African-American officeholders during and following the Reconstruction era

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First African American U.S. Senator Hiram Revels and U.S. Representatives (R-MS), Rep. Benjamin S. Turner (R-AL), Robert DeLarge (R-SC), Josiah Walls (R-FL), Jefferson Long (R-GA), Joseph Rainey and Robert B. Elliott (R-SC)

Scholars have identified more than 1,500 African American officeholders who served during the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877)[1] after passage of the Reconstruction Acts in 1867 and 1868 as well as in the years after Reconstruction before white supremacy, disenfranchisement, and the Democrat Party fully reasserted control in Southern states. Historian Canter Brown, Jr. noted that in some states, such as Florida, the highest number of African Americans were elected or appointed to offices after 1877 and the end of Reconstruction. The following is a partial list some of the most notable of the officeholders pre-1900.


US House

Main article: First generation of African-American House members, 1870–1893

Alabama

1868 Legislature

From 1868 to 1878 more than 100 African Americans served in the Alabama Legislature.[2]

State Senate

House

1870 legislature

Senate

  • Benjamin F. Royal representing Bullock County

House

1872 Legislature

Senate

House

1874 Legislature

Senate

House

  • G. W. Allen - Bullock
  • Elijah Baldwin - Wilcox
  • Granville Bennett - Sumter
  • William H. Blevins - Dallas
  • James Bliss - Sumter
  • Matthew Boyd - Perry
  • Hershel V. Cashin - Montgomery
  • Elijah Cook - Montgomery
  • D. J. Daniels - Russell
  • Charles Fagan - Montgomery
  • Adam Gachet - Barbour
  • Prince Gardner - Russell
  • William Gaskin _ Lowndes
  • Charles E. Harris - Dallas
  • A. W. Johnson - Macon
  • Samuel Lee - Lowndes
  • Greene S. W. Lewis - Perry
  • Edwin C. Locke - Wilcox
  • Jacob Martin - Dallas
  • Perry Matthews - Bullock
  • Willis Merriwether - Wilcox
  • Edward Odum - Barbour
  • George Patterson - Macon
  • Bristo W. Reese - Hale
  • Robert Reid - Sumter
  • Charles Smith - Bullock
  • A. E. Williams - Barbour
  • J. R. Witherspoon - Perry
  • Manly Wynne - Hale

1876 Legislature

Senate

  • None

House

1878 Legislature

House

Other

Arkansas

Between 1868 and 1893, 85 men noted as either "Colored" or Mulatto served in the state legislature (House and Senate) of Arkansas. They served under the 1868 Arkansas Constitution that granted them the right to vote and hold office and then the 1874 Constitution, instituted after Democrats retook control of state government. After 1893, the next African-American to serve as a state legislator in Arkansas was in 1973.[6]

  • Joseph Carter Corbin, chief clerk of the Little Rock Post Office (1872), state superintendent of public schools (1873-1875)
  • William Henry Grey, Arkansas Constitutional Convention (1868)
  • James T. White, Arkansas Constitutional Convention (1868), commissioner of public works and internal improvements (1872)

Senate

House

Colorado

House

Florida

Senate

House

Georgia

Senate

House

Illinois

House

Indiana

House

Kansas

House

Louisiana

In Louisiana 24 African Americans served in the Louisiana Senate and more than 100 served in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Three African Americans served as Louisiana's Lieutenant Governor.[15]

Senate

House

Massachusetts

House

Michigan

House

Minnesota

House

Mississippi

US Senate

State Senate

  • Blanche Bruce, Bolivar County sheriff, tax collector, supervisor of education; sergeant-at-arms for the Mississippi state senate in 1870; state senator in 1874 (U.S. Senate in 1875-1881)
  • James Hill, Mississippi Secretary of State, Mississippi House of Representatives
  • Peter Barrow, State Senator from Mississippi
  • Jesse Freeman Boulden, Mississippi House of Representatives
  • Robert Gleed, State Senator from Mississippi

State House

Other

Nebraska

House

North Carolina

Ohio

Senate

House

South Carolina

A composite image of 63 "Radical Republicans" in the South Carolina Legislature in 1868 including 50 "negroes or mullatoes"

State Senate

House of Representatives


  • Samuel J. Lee representing Edgefield County/Aiken County from 1868 until 1874
  • Prince R. Rivers Edgefield/Aiken
  • Warren W. Ramsey representing Sumter County from 1869 until 1876
  • John Wallace Orangeburg
  • James L. Jamison Orangeburg
  • Joseph W. Lloyd Charleston
  • Aaron Logan Charleston
  • Thomas D. McDowell Georgetown
  • Syphax Milton Clarendon
  • Alfred M. Moore Fairfield
  • Asbury L. Singleton Sumter
  • J. P. Singleton Chesterfield
  • John W. Thomas Marlboro
  • Henry H. Ellison Abbeville
  • Adam P. Ford Charleston
  • Fortune Giles representing Williamsburg County
  • Gloster H. Holland representing Aiken County
  • Abraham P. Holmes Colleton
  • Sherman Smalls Colleton
  • Robert Tarlton Colleton
  • Jared D. Warley Clarendon
  • Samuel Greene representing Beaufort County from 1870 until 1875
  • William F. Myers Colleton
  • Thomas A. Davis representing Charleston County from 1870 until 1876
  • Hastings Gantt Beaufort
  • Richard H. Humbert Darlington
  • Samuel I. Keith Darlington
  • Robert Turner representing Charleston County from 1872 until 1873
  • William H. Frazier Colleton
  • John T. Gilmore Richland
  • William A. Grant Charleston
  • Ishom Greenwood Newberry
  • Eben Hayes Marion
  • Allison W. Hough Kershaw
  • John W. Johnson Marion
  • John Lilley Chester
  • Sampson S. Bridges Newberry
  • Augustus Collins Clarendon
  • Andrew W. Curtis Richland
  • David Graham Edgefield
  • Charles S. Green Georgetown
  • Thomas Hamilton Beaufort
  • Augustus Simkins Edgefield
  • Paris Simpkins Edgefield
  • Jackson A. Smith Darlington
  • John Vanderpool Charleston
  • Hannibal A. Wideman Abbeville County
  • James M. Young Laurens
  • James F. Peterson Williamsburg County from 1872 to 1878
  • Samuel L. Duncan Orangeburg County
  • Nelson Davies York County from 1873 to 1876
  • Mitchel Goggins Abbeville
  • Archie Weldon Edgefield
  • John Westberry Sumter
  • Ellison M. Weston Richland

County

  • John M. Freeman, Jr. Charleston
  • Stephen Gary Kershaw
  • Ebenezer F. George Kershaw
  • John Gibson Fairfield
  • R. M. Harriett Georgetown
  • William A. Hayne Marion
  • James A. Henderson Newberry
  • A. H. Howard Marion
  • Allen Hudson Lancaster
  • Austin Jackson Barnwell
  • Paul W. Jefferson Aiken
  • A. H. Jones Charleston
  • Paul E. Jones Orangeburg
  • Richard Nesbitt Charleston
  • William G. Pinckney Charleston
  • Joseph Thompson Richland
  • Bruce H. Williams Georgetown
  • Smart Wright Charleston
  • Dublin Walker Chester from 1874 until 1877
  • Samuel Coleman Chester in 1875 and 1876
  • Benjamin Simmons Beaufort
  • Christian Wesley Caldwell representing Orangeburg from 1876 to 1878
  • John Evans Williamsburg
  • Ellis Forrest Orangeburg
  • William Lowman Richland
  • Robert John Palmer Richland
  • James Wells Richland
  • Zachariah W. Wines Darlington
  • S. C. Eckhard representing Charleston County from 1878 to 1880
  • W. T. Elfe Charleston
  • B. G. Frederick Orangeburg
  • William Maree Colleton
  • Rev. W. Smalls Charleston
  • Benjamin Simons Beaufort
  • J. W. Westberry Sumter
  • W. A. Driffle Colleton
  • Hastins Gantt Beaufort
  • Joseph Parker Charleston
  • Joseph Alexander Owens representingg Barnwell County
  • B. G. Frederick Orangeburg
  • W. G. Pinckney Berkeley
  • W. H. Sheppard Beaufort

Local offices

Tennessee

Texas

Three African-Americans won election to the Texas Senate and 32 others served in the Texas House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era.[25]

Senate

House

Virginia

Washington

House

West Virginia

House

Wyoming

House

Washington, D.C.

  • Solomon G. Brown, House of Delegates for Washington D.C. (1871-1874), employee at the Smithsonian[34]
  • John Mercer Langston, appointed member of the Board of Health of the District of Columbia
  • John H. Smythe, 1872, clerk in the U.S. Census Bureau, clerk in the Treasury department, 1878 ambassador to Liberia
  • William E. Matthews, clerk in the United States Postal Service in Washington D.C. in 1870, the first black person to receive an appointment in that department[35]
  • Josiah T. Settle, reading clerk of the Washington, D.C. House of Delegates (1872), clerk in the Board of Public Works, as an accountant in the Board of Audits, and as a trustee of the county schools for the district

Local office

Arkansas

Colorado

Louisiana

Maryland

  • William H. Day Baltimore Inspector of Schools, in 1878 he was elected to the school board of directors at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Massachusetts

Michigan

  • Samuel C. Watson, State Board of Estimates, 1875; Detroit City Council, 1875, 1883-1886

Nebraska

North Carolina

Ohio

  • Jeremiah A. Brown, Cleveland, bailiff of the county probate court, deputy sheriff and county prison turnkey, then clerk of the City Boards of Equalization and Revision.[36]
  • Robert James Harlan, mail agent

See also

References

  1. ^ "Reconstruction | Definition, Summary, Timeline & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  2. ^ "x-index :: Reconstruction :: Politics :: Lest We Forget". lestweforget.hamptonu.edu.
  3. ^ https://archives.alabama.gov/afro/AfricanAmerican%20Legislators%20in%20Reconstruction%20Alabama1867.pdf
  4. ^ "Black members of the Alabama Legislature who served during reconstruction - Alabama Historical Markers on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com.
  5. ^ Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p390-393
  6. ^ "A family legacy: Local woman recounts grandfather's public service following Reconstruction". texarkanagazette.com.
  7. ^ a b "Carl H. Moneyhon". peace.saumag.edu.
  8. ^ Dawson, R. (December 31, 1881). "1881 House of Representatives composite photo of the Twenty-Second General Assembly of the State of Arkansas". Arkansas General Assembly composite images, 1866-2011.
  9. ^ "Arkansas Times - February 5, 2015". Issuu.
  10. ^ https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com/2020/06/15/armstrong-colorados-remarkable-early-black-legislators/
  11. ^ Florida's Black Public Officals by Canter Brown Jr. page 75
  12. ^ Florida's Black Public Officials page 77
  13. ^ Florida's Black Public Officials page 78
  14. ^ a b Florida's Black Public Officials 1867 - 1924 by Canter Brown Jr., University of Alabama Press, 1998
  15. ^ Vincent, Charles (January 28, 2011). "Black Legislators in Louisiana during Reconstruction". SIU Press – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Obituary: Anthony Overton Sr." (Lawrence KS) Western Recorder, April 18, 1884, p.3
  17. ^ a b Vincent, Charles (1976). "Louisiana's Black Legislators and Their Efforts to Pass a Blue Law During Reconstruction". Journal of Black Studies. 7 (1): 47–56 – via JSTOR.
  18. ^ Fletcher, ~ Adam F. C. (March 18, 2019). "A History of North Omaha's African American Legislators".
  19. ^ Foner, Eric (August 1, 1996). Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. LSU Press. ISBN 9780807120828.
  20. ^ Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p422-425
  21. ^ Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p133-143
  22. ^ Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p327 – 335
  23. ^ Eichelberger, Julia; Fick, Sarah. "14 Green Way - Built for an African American during Reconstruction, later served as a women's residence hall". Discovering Our Past: College of Charleston Histories. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  24. ^ "African American Legislators". tennsos.org.
  25. ^ "Early African-American Senators | TSLAC". www.tsl.texas.gov.
  26. ^ "Legislative Reference Library | Legislators and Leaders | Member profile". lrl.texas.gov.
  27. ^ "Texas Legislators: Past & Present - Mobile". lrl.texas.gov.
  28. ^ "Texas Legislators: Past & Present - Mobile". lrl.texas.gov.
  29. ^ "TSHA | Washington, James H." www.tshaonline.org.
  30. ^ "TSHA | Wilder, Allen W." www.tshaonline.org.
  31. ^ "TSHA | Williams, Benjamin Franklin". www.tshaonline.org.
  32. ^ "TSHA | Williams, Richard". www.tshaonline.org.
  33. ^ "TSHA | Wyatt, George W." www.tshaonline.org.
  34. ^ Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p291-295
  35. ^ Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p246-251
  36. ^ Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p113-117

Further reading

  • A Brief Biography of John Willis Menard from Southern University's John B. Cade Library
  • Bailey, Richard. Black Officeholders During the Reconstruction of Alabama, 1867-1878 (Pyramid Publishing) Available from author.
  • Bailey, Richard. Neither Carpetbaggers Nor Scalawags: Black Officeholders During the Reconstruction of Alabama, 1867-1878. Montgomery: Richard Bailey Publishers, 1995.
  • Canter Brown, Jr. Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924. Tuscaloosa and London: The University of Alabama Press, 1998.
  • Eric Foner ed., Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction Revised Edition. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996). ISBN 0-8071-2082-0. Between 1865 and 1877, about two thousand blacks held elective and appointive offices in the South. A few are relatively well-known, but most have been obscure and omitted from official state histories. Foner profiles more than 1,500 black legislators, state officials, sheriffs, justices of the peace, and constables in this volume.
  • John Hope Franklin "John Roy Lynch: Republican Stalwart from Mississippi" in Howard Rabinowitz (ed.), Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era, (Urbana: 1982) and reprinted in John Hope Franklin, Race and History: Selected Essays, 1938-1988, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989
  • Mifflin Wistar Gibbs Shadow and Light: An Autobiography Autobiography with Reminiscences of the Last and Present Century, Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1995.
  • Rabinowitz, Howard N. Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era (University of Illinois Press: 1982)[1] Section on "Congressmen" includes profiles of "John R. Lynch: Republican Stalwart from Mississippi" by John Hope Franklin, "James T. Rapier of Alabama and the Noble Cause of Reconstruction" by Loren Schweninger, and "James O'Hara of North Carolina: Black Leadership and Local Government" by Eric Anderson.

External links

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