As I noted earlier, the marker is simply wrong for the United States but is correct for Ohio. Oddly enough, blacks could not vote in Ohio but under the state constitution they could hold office. In the 1850s people who were more than half white, of mixed ancestery (which probably included John Merce Langston, could vote. He was also a county attorney in Ohio and later dean of HOward Law School. A very important person, but not the first black elected to public office in the US
Paul Finkelman
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
and Public Policy
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, New York 12208-3494
518-445-3386
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>>> "Bearss, Sara (LVA)" <[log in to unmask]> 6/10/2008 2:44 PM >>>
Presumably the marker in question is the Virginia historical marker
pictured at http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5614 . It does not say
that Langston was Louisa County's first African American elected
official; it says: "in 1855 Langston became township clerk of Brownheim,
Ohio--the first African American popularly elected to office." There's
an ambiguous statement for you--does it mean in Brownheim, Ohio, in the
state of Ohio, or in the whole country? The marker also notes that
Langston was Virginia's first black congressman. The marker text dates
from 1995.
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Sara B. Bearss
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Senior Editor, Dictionary of Virginia Biography
Friends don't let friends split infinitives.
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-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tarter, Brent (LVA)
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 2:09 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] John Mercer Langston
This first paragraph in the notice about Langston that has begun this
conversation reads:
"LOUISA, Va. -- Planted in the lawn at the courthouse on West Main
Street here is a gray historical marker that draws little attention. It
proudly proclaims that the country's first black elected official was
native son John Mercer Langston, born in this central Virginia county,
the son of a wealthy white planter and an emancipated slave of Indian
and black ancestry."
I think that there's merely a keyboarding mistake at fault here in the
form of an erroneous "r." The second sentence should probably begin, "It
proudly proclaims that the county's first black elected official," not
the "country's."
$0.02 worth from
Brent Tarter
The Library of Virginia
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