Macon Bolling Allen - wikipedia Macon Bolling Allen Macon Bolling Allen Allen Macon Bolling August 4, 1816 Indiana, US June 11, 1894 ( 1894 - 06 - 11 ) ( aged 77 ) Washington, D.C Resting place Washington, D.C Other names Allen Macon Bolling Occupation Lawyer, Judge Known for First African - American lawyer and Justice of the Peace Political party Democrat Spouse ( s ) Hannah Allen Children Five Macon Bolling Allen ( born Allen Macon Bolling ; August 4, 1816 -- June 11, 1894 ) is believed to be both the first African American licensed to practice law and to hold a judicial position in the United States. Allen passed the bar exam in Maine in 1844 and became a Massachusetts Justice of the Peace in 1848. He moved to South Carolina after the American Civil War to practice law and was elected as a probate court judge in 1874. Following the Reconstruction Era, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as an attorney for the Land and Improvement Association. Contents 1 Career 1.1 Legal career 1.2 Judge 1.3 Federal post 2 Marriage 3 Chronology 4 References Career Legal career Allen moved to Portland, Maine in the early 1840s and studied law, working as a law clerk for General Samuel Fessenden, a local abolitionist and attorney. After passing the bar exam, he was granted his license to practice law in Maine on July 3, 1844. He experienced difficulty finding legal work in Maine because whites were unwilling to hire a black attorney and few blacks lived in Maine. In 1845 he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, walking fifty miles to the bar exam test site because he could not afford transportation, and passing the exam despite his fatigue. According to some sources, Allen and attorney Robert Morris in Boston opened the first black law office in the United States, but the authors of Sarah 's Long Walk say there is `` no direct knowledge that ( Allen and Morris ) ever met '', nor is such a partnership mentioned in Emancipation : The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844 - 1944. Judge Racial prejudice in Boston again kept Allen from making a living as a lawyer so he sought to become a judge to supplement his income. After passing a rigorous qualifying exam for Justice of the Peace for Middlesex County, Massachusetts in 1848, Allen became the first African American in the United States to hold a judicial position, despite not being considered a U.S. citizen under the Constitution at the time. Following the American Civil War, Allen moved to Charleston, South Carolina, to open a law office. In 1873, he was appointed as a judge in the Inferior Court of Charleston and one year later was elected as probate judge for Charleston County, South Carolina. He continued to practice law until his death at age 78. Federal post After Reconstruction, Allen moved to Washington, D.C., where he was employed as an attorney in 1873 for the Land and Improvement Association. Marriage While living in Boston, Allen met and married his wife Hannah, with whom he ultimately had five sons. Chronology 1816 Born in Indiana. 1840 Moves to Portland, Maine 1844 Changes his name to Macon Bolling Allen 1844 Passes the bar in Maine on July 3 1845 In May, Allen walks 50 miles to take the bar exam in Worcester, MA ( Kendrick, p. 6 ) 1845 Moves to Boston, Massachusetts, and is admitted to the bar on May 3 1846 Announces Boston law practice in several editions of The Liberator 1848 Becomes justice of the peace for Middlesex County 1868 Moves to Charleston, South Carolina 1872 Becomes a partner in William J. Whipper and Robert Brown 1873 Elected judge of the Inferior Court of Charleston in February 1874 Elected to the office of judge probate for Charleston County 1894 Dies in Washington, D.C. on October 10 References ^ Jump up to : Manos, Nick. `` Allen, Macon B. ( 1816 - 1894 ) ''. BlackPast.org. Retrieved February 16, 2012. ^ Jump up to : Kendrick, Stephen & Kendrick, Paul ( 2004 ). Sara 's Long Walk The Free Blacks of Boston and How Their Struggle for Equality Changed America. Boston, MA : Beacon Press. pp. 6 -- 7. Jump up ^ Smith, Jr., J. Clay ; Marshall, Thurgood ( 1999 ). Emancipation : The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844 - 1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 112 -- 113. ISBN 0812216857. ^ Jump up to : Flagg, Curtis Shaw ( February 10, 2012 ). `` 10 people to know during black history month ''. Jump up ^ Allen, Macon ( March 6, 1846 ). `` Macon B. Allen '' ( PDF ). The Liberator. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2018. Boston African American community prior to the Civil War Boston African American National Historic Site Black Heritage Trail Slavery in the colonial United States Prominent individuals Macon Bolling Allen ( lawyer, judge ) Crispus Attucks ( killed during Boston Massacre ) Leonard Black ( minister, slave memoirist ) John P. Coburn ( abolitionist, soldier ) Ellen and William Craft ( slave memoirists, abolitionists ) Rebecca Lee Crumpler ( physician ) Lucy Lew Dalton ( abolitionist ) Thomas Dalton ( abolitionist ) Hosea Easton ( abolitionist, minister ) Moses Grandy ( abolitionist, slave memoirist ) Leonard Grimes ( abolitionist, minister ) Primus Hall ( abolitionist, Rev. War soldier ) Prince Hall ( freemason, abolitionist ) Lewis Hayden ( abolitionist, politician ) John T. Hilton ( abolitionist, author, businessman ) Thomas James ( minister ) Barzillai Lew ( Rev. War soldier ) George Latimer ( escaped slave ) Walker Lewis ( abolitionist ) George Middleton ( 1735 -- 1815 ) ( Rev. War soldier, Freemason, activist ) Robert Morris ( lawyer, abolitionist, judge ) William Cooper Nell ( abolitionist, writer ) Susan Paul ( teacher, abolitionist, author ) Thomas Paul ( minister ) John Swett Rock ( dentist, doctor, lawyer, abolitionist ) John Brown Russwurm ( college grad., teacher ) John J. Smith ( abolitionist, politician ) Maria W. Stewart ( abolitionist, public speaker, journalist ) Baron Stow ( minister ) Samuel Snowden ( minister, abolitionist ) Edward G. Walker ( abolitionist, lawyer, politician ) David Walker ( abolitionist ) Phillis Wheatley ( poet, author ) Relevant topics and associated individuals Black nationalism Back - to - Africa movement ( See Paul Cuffee - William Gwinn ) Legal cases Dred Scott v. Sandford 1857 Supreme Court decision Freedom suits of 1781 ( See Elizabeth Freeman - Quock Walker ) Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 ( See : Anthony Burns - Shadrach Minkins - Thomas Sims ) History of slavery Charles Apthorp Bunch - of - Grapes Merchants Row Organizations Abolitionism Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society ( interracial ) Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society ( interracial ) Massachusetts General Colored Association ( abolitionism, equality ) Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society ( interracial ) Prince Hall Freemasonry Education Home of Primus Hall ( 1798 - 1806 ) African Meeting House ( 1806 - 1835 ) Abiel Smith School ( 1835 - ? ) Religion African Meeting House Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church Rowe Street Baptist Church Twelfth Baptist Church Other Bucks of America ( Mass. Rev. War soldiers ) Prince Hall Freemasonry Historic sites or neighborhoods Abiel Smith School African Meeting House and Museum Black Beacon Hill ( Joy Street, Southack Street ( now Phillips ) ) Black Heritage Trail Boston African American National Historic Site Charles Street Meeting House John Coburn House Lewis and Harriet Hayden House George Middleton House William C. Nell House Phillips School John J. Smith House Influential publications Freedom 's Journal The Liberator ( anti-slavery newspaper ( white owned ) ) Walker 's Appeal Related Copp 's Hill Burying Ground Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Macon_Bolling_Allen&oldid=831343334 '' Categories : 1816 births 1894 deaths African - American lawyers American lawyers African - American history of Maine People from Portland, Maine People from Indiana Hidden categories : CS1 : Julian -- Gregorian uncertainty Articles with hCards All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from February 2012 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 20 March 2018, at 02 : 51. About Wikipedia

Question: when did the first black lawyer in america receive his license
Answer: Macon Bolling Allen