Against All Odds

They were farmers, teachers, ministers, blacksmiths, and lawyers. Some were born free in the North, while others were born enslaved in Mississippi. Some were highly educated, and others had been forbidden by law to be taught to read. Many came to Mississippi to help their Southern brothers and sisters build a more just government, and many were driven out by violence only a few years later. Learn about the first African American men to serve on Mississippi’s state legislature during and just after Reconstruction. A few of these men, such as Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce, are relatively well-known. The vast majority, however, faded into obscurity, just as the white supremacist power structure wanted.

This site is intended to provide information that is not readily available elsewhere. If more prominent figures have extensive biographies elsewhere online, I have linked to those instead of spending research time on them.

This is an ongoing research project; I am continually exploring sources and adding more information about these men. If you would like to contribute, you can email me. Please be aware that all information I have is on the site; I do not have additional information that isn’t already posted.

Content note: some of the primary sources quoted include offensive racist language.

This site’s content is also available as a digital exhibit presented by Mississippi State University Libraries.

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Albright, George Washington (Marshall)
Allen, William H. (Coahoma)
Atwood, Louis Kossuth (Hinds)
Barrow, Peter Barnabus (Warren)
Bell, Monroe (Hinds)
Blackwell, Stephen B. (Issaquena)
Boulden, Jesse Freeman (Lowndes)
Bowles, Countelow M. (Bolivar)
Bowles, George F. (Adams)
Boyd, Anderson (Oktibbeha)
Boyd, George W. (Warren)
Boyd, Walter (Yazoo)
Brooks, Arthur (Monroe)
Brooks, Frank P. (Sharkey)
Brown, George P. A. (Tunica)
Bruce, Blanche Kelso (state)
Brunt, Orange (Panola)
Bufford, Joseph Henry (Bolivar)
Bush, Charles W. (Warren)
Butler, George William (Sharkey)
Caldwell, Charles (Hinds)
Caradine, J. Wesley (Clay)
Carter, Hannibal C. (Warren)
Cessor, James D. (Jefferson)
Charles, George (Lawrence)
Chavis, George Washington (Warren)
Chiles, Benjamin (Oktibbeha)
Christmas, Richard (Copiah)
Clemens, Charles P. (Clarke)
Coates, Milton (Warren)
Cocke, John (Panola)
Cory, Felix L. (Adams)
Cotton, Thomas A. (Noxubee)
Craytin, Henry (Yazoo)
Cunningham, Robert (Marshall)
Davis, Alexander Kelso (Noxubee)
Davis, Willis (Adams)
Dixon, James M. (Yazoo)
Edwards, George (Madison)
Edwards, Weldon W. (Warren)
Fields, Alfred (Panola)
Fitzhugh, Samuel W. (Wilkinson)
Foley, Hugh M. (Wilkinson)
Foote, William Henderson (Yazoo)
Gayles, George Washington (Bolivar)
Gleed, Robert (Lowndes)
Glenn, J. H. (Lowndes)
Granberry, George Caldwell (Hinds)
Gray, William (Washington)
Green, David S. (Grenada)
Griggs, Richard (Issaquena)
Handy, Alfred Newton (Madison)
Handy, Emanuel (Copiah)
Harris, John F. (Washington)
Harris, W. H. (Washington)
Harrison, Henry H. (Chickasaw)
Head, Charles P. (Warren)
Hence, William W. (Adams)
Henderson, Ambrose (Chickasaw)
Henry, John Franklin (Madison)
Hicks, Weldon (Hinds)
Hicks, Wilson (Rankin)
Higgins, David (Oktibbeha)
Hill, James (Marshall)
Holmes, William (Monroe)
Hopson, D. H. (Coahoma)
Horton, Gilbert (Washington)
Houston, Russell Walker (Issaquena)
Howard, Merrimon (Jefferson)
Howard, Perry (Holmes)
Huntley, George W. (Bolivar)
Jackson, Henry L. (Rankin)
Jacobs, Henry P. (Adams)
Jenkins, David (Madison)
Johnson, Albert (Warren)
Johnson, J. H. (DeSoto)
Johnson, John (Madison)
Johnson, William (Hinds)
Jones, Cornelius J. (Issaquena)
Jones, William H. (Issaquena)
Kendrick, Reuben (Amite)
Landers, William R. (Jefferson)
Levy, Matthew (Madison)
Lewis, Samuel W. (Madison)
Lowe, William Lucius (Bolivar)
Lynch, James D.
Lynch, John Roy (Adams)
Lynch, William H. (Adams)
Mallory, William H. (Warren/Leflore/Sunflower)
Marshall, James G. (Holmes)
Mathews, D. T. J. (Panola)
Mayson, Henry (Hinds)
McCain, Thomas (DeSoto)
McFarland, J. W. (Rankin)
McLeod, Murdock M. (Hinds)
McNeese, Marshall (Noxubee)
Mitchell, Cicero (Holmes)
Mitchell, Peter (Washington)
Monroe, Joseph E. (Coahoma)
Moore, James Aaron (Lauderdale)
Moore, L. C. (Bolivar)
Moore, Lemuel C. (Issaquena)
Morgan, John H. (Washington)
Moseley, George G. (Hinds)
Nathan, Cato (Monroe)
Nettles, Randle (Oktibbeha)
Newsom, Matthew T. (Claiborne)
Norris, C. F. (Hinds)
Oliver, George H. (Coahoma)
Overton, Lawrence W. (Noxubee)
Parker, Jones R. (Washington)
Patterson, James G. (Yazoo)
Peal, Alfred (Marshall)
Peyton, Perry (Bolivar)
Piles, James H. (Panola)
Poston, Albert B. (Panola)
Randolph, John W. (Sunflower/Leflore)
Reese, Charles (Hinds)
Revels, Hiram Rhodes (Adams)
Richards, Elzy A. (Lowndes)
Riley, Samuel (Wilkinson)
Robinson, William M. (Hinds)
Rogers, A. A. (Marshall)
Ross, Jacob Allen (Washington)
Sanderlin, Samuel A. (Washington/Issaquena)
Scarborough, Edmund (Holmes)
Scott, Henry P. (Issaquena)
Selby, Gray C. (Marshall)
Settle, Josiah Thomas (Panola)
Shadd, Isaac D. (Warren)
Shirley, Nathan (Monroe/Chickasaw)
Shorter, James A., Jr. (Hinds)
Simmons, James S. (Issaquena/Washington)
Simpson, Adam D. (Madison)
Smith, George C. (Coahoma)
Smith, Gilbert C. (Tunica)
Smith, Haskin S. (Claiborne)
Smothers, Joseph (Claiborne)
Spelman, Dr. James J. (Madison)
Stewart, Fred (Holmes)
Stewart, Isham (Noxubee)
Stites, Doctor (Washington)
Stringer, Thomas W. (Warren)
Sykes, Thomas (Panola)
Thompson, Robert (Lowndes)
Truhart, Harrison H. (Holmes)
Vaughan, Guilford (Panola)
Wade, F. Dora (Yazoo)
Walker, Jefferson Cobb (Monroe)
Washington, George (Carroll)
Washington, George R. (Adams)
Weatherly, Tenant (Holmes)
Webster, John D. (Washington)
Welborne, Eugene Bonaparte (Hinds)
White, George (Chickasaw)
White, George W. (Wilkinson)
Williams, Jeremiah M. P. (Adams)
Williams, Ralph (Marshall)
Wilson, Michael (Marion)
Yancey, Charles A. (Panola)
Young, James B. (Washington)
Young, James M. (Panola)