo in 1949.
another source says his name was "Harry Johnson" .
and he was 75 years old (in 1955)
which would mean he was born around 1880 if my math is correct.
anyone here ever hear of him ?

Not to say the man didn't exist but it was a well-known fact that Archie Moore loved to tell stories. Kind of like how he talked to an aborigine once asking how he kept so skinny, and the man told him to just chew food and not swallow. Clearly an anecdotal story, but some people took what Archie said as being literal.

Actually I think Archie was being literal. Of course, he didn't mean to spit out 100% of your food, but to combat hunger and make weight, he suggested literally chewing fat but not swallowing it. It's quite simple, if you satisfy your taste buds, you eat less food.

there is a photograph somewhere from 1955 with Archie Moore and 75 year old "Poppa Dee" that had appeared in the newspapers.
Reportedly he was Moore's "personal advisor" and "Bally-Hoo" man who walked around with him singing his praises
( a sort of pre"Drew Budini Brown)
he owned or had owned a Babershop and was working as a doorman at a Hotel in Detroit at the time.
BTW I just assumed it was the Tommy Burns fight that he was a second at.
It didn't mention which fight but it could have been when Jack Johnson
went to Australia earlier in early 1907 to fight Peter Felix and Bill Lang.
but he could have been a second at both in 1907 and 1908.