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Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, II was an American Presbyterian minister who served as Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction of Florida, and, along with U.S. Congressman Josiah Thomas Walls, was among the most powerful black officeholders in the state during Reconstruction. An African American who served during the Reconstruction era, he was the first black Florida Secretary of State, holding the office over a century prior to the state's second black Secretary of State, Jesse McCrary, who served for five months in 1979.
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.
Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs was a member of the 1885 Florida Constitutional Convention, served in the Florida House of Representatives, and was a school administrator. He was nominated to West Point by Representative Josiah T. Walls, who was also African American.
Joseph Newman Clinton was a politician and public official in Florida. An African American, he served in the Florida House of Representatives from Alachua County from 1881 to 1883, was a member of the city council in Gainesville from 1883 to 1885, and was a federal official in Pensacola and Tampa.
Frederick Hill was an African-American 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.
Isaac Jenkins was an American politician who served in the Florida House of Representatives in the 1880s.
Joseph E. Oates was a carpenter and politician in Florida, United States.
John W. Wyatt was a soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War, A.M.E. minister, delegate to Florida's 1868 Constitutional Convention, state legislator, county commissioner, and justice of the peace. He was described as being illiterate and an excellent orator.
Richard Horatio Black was a soldier, teacher, Volusia County registrar, justice of the peace, member of the Florida House of Representatives and held a custom house position in Philadelphia. He was a member of the state house representing Alachua County, Florida in 1869 and 1870,
Lucien Fisher, sometimes spelled Lucian Fisher, was a state legislator in Florida. He represented Leon County in the Florida House of Representatives. He served in 1875.
Noah Graham was an A.M.E. minister and state legislator in Florida. The Florida Archives have a copy of his 1867 voter registration. He is identified as "Colored". He represented Leon County, Florida in the Florida House of Representatives from 1868 to 1872. In 1868 he was also a Leon County Commissioner when Lieutenant Governor William Henry Gleason assumed the governor's office made various appointments and a dispute ensued. Graham resigned as commissioner when order was restored. A leader in the Republican Party, he tried to mediate an 1870 state senate election campaign dispute between Republican Party rivals James Page's Baptist and conservative supporters and Charles H. Pearce's A.M.E. and Radical Republican faction. Pearce prevailed.
Samuel W. Frazier was a farmer, justice of the peace and state legislator in Florida. He was elected to several terms in the Florida House of Representatives from Leon County.
Wallace B. Carr was a state legislator in Florida. He served in the Florida House of Representatives in 1881 and 1887. He represented Leon County. He served in the Committee in Agriculture.
Amos Hargrett was a farmer, county commissioner, justice of the peace, and delegate to Florida's 1885 Constitutional Convention. He was one of seven delegates who were African American. Former Florida state senator James Hargrett is his great-grandson.
Mark S. White was a teacher and politician in Florida. He lived in Pensacola and represented Escambia County, Florida in the Florida House of Representatives in 1883. He belonged to the Knights of Labor. He was described as "mulatto".
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
Isham Sweat was a state legislator in North Carolina. He served in the North Carolina House of Representatives representing Cumberland County.
John Sunday Jr. was a carpenter, merchant, mechanic, cotton inspector, and state legislator in Florida. He served with fellow African American Charles Rouse representing Escambia County, Florida in 1874. He also served as a councilman in Pensacola.
Auburn H. Erwin was an American teacher, A.M.E. minister, justice of the peace, constable, and state legislator in Florida. He was a delegate to the 1868 Florida Constitutional Convention and represented Columbia County, Florida in the Florida House of Representatives from 1868-1870. He was a constable in Duval County in 1872 and in 1878 and 1879. He served as a justice of the peace for Duval County in 1873 and 1874.
Robert Cox was an American state legislator in Florida. He was from Alabama and moved to Florida before the American Civil War. He represented Leon County, Florida in the Florida House of Representatives from 1868 to 1870. He owned substantial property and had a son Benjamin who was a post office route agent.
References
- ↑ Brown, Canter (July 1, 1998). Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817309152 – via Google Books.
- ↑ Florida's Black Public Officials by Canter Brown Jr. pages 122, 123.
- ↑ Davis, William Watson (July 1, 1913). "The Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida". Columbia University Press – via Google Books.
- ↑ Shofner, Jerrell H. (1966). "Political Reconstruction in Florida". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 45 (2): 145–170. JSTOR 30147741.
- 1 2 "Negro History Bulletin". Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. July 1, 1974 – via Google Books.
- ↑ Hanna, Kathryn Abbey (July 1, 1948). "Florida, Land of Change". University of North Carolina Press – via Google Books.
- ↑ Randel, William Peirce (July 1, 1969). Centennial: American Life in 1876. Chilton Book Company – via Google Books.
- ↑ Allman, T. D. (March 5, 2013). Finding Florida: The True History of the Sunshine State. Grove/Atlantic, Inc. p. 262. ISBN 9780802120762 – via Google Books.
- 1 2 Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924 by Canter Brown Jr. pages 122,123
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