Alexander H. Curtis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Alabama House of Representatives | |
| In office 1870–1872 | |
| Alabama Senate | |
| In office 1872–1874 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1829 Raleigh,North Carolina |
| Died | July 20,1878 (aged 48–49) |
| Political party | Republican |
Alexander H. Curtis (1829 - July 20,1878) was a state legislator in the Alabama House of Representatives and the Alabama Senate during the Reconstruction era. [1]
Curtis was born 1829,a slave,in Raleigh,North Carolina on E. Haywood's plantation,then was taken to Alabama when ten years old in 1839. [2] While young he worked as a servant and in a general store. [1]
As an adult he worked as a barber and in others trades in Marion,Alabama saving for his freedom. [2] By 1859 he had saved enough to be able to purchase his own freedom at the price of $2,000 after-which he left Alabama and moved to New York. [1] After the Civil War he returned to Alabama and set up again as a barber head of a trade concern. [1] He continued until 1875 when he was considered "out of business" even though he had been rated as "honest and reliable" by credit assessors. [1]
In 1867 he was one of nine former slaves,known as The Marion 9,that setup the Lincoln School of Marion. [3]
He also was one of the founders of Selma University and was described as an active member of the Second Baptist Church in Marion. [1]
He had two sons William Curtis who became a doctor in Saint Louis and Thomas Curtis who became a dentist in Saint Louis. [1]
Curtis represented Perry County,Alabama at the 1867 Constitutional Convention. [2]
He represented Perry County in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1870 to 1872 and then the Alabama Senate from 1872 to 1874. [1] He and other 1872 Alabama Senators were photographed on the capitol steps. The photograph is held by the Alabama Department of Archives and History. [4] He was the only African-American lawmaker to preside over the Alabama Senate during this era. [1]
He was also one of the county commissioners in 1874 and was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1875. [1] He was accused along with Greene S. W. Lewis of being bigoted and attempting to rally the black majority to vote against the constitutional convention. [5]
He was also a delegate to the 1876 Republican National Convention, [6] and the 1878 Radical State Convention. [7]
He died Saturday July 20,1878 after falling from his buggy while travelling the lower Marion road with his companion Nick Stephens. [8] [9] He had been aspiring to run for Congress at the time of his death. [10]
Two of his sons became doctors. [11]
More than 1,500 African American officeholders served during the Reconstruction era (1865–1877) and in the years after Reconstruction before white supremacy,disenfranchisement,and the Democratic Party fully reasserted control in Southern states. Historian Canter Brown Jr. noted that in some states,such as Florida,the highest number of African Americans were elected or appointed to offices after the end of Reconstruction in 1877. The following is a partial list of notable African American officeholders from the end of the Civil War until before 1900. Dates listed are the year that a term states or the range of years served if multiple terms.
Philip Joseph was an African American Republican politician and journalist in Reconstruction and Jim Crow-era Alabama.
Alfred Brown Osgood was an American legislator and Christian minister in Florida.
Frederick Hill was a politician in Florida during the Reconstruction era. He was a delegate to the 1868 Florida Constitutional Convention and represented Gadsden County in the Florida Legislature. He also served as a Gadsen County Commissioner and was the postmaster in Quincy,Florida for several years.
Greene Shadrach Washington Lewis was a leader among African Americans and a state legislator in Alabama during the Reconstruction era 1868–1876. He represented Perry County,Alabama.
Benjamin F. Royal was a state senator in Alabama during the Reconstruction era. He was elected to the state senate in 1868,and was the first African American to serve in the chamber. He represented Bullock County and served for nine years. He served as a Republican,and had stated that "he could as well be an infidel as to be anything else than a Republican". He was a Union League organizer.
Hugh A. Carson was a delegate to Alabama's 1875 Constitutional Convention and served as a state representative for two terms in Alabama during the Reconstruction era. He was a former slave.
Lawson Steele was a state legislator in Alabama during the Reconstruction era. He represented Montgomery County,Alabama. He was a leader in the A.M.E. Church. In 1870,he had substantial and was one of the wealthier African American legislators.
John Carraway was a tailor,seaman,civil rights activist,and politician in the United States. In Alabama during the Reconstruction era,he served as a delegate to the 1867 Alabama Constitutional Convention. He also served on Mobile,Alabama's city council,and in the Alabama House of Representatives.
D. J. Daniels was a state legislator in Alabama. He served in the Alabama Senate in 1872 representing Russell County,Alabama. He was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives in 1874 until being ousted for not being registered or having taken an oath. Daniels and Prince Gardner received more than 2,600 votes while the candidates who replaced them,W. H. Chamber and A. G. Jones,received less than 2,000.
Charles Oscar Harris was an American public official and state legislator in Alabama.
Henry Hunter Craig was an American grocer,barber and politician who represented Montgomery County,Alabama in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1870 to 1872
Frank Adamson was a state legislator who served in the South Carolina House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era,from 1870 to 1874.
Richard R. Samuels was a farmer,blacksmith and state legislator in Arkansas. He was a delegate to the 1868 Arkansas Constitutional Convention from Hempstead County,Arkansas. He was one of 8 African American delegates at the convention. He represented Hempstead County,Arkansas in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1868 and 1869. He was a Republican. He was one of the first six African Americans to serve in the Arkansas Legislature. At The Brindle Convention in 1872 he was nominated for the position of superintendent of the penitentiary. He also served on the grand jury for a fraud and corruption trial in Hempstead. Later in 1872 he was elected as clerk for Hempstead to serve with James W. Vance who was re-elected as the Sheriff. A few months later judge T. G. T. Steele put a restraining order on Samuels and Thomas M. Higgs commanding them not to exercise their duties of clerk and deputy sheriff. T. G. T. Steele then later issued writs for the arrest of Samuels,Mitchell and Higgs for contempt of these order but was then himself investigate by the Senate for his conduct and exceeding his jurisdiction.
Jules A. Masicot was a state legislator in Louisiana. He served in the Louisiana House of Representatives and Louisiana State Senate and at the state's 1868 constitutional convention.
George W. Barber was a carpenter,farmer and state legislator who served in the South Carolina State Senate during the Reconstruction era from 1868 until 1872.
Oscar Crozier was a sugar planter and state legislator who served in the Louisiana State Senate during the Reconstruction era from 1874 until 1875.
Curtis Pollard was a minister,farmer,store keeper and state legislator who served in the Louisiana State Senate during the Reconstruction era.
T. B. Stamps was a businessman,coroner,and newspaper editor who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives and Louisiana State Senate during the Reconstruction era.
Jordan R. Stewart was a state legislator who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives and the Louisiana State Senate during the Reconstruction era.
