Joseph R. Holmes
| Joseph R. Holmes | |
|---|---|
| Born |
ca. 1838 Charlotte County |
| Died |
May 3, 1869 (aged 30–31) Charlotte County courthouse |
| Cause of death | Pistol shot |
| Occupation | Shoemaker, politician |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Clark |
| Children | Payton (1865), Louisa (1866), Joseph (1867) and William H. Holmes |
| Parent(s) | Payton and Nancy Holmes |
Joseph R. Holmes (1838-May 3, 1869) was a formerly enslaved African American shoemaker, who after emancipation during the American Civil War became a farmer and politician in Charlotte County, Virginia, serving in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868 but being murdered outside the Charlotte County courthouse for his political activities.[1][2]
Background
A former slave, Holmes aligned with the Radical Republicans and published various articles critical of the Virginia Conservative Party after the American Civil War. He was elected to represent Charlotte and Halifax Counties in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868.[3] He defeated former Confederate and Virginia Supreme Court justice Wood Bouldin, and was one of the African American delegates most ridiculed in the Conservative press.
On May 29, 1868, Holmes bought 11.5 acres of land in Charlotte County. At some previous point he had married Mary Clarke and sired three sons and one daughter.[4]
Murder
As a result of his political activities in support of radical reforms, Hunter Holmes Marshall, the son of Holmes' former owner (and Charlotte County delegate) John H. Marshall (d. 1857), reportedly threatened to kill Holmes. On May 3, 1869 Holmes was shot and killed outside the Charlotte County courthouse, whilst seeking an arrest warrant against Hunter Marshall. A coroner's jury considered it a murder by an unknown person. Although the violence received some newspaper coverage outside Virginia, none of the white men involved in the incident was arrested, tried nor convicted[5]
Legacy
Holmes is presumed buried on the land he had bought. No further African Americans presented themselves as candidates for office for decades.[6]
References
- ↑ Jones Salmon, Emily (2018-04-26). "Joseph R. Holmes (ca. 1838–1869)". Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
- ↑ Jackson, Luther Porter. Negro Office-Holders in Virginia, 1865–1895. Norfolk, Virginia: Guide Quality Press, 1945 p..21.
- ↑ "African American Legislators (1867–1899)". Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Encyclopedia Virginia. 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
- ↑ Henderson, Lisa Y (2014-11-16). "The life of Joseph R. Holmes, radical". Scuffalong: Genealogy. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
- ↑ Salmon
- ↑ Works Progress Administration, The Negro in Virginia (Arno Press and the New York Times (1969) at p. 236 or John R. Blair Publisher North Carolina 1994 p. 261