| Hiram Rhodes Revels |
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Information AboutHiram Rhodes Revels |
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Revels was born free in Fayetteville, North Carolina , and was taught by a black woman for his early education. In 1838 he went to live with his brother, Elias B. Revels, in Lincolnton, North Carolina , and was apprenticed as a barber in his brother's shop. Elias was a merchant and slave owner; they had another brother living in Lincolnton named Absalom. Elias Revels died in 1841. His widow, Mary Revels, turned over all her assets to Hiram before she remarried. Hiram was the town barber until 1845 when he went to Baltimore, Maryland and was ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Church . He returned to Lincolnton and sold his business. He then attended a Quaker seminary in Indiana and a black seminary in Ohio . He went to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois , and became an African Methodist Episcopal Church minister in 1845 . Revels taught and Preached in the old Northwest Territory states. Then he organized black Union regiments in Maryland and Missouri . He was affiliated with the Freedman's Bureau , which may have led to his move to Mississippi . There he served as a Minister and on the City Council of Natchez . In 1870 , Revels was elected to the United States Senate , becoming the first African American senator. It has 'often' been cited that he filled the seat which had been vacated by former Confederate President Jefferson Davis , but this is in error. According to US Senate historical records, Revels took the 2 seat of Albert G. Brown. Revels served for one year. See US Senate site: http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/senators/one_item_and_teasers/mississippi.htm EXTERNAL LINKS |