Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1902-03-13
NEGRO LAWMAKERS.
CoLORED MEN WHO HAVE HELD
SEATS IN CONGRESS.
The First One Took the Seat Made
Vacant by the Resignation of Senator
Dsvis--Oniy White Men Now Par
tioipate In the Deliberations.

For the first time in thirty-two
years, except for a brief period be-
tween 1887 and 1889, no colored man
sits In either chamber of congress,
and there is less prospect of the cleo
tion OF a colored man to this body
than at any time since the close Of
the civil war. That with education
and culture his political fortunes will
be advanced cannot be doubted.
Hampton and Tuskegee are doing a
great work, and the future negro
statesman will be the equal In intel
lect and culture, perhaps, of his white
brother. This was not true of many
of those colored men who have been
honored with seats in congress, but it
is true that they recognized their own
Limitations and worked patiently and
increasingly for Improvement, says the
New York Tribune. The first colored
man elected to congress was ]. Willis
Menard of Louisiana. He was born
In Illinois, educated at iberia college,
had acted as hospital steward and re-
cruiting officer for the government
during the war. and was sent on a
special mission to Honduras. In what
ever Office he served he won the conf
dence of his superiors. He had great
influence over his own people and was
noted as public speaker No negro
was ever worthier of a seat in con-
| gress, but Menard was never allowed
| to serve in the Office to which he had
been chosen, being barred out by al
| legged Irregularities In mis- election His
| failure, however, and the criticism it
evoked paved the way for the entrance
of the black man into public life, and
on February 25, 1870, after one of the
most exciting debates in the history
of congress. when Charles Sumner
acted as the champion of the negro,
Revells was admitted to the senate to
fill the seat made vacant by the resig-
nation OF Jefferson Davis. Two other
negroes served in the forty-flrst con-
| gress-Joseph H. Rainey and Jefferson
F. Long.
There were four negro representa-
tives in the forty-second congress,
which number was increased to seven
in the forty-third The forty-fourth
congress was known as the black
congress" Blanche X. Bruce repre-
sented Mississippi in the senate and
seven men of his race served in the
lower house. OF these the most con-
spicuous was Robert Smalls of South
Carolina, the famous pilot who head
ed the party that conducted the Plant
err out of Charleston harbor, for which
service he was handsomely rewarded
by the government and appointed pilot
for the rest Of the war. With the
fifty-fourth congress the number of
colored men in the house and senate
began to decrease. In the next con-
gress only four colored members were
returned. Senator Bruce was the only
man of his race in the forty-sixth
congress. Smalls and Lynch repre-
scented their race in the forty-seventh
congress. In the two succeeding con-
crosses there was only one colored
man, James e. O'Hare of North Caro-
lima, who was defeated for the fiftieth
congress, and since then only five
negroes have served in congress-John
M. Langston of Virginia, Thomas e
Miller of South Carolina, Henry p
Cheatham of North Carolina, George
w. Murray of South Carolina and
George H. White of North Carolina.