Thomas J. Reynolds

Thomas John Reynolds (1854-1896) was a lawyer and legislator who served in the South Carolina Senate post Reconstruction.

Reynolds was born March 28, 1854 as a slave.[1][2] He was from Saint Helena Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina.[3] Educated first in the local schools of Saint Helena Island then in Atlanta College he then attended the University of South Carolina but it closed in 1877 before he obtained a degree.[1]

He was first elected to serve in the South Carolina Senate from 1884 until 1886 representing Beaufort County.[3] He was then elected for a second term in 1886,[4] and served until 1888.[5] He served as a Republican.[4] In 1896 he was an alternate delegate to Republican National Convention representing South Carolina.[5] He was one of the last African Americans to serve in the South Carolina Senate in the post Reconstruction era[6] with blacks being disenfranchised by the 1895 constitution and then a more than a ninety year gap until the election of I. DeQuincey Newman in 1983.[1]

He studied to be a lawyer and was admitted to the bar by the South Carolina Supreme Court December 1885.[7] He worked in a law firm with William James Whipper.[3]

In 1891 Reynolds was convicted of defrauding pensioners by charging illegal fees and keeping a portion of their monies.[8]

He died sometime in 1896.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Bailey, N. Louise; Morgan, Mary L.; Taylor, Carolyn R. (1986). Biographical Directory of the South Carolina Senate, 1776-1985. University of South Carolina Press. pp. 7, 1353. ISBN 978-0-87249-479-4. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  2. ^ Jr, Edward A. Miller (23 December 2021). Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress, 1839-1915. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 812. ISBN 978-1-64336-297-7. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Wise, Stephen R.; Rowland, Lawrence S. (20 December 2021). Rebellion, Reconstruction, and Redemption, 1861–1893: The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 487. ISBN 978-1-64336-282-3. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b Tindall, George Brown (16 December 2021). South Carolina Negroes, 1877-1900. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 310. ISBN 978-1-64336-300-4.
  5. ^ a b "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Reynolds". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  6. ^ "It's Been A Long Time". The State. 28 November 1982. p. 23. Retrieved 1 September 2024. Open access icon
  7. ^ Glenn, Aaron. "LibGuides: "All for Civil Rights": African American Lawyers in South Carolina, 1868–1968". guides.law.sc.edu. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Thomas J. Reynolds". Yorkville Enquirer. 11 November 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 31 August 2024. Open access icon