St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1949-04-08
THE WEEK
Under Capitol
DONE
By Clifford Fucker

] By Clifford Fucker
From no less an authority than
our good friend, Billy williams of
the Governors office comes a bit
Of historical news which readers
of this column might find of in
terest.
There has been only one Negro
member of the Minnesota State
Legislature. He was Representa-
tive ]. Frank Wheaton. A Repub-
hcan, and a lawyer by profession,
Mr.. Wheaton was born in Hagers-
town, Maryland, educated at
Slower College, Harper's Ferry,
West Virginia; at Howard Uni
versity, Washington, D. c. and at
the University of Minnesota. He
served as a clerk in congress,
clerk of the Minnesota legislature
and deputy clerk of the municipal
court in Minneapolis.
Mr.. Wheaton came to Minnesota
in 1890 and at the age of 80 was
elected the first and only Negro
legislator in the history of this
state.
In the general election of No
vember 8, 1898, Mr.. Wheaton was
elected to represent the And
legislative district. The district
was then composed of the 7th,
18th and 18th wards of Minneapo-
lis, Edna and Excelsior villages,
and the towns of Richfield, Bloom
ington and Eden Prairie.
The late Honorable S. A. Stock
well was that same year elected
Senator from that district by
vote of 1882. Mr.. Wheaton ex-
ceeded even that vote, being cleo
ted representative by a vote of
1898. 1t is stated that there was
believed to be less than a dozen
Negro voters in the district.
Representative Wheaton served
one term in the Legislature. He
was a member of the Judiciary,
Labor, Public Accounts and Elk
penditures, Local Bills and Mill
tary Affairs committees. Billy
Williams describes Representative
Wheaton as one of the most bril-
liant orators the state has ever
known.
To him must go much of the
credit for the enactment Of our
present Equal Rights statute.
In recent years there have been
two other Negroes who have
entered the race for seats in the
state legislature. They are Harry
L. Scott, Minneapolis attorney,
and James Griffin of st. Paul. Mr..
Griffin who last year sought the
nomination from the Rondo dis
trict lost by the very narrow mar
gin of only seven votes.
There are many jobs available
in the state legislature (156 in the
House in the present session; 103
in the Senate) such as committee
clerks, stenographers, sergeants-
alarms, doorkeepers, pages and
janitors. Negroes have usually
held one or more of these jobs.
Some of those who have held leg
islative jobs are Burie Carmichael,
Jr., Mrs. Ethel Ray Nance, Bert
Shannon, Mrs. Annette Hatton
Robinson, Cy Bockinstol and the
Rev. Simmons of Duluth. In the
current session there is only one
Negro employee, S. Edward Hall
of st. Paul, sergeant in the Sem
ate gallery.
The writer of this column held
the important position of House
Index Clerk during the 1887 ses-
sion. This is one of the elective
Executive Officers positions in the
House of Representatives. The In
dex Clerk has the responsibility of
keeping the official record of
every bill presented from the
Speakers Desk. He records any
action on the bill, its progress and
final disposition. His official re-
cord is available to the members
of the house, the press and the
general public.
The Reapportionment Bill, I'M
der consideration in the current
session would give Minneapolis
six and st. Paul two additional
seats in the House of Representa-
tives. Undoubtedly, these addition
al seats will prove of interest to
Negro voters.