James Preston Poindexter (October 26, 1819 – February 7, 1907) was an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

activist, politician, and Baptist minister from

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. He was born in Richmond, Virginia and moved to Ohio as a young man. In Ohio he was a part of abolitionist and

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

societies and became a Baptist preacher. From the pulpit, he preached against slavery and for African-American rights. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

(1861–1865), he was involved in political activities in Columbus, serving on the City Council, the city Board of Education, the state Forestry Bureau, and as trustee of the Institute for the Blind and of

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University (WU) is a private university in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is one of three historically black universities established before the American Civil War. Founded in 1856 by the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC), it is named after ...

. At his death, he was noted as the second longest serving advocate for African American rights after

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

Biography

Early life

James Preston Poindexter was born in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

October 26, 1819 to Evelina and Joseph Poindexter.Franklin County at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century, Historical Publishing Company (Franklin County, Ohio), 1901, p364 His mother was black and Cherokee. Joseph was a white man and may have been a brother of

George Poindexter George Poindexter (1779 – September 5, 1853) was an American politician, lawyer, and judge from Mississippi. Born in Virginia, he moved to the Mississippi Territory in 1802. He served as United States Representative from the newly admitted sta ...

, second governor of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

.Simmons, Martha. Preaching with Sacred Fire: An Anthology of African American Sermons, 1750 to the Present. WW Norton & Company, 2010. p322-323 Joseph was a journalist at the '' Richmond Enquirer''. His mother died when he was four years old. As a child, he attended school, and at the age ten, he was apprenticed to the barber's business. He worked in an aristocratic shop, and Poindexter became acquainted with many Richmond leaders. He later moved to Ohio, settling in Columbus at the age of twelve. In Ohio, he continued to attend school, now privately, and to work as a barber, which again afforded him a variety of useful contacts.Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p394-404 In the 1840s he married. After giving the baccalaureate sermon before the graduating class of the

State University A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

in May, 1887, he was granted an honorary

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

by the school.

Early career

Poindexter was baptized at the Second Baptist Church in Columbus in the spring of 1840, was ordained in 1849, and became pastor of the Second Baptist Church in 1862, serving until 1893.Tom Betti, Doreen Uhas Sauer, On This Day in Columbus, Ohio History, Columbus Landmarks Foundation Arcadia Publishing, May 21, 2013 He was a member of the Pastor's Union and later elected president of the union. He frequently preached against slavery, working against the trend of many preachers failing to respond to claims that the Bible sanctioned slavery. In about 1857 he became president of the society called, "sons of protection," a position he held for 30 years, a secretive African-American civil rights group associated with the Underground Railroad. Other African-American active abolitionists in Columbus included David Jenkins, John Booker, Leslie Washington Sr, and John T. Ward and where helped by white abolitionists including Joseph Sullivant, James E. Coulter, L. G. Van Slyke, Samuel H. Smith, James M. Westwater, the Keltons, William Hanby, Phillip Doddridge, and Eli M. Pinney. In December 1848, Poindexter played an important role in bringing

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

to Columbus to speak at a Free Soil Party Convention.

Later career

After the Civil War, Poindexter was a leading advocate for education of black children. He was a delegate to the

1872 Republican National Convention The 1872 Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 5–6, 1872. President Ulysses S. Grant was unanimously nominated for reelection by the convention's 752 delegates. Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson replace ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and was a delegate to state conventions many times. In 1873, he was the first black man in Ohio nominated to run for a seat in the House of Representatives. He was nominated by the Republican Party, but was defeated by the overwhelmingly Democratic electorate in Franklin County. Starting in 1880, he served two terms, four years, as a member of the city council of Columbus, serving as council vice-president. He was also appointed to fill a vacancy in the Board of Education and later elected to the position, from 1884 to 1893. He was appointed to a four-year term as trustee of the Institute for the Blind by Ohio Governor Charles Foster. He was also appointed trustee of the Athens University (now

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

) by Governor

George Hoadly George Hoadly (July 31, 1826August 26, 1902) was a Democratic politician. He served as the 36th governor of Ohio. Biography Hoadly was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on July 31, 1826. As the son of George Hoadley and Mary Ann Woolsey Hoadley ...

but was rejected by the state senate for political reasons in 1885. In 1887 he was appointed to a six-year term as a member of the Board of Directors of the Ohio State Forestry Bureau and was reappointed twice more. In September 1888, he served as president of the Columbus Centennial Freedom Jubillee. He was appointed as a trustee for Wilberforce University in 1898 by governor Asa Bushnell. He served as the first black foreman of an Ohio grand Jury. He was a frequent contributor to numerous newspapers and journals and worked closely with Presidents

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was the 19th president of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. Hayes served as Cincinnati's city solicitor from 1858 to 1861. He was a staunch Abolitionism in the Un ...

and

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

and Ohio governor William Dennison Jr.

Death and legacy

In 1898 he resigned as pastor of the Second Baptist Church, although he continued to preach.Poindexter Resigns, The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio) April 5, 1898, page 4, accessed October 5, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6906136/poindexter_resigns_the_cincinnati/ He died in Columbus on February 7, 1907, of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and was survived by two grandchildren. The first public

housing project Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

built in Columbus, Poindexter Village, was named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poindexter, James 1817 births 1907 deaths 19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States Activists for African-American civil rights Abolitionists from Ohio African-American abolitionists African-American Baptist ministers African-American people in Ohio politics Baptist abolitionists Baptists from Virginia Barbers Ohio Free Soilers Ohio Republicans Politicians from Columbus, Ohio Politicians from Richmond, Virginia Religious leaders from Richmond, Virginia Underground Railroad people