Benjamin H. Lucas (July 4, 1879 – ?) was an American minister and state legislator in Illinois. He represented District 1 in

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

and served from 1917 from 1919.

Biography

Lucas was born July 4, 1879 in

Brooklyn, Illinois Brooklyn (popularly known as Lovejoy), is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. Located two miles north of East St. Louis, Illinois and three miles northeast of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, it is one of the oldest known bla ...

and was left without a father from ten years old. He was educated in public schools. He started work as a child selling newspapers and shining shoes, as an adult he worked as a boot-black, janitor, porter, shipping clerk, postal clerk, state weigher, clerk in the ''Foreign Corporation Department'', fire marshal, deputy state fire marshal and in insurance. He took up teaching which he did not like, causing him to move to Chicago in July 1900 to study law. Lucas was a member of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and taught Sunday School for fifteen years. He was involved with a number of organisations including the United Brothers of Friendship, the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...

, Emanuel Lodge No. 31, the United Brothers of Friendship,

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

and

Ancient Order of Foresters The Foresters Friendly Society is a British friendly society which was formed in 1834 as the Ancient Order of Foresters. As of 31 December 2016, the society had approximately 75,000 members. Its head office is located in Southampton, England. ...

. In 1902 he was the elected secretary of the 2nd Ward Republican Club. He believed in equality for all men regardless of race. He married Jessie Hudson on December 23, 1903 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. She died November 8, 1951. Lucas was elected into the 50th Illinois General Assembly in 1916, serving in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

from 1917 to 1919. He stood for re-election in 1918 for the 51st assembly and in 1920. He ran for the

Illinois State Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under th ...

in 1954 contending as a Republican for the 5th district against the incumbent Democrat Marshall Korshak, but lost. Lucas was listed in the

United States census The United States census (plural censuses or census) is a census that is legally mandated by the Constitution of the United States. It takes place every ten years. The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790 United States ce ...

as living in Illinois in the 1910, 1920, 1940 and 1950 but in the 1930 census his home was listed as

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

. He was drafted to the military for both

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1918 and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. From the 1930 census onwards he was listed as either a pastor or ministor."United States Federal Census (1930, 1940, 1950)". Ancestry.com

References

1879 births Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Year of death missing {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Benjamin H. People from Brooklyn, Illinois 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly

Biography

See also

References