The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-06-28
LAST OF HIS RACE


iieihDer OF the State Senate, and finally
iahueo IN Congress. Rainey was hand in
glove with John J. Patterson, Franklin
Moses, Tim Hurley and other Rinaldo
R.naldinis, of South Carolina reconstruct
ton. Rainey was first elected to fill the
vacancy caused by the resignation of r.
J.. Whittemore, who was threatened with
expulsion for selling a cadetship He
remained i'm the House longer than any
other negro ever sent to Congress. sery-
ing eight consecutive years. Nemes,s
caught him in the fail of 1873 In the
election Of 1876 he had beaten j. S. Rich
ardson by 1,50O votes. but in 1878 lost his
pohtlcal feet and was swept into the
whirlpool Of the past.
RAINEY IN CONGRESS.
In the House he had been a I.aniunais
among the reconstruct onists. Quick
witted and versatile in action, he had
been OF service TO his party. He became
candidate for clerk of the House in the
Forty-seventh Congress 1t was uniyer-
sally conceded that he was more than
competent and was entitled to the honor
Like others Of his race, however. ne was
set aside when rewards We're distr .buted
TO those who had distinguished them
selves i'm political conflicts. Raney was
a very hght-colOred gentleman with wavy
but not lanky hair. Suave in conversa-
| don, he had soft engaging manners, and
was supposed to be West Indian negro.
lie spoke French fuently, had the Creole
/ patots. and affected literature. He was
a fair orator. and was regarded as a lit
terateur. He admired Dumas, lectured
| on Touissart, regarded DessaIines as a
pure patriot, detested Sououque, and
claimed that Hannibal was greater
military genius than Napoleon. Rainey
took an active part in the colonization of
/ Liberia, and believed that the future of
i Ha fVFan fVElf ted eli.
rection
one OF Rainey's associates in the For
ty-iirst Congress was Israel G.. Lash,
representing district i'm North Carolina.
Lash was member OF the House when
/ Rainey was sworn in TO fill the White
more vacancy. lie had been a slave, and
was born in 1910. Lash lacked education
and refinement. made no effort to ascend
the ladder OF fame, and was of a mo-
rose disposition. lie dropped from his
perch at the end Of the term.
Meanwhile new negro appeared at
the door of the Senate with credentials
/ from Mississippi. lie was Blanche K
/ Bruce, born slave in Virginia i'm 1S4.
I In his boyhood he went to Miss. ssippi ana
afterward settled in Missouri, but re-
turned to AIississippi after the war. He
acquired land and became q planter. ,
entered political life as sergeant-at-
arms of the State Senate, was a tax col
/ lector and levy commissioner, and was
/ finally elected United States Senator for
| the term beginning i'm 1915. Being a close
/ friend of Roscoe Conkling and a gentle
man Of education and refinement, he
welded considerable influence in the
Senate. His friendship for Mr.. Conkling
/ was so great that he named his only
child after him. He frequently presided
over the Senate, filling the chair wt.A
grace and dignity and winning encomi-
ums from his colleagues without regard
| to party. on retiring from Congress in
ISL, he was succeeded by Luc;us Quntus
Cinclnnatus Lamar and was made regis
ter Of the treasury by President Gar
! field. His wife was an octoroon, refined
and genteel and well educated. Their de-
vOtion to each other was often remarked.
ELLIOTT. OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
Another negro who attracted almost
universal attention was the Hon. Robert
Il. Elliott, of South Carolina. He war
born In Boston, ouucated at High .Hol-
born, England. and graduated fro.>~Eton
College in 1859. He studied law 40 went
TO South Carolina after the Csc of the
war. After serving a~--ysmber of the
| State constitutional jSonVention he be-
came member of the Forty-second
Congress, and was reelected to the For
/ ty-third. There were four negroes from
/ the Palmetto State in this Congress and
| only one white man. Elliott was a black
/ man with a dash of white blood. He
was nine-tenths negro and extremely
| proud of his ancestry. RE traced it back
/ TO the Congos y very dressy negro, Ell
/ lott always wore a sealskin cap in win
I ter. lie kept close watch on the recon-
| structOn laws in the different States. In
| hose days travellers going South usually
/ took the boat to Quantco, where they
connected with train on what is now
known as the Atlantic Coast line. Ell
| liott insisted upon eating at the table
with the VIII ties while travelling to Quan
tico. There he entered the Jim Crow
| car. and remained there until the train
/ entered South Carolina. then he woulo
pick up his overcoat and transfer him
! self to the ladies' car, where he settled
himself comfortably I'm a seat and slept
| soundly until the train reached Column
bia. He was at one time Adjutant Gen
eral of the State. General Elliott, as he
was termed. resigned before the expira-
ton of his term to become sheriff of Co.
| lumbia. lie had ascertained that the
perquisites of the once were far supe-
rior TO those Of a Congressmar
And there is another South Carolina
negro who attained a national reputation.
| Alonzo j. Ransier. He was born In
Charleston In 1884. He was self-educat-
ed. and was employed as a shipping clerk
In 1850 by a leading merchant. His en-
poyer was tried for violating the law in
hiring a colored clerk, and was fined ]
cent, with costs. Ransier was a member
Of the constitutional convention. and aft
etward became chairman Of the Repubh-
can State Central Committee. He was
also President. al eleCtor on the Grant
and Colfax ticket, and was elected to the
) Forty third Congress. He was an apt
representative Of the charged condit ons
In Charleston. and can hardly be SAID &C
have compared favoratly with the chiv.
alric representatives from that city be
fore the war.
. A representative who WI never be for
gotten was the welI-known Jere Haral.
son Of Alabama. He was as black as
coal genuine plantation negro. the
forerunner Of raEtime and the Mobile
buck. Jere was born ia MuscCgee coun
, ". Ca. After the death Of his maste
d he was sold on the auction block in Co
. lumbus. The negro became the pTopert.
Of J. HARRISON. % Selma. and RENAME,
. there until President Llncolu's emancipa
{ on proclamation. He acquired some ed
) ucat!on afterward. became a member o
o. the State Legislature In 1870. ana wa
elected to the Forty fourth Congress. III
/ claimed a reelection to the F0rty-liftL