Edwin Belcher
Edwin Belcher | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the Wilkes County, Georgia district | |
| In office 1868–? | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1845 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
Edwin Belcher (born c. 1845) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, a Freedmen Bureau official in Monroe County, Georgia after the war, and then a state senator in the Georgia Legislature representing Wilkes County, Georgia during the Reconstruction Era.
Military service
[edit]Edwin Belcher reportedly served in a white regiment and was twice taken prisoner during the Civil War. When his background was discovered he reportedly said he did his duty like any other soldier.[1]
Political office
[edit]Belcher was also appointed an assessor of revenue for Georgia's third district by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant and was later appointed by Grant as postmaster in Macon, Georgia.[1] After the 1868 election the legislature refused to seat African Americans. More than two dozen were turned away but Belcher and a few others were allowed to remain because they had light complexions and it could not be proved they were 1/8 or more "Negro".[2] The others allowed to remain in their elected offices were Madison Davis of Clarke County, F. H. Fyall of Macon County and Thomas P. Beard of Richmond County.[3]
Law career
[edit]In 1872 he graduated from Howard University's law school (founded in 1869) and was admitted to the bar in Washington D.C.[1] His brother Eugene R. Belcher was also part of one of the earliest Howard University Law School classes.[4][5]
In 1878, Belcher wrote a letter introducing himself to William Lloyd Garrison.[6] In the letter he says he was "born the slave of my father".
Legacy
[edit]Drew S. Days III, former Solicitor General of the United States, is a descendant of the Belcher family.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Smith, J.C.; Marshall, T. (1999). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated. p. 249. ISBN 9780812216851. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
- ^ "This Day in Athens: 27 September 1833: Legislator Madison Davis Is Born". accheritage.blogspot.com. 27 September 2010. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
- ^ Reidy, J.P. (2000). From Slavery to Agrarian Capitalism in the Cotton Plantation South: Central Georgia, 1800-1880. University of North Carolina Press. p. 304. ISBN 9780807864067. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
- ^ Burke, W.L.; Finkelman, P.; Huebner, T.S. (2017). All for Civil Rights: African American Lawyers in South Carolina, 1868–1968. University of Georgia Press. p. 47. ISBN 9780820350998. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
- ^ Smith, J.C.; Marshall, T. (1999). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated. p. 218. ISBN 9780812216851. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
- ^ "Letter from Edwin Belcher, Augusta, Ga, to William Lloyd Garrison, April 16th, 1878". Digital Commonwealth. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
- ^ Smith, J. Clay Jr. (January 6, 1994). "Howard University School of Law: One Hundred and Twenty Five Years". Retrieved 2020-02-23.
- African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Georgia (U.S. state) postmasters
- 1840s births
- Original 33
- African-American politicians during the Reconstruction Era
- Union army officers
- Republican Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators
- Howard University alumni
- 19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly