Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-02-08


came into the exercise of ali the rights of
American citizenship by the adoption on the
part of twenty-nine of the thirty-seven states
then in the Union of that amendment to the
Constitution which declares that 1.-The right of
the citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States
or by any state on account of race, color or
previous condition of servitude.'
In these twenty years the colored race has
sent two Senators and sixteen Representatives
to Congress. OF these distinguished negroes
Senator Hoar declared in his speech the other
day: 1T was my fortune to serve in the House
OF Representatives for eight years when il con-
tanned an average of from seven to ten colored
Representatives from southern states and /
declare, what no gentleman on either side of
that House L think would ever question. that
there were no ten men in that body who could
have been chosen upon any principle Of selec-
tioD, whatever may have been their politics.
Whatever may have been the section from
which they came, whatever may lave been
their opportunities of education. Who were
better examples of the Legislative character for
propriety OF conduct. for sOundness of judg-
ment and for ability exhibited in debate than
the Representatives of that race"
The first negro to claim q seat in Congress
was j. Willis Menard who asserted that he was
elected to the Fortieth Congress from the re-
constructed state of Louisiana. He had con-
tested with Caleb 5. Hunt for the seat made
vacant BIZ the death of James Mann. The con-
test was not considered by the House until the
third session of the Congress. In the debate
in the House upon the contest Menard was
heard in his own behalf, and was thus the first
negro to speak IN Congress. William b, Alli-
son. now Senator. but then a member of the
House. surrendered his seat to Menard during
the debate The House decided February H.
1869. that neither Menard nor Hunt was entitled
To the seat. and it remained vacant during that
Congress. 1t is an interesting fact that this
case YVES decided ten DAYS before Congress SUBJ
united the Fifteenth Amendment to the people
OF the sovereign states. Menard is now living
In Washington. He is and has for some years
been an @l,sOO clerk in one of the divisions of
the pension Office. Menard never reached Con-
gress. but the fact that he was the first colored
contestant Tor a seat in Congress gives him an
Unique position in the history of his race. The
greater distinction of being the first negro to
SIT IN the House of Representatives belongs to
the late
JOSEPH n. RAISEY
of South Carolina. He was born of slave
parents who had earned their freedom in 1892
In his young manhood he followed the occupa-
ton of a barber and was still so engaged when
the war broke ont. He was impressed to work
on the fortIicatiOns of Charleston, but escaped
to the West Indies and afterward reached the
Union lines. When the war was over he re-
turned to Charleston and at once became a
prominent figure in the political affairs OF his
state. He was elected to the state senate in
1869. and was still a member of that body when
NANSbcu W IOEtE-urss congress TO NIL the
vacancy occasioned by the non-recepton of B.
Frank Whittemore, Massachusetts carpet
Dagger who had been elected in 1868 Rainey
took his seat early in 1870 He continued a
member of the House from the Georgetown
district until 1879 serving in i've Congresses
and period of over nine years. He was per-
haDs the ablest of the negro members of the
House. he died several years ago in the city
In which he was born.
SENATOR REvELs.
The distinction of being the first colored
man to sit in either house of Congress fell to
Rev. II. b. Revels of Mississippi at the age of
fOrty-nine. He was elected short-term Sena-
tor upon the reconstruction of the state and
served IN the Senate from February o. 1870 to
March 4, 1871, his colleague being James L,
Aicorn. who had been a confederate brigadier
general Revels was born free in Fayetteville
NC, September l, 1922. He removed to Indi-
ana. studied for the ministry and was ordained
Methodist clergyman. He travelled through
many states preaching. Early in the war he
organized several colored regiments in the
northern states. Immediately after the rebel
hon he settled in Natchez and became the pre-
siding elder of his church. His requirements
were much more extensive than those of moi
OF the newly enfranchised race and he at ora
became a leader in the state and secured tic
INST great prize offered. The Rev Reyels did
not cut a large figure in the Senate except as a
curiosity. He was a good preacher, but a poor
politician. and after his year in the Senate he
dropped out of public life. He is now presi-
dent Of a college in Mississippi.
TIE FoRTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
There were three negroes in the Forty first
Congress. five In the Forty-second six in the
Forty-thlrd. seven in the Forty fourth, four in
the Forty-fifth. one in the Forty-sixth, one in
the foriy-seventh, two in the Forty-eighth and
two IN the Forty-ninth- The Flftieth was the
hrst white Congress since the adoption of the
amendment. In the Fifty-first Congress Mr..
Cheatham, as before stated. is the only repre-
sentative OF his race. The distribution of col
ored representation among the several southern
states has been as follows: Alabama has had
three colored Congressman who have served A
total OF three terms; Florida one serving two
terms; Georgia one, serving one term: Louis
lana one, serving one term: Mississippi three.
serving six terms in Congress; North Carolina
three, serving in four Congresses and South
Carolina five. serving fifteen terms Virginia.
West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri.
Arkansas and Texas have never elected col.
ored Congressman. The following list gives the
names of all the Congressman Of color their
states and the Congresses in which they served:
Name State. Congresses.
t1fucc, Dlaucuc NJ iiics. HOO
Cain, Richard III. sc. .43-5
Cheatham. Henry p.
DE Large. Robert c. S.C...........42
Elliott. Robert Brown. 42-3
..ataAsour Sete- Aia --......--...4 Al
Lyman. John Adams .N.C......-...........44