Joseph R. Holmes (c. 1838-May 3, 1869) was a slave who worked as a shoemaker, and after being emancipated during 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 ...

became a farmer and politician in

Charlotte County, Virginia Charlotte County is a United States county located in the south central part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is the town of Charlotte Court House. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 11,529. Charlotte County is ...

. Elected to the

Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868 The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868, was an assembly of delegates elected by the voters to establish the fundamental law of Virginia following the American Civil War and the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. The Convention, w ...

, he was murdered outside the Charlotte County Courthouse for his political activities.

Background

A former

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, Holmes aligned with the Radical

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and published various articles critical of conservatives after the Civil War. He married Mary Clarke. They had three sons and one daughter. On October 23, 1867, Holmes and Edward Nelson (also African American) were elected to represent Charlotte and Halifax Counties in the

. Holmes defeated former Confederate and Virginia Supreme Court justice Wood Bouldin, and was one of the African American delegates most ridiculed in the conservative press. The convention finished its work and approved a constitution on April 17, 1868. The provisions disenfranchising former Confederates were controversial and the constitution needed voter approval at a forthcoming election (which did not happen until July 1869). In March 1869, Holmes attended a convention of Republicans in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...

representing his locality. On May 29, 1868, Holmes bought 11.5 acres of land in Charlotte County near Keysville. He was also literate and wrote letters to the local

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. government agency of early post American Civil War Reconstruction, assisting freedmen (i.e., former enslaved people) in the ...

agent, advocating establishment of a school in Keysville, Virginia.

Murder

John Marshall, son of Judge Hunter Holmes Marshall (a former Virginia delegate, owner of Roxobel plantation and cousin of another John Marshall, one of whom was Holmes' former owner) reportedly threatened to kill Holmes and African Americans active in the Republican Party, and shot a black man (who survived) on the morning of May 3, 1869. That afternoon, Holmes went to the Charlotte County Courthouse and Marshall thought he was going to seek a warrant against him. A confrontation occurred on the courthouse steps in broad daylight before a large crowd, and Holmes (who was unarmed) was shot dead. Brothers John Marshall and Griffin S. Marshall, William Boyd and Macon C. Morris were charged with his murder but the grand jury refused to indict Griffin Marshall, and all four fled and were never brought to trial. The incident was widely reported across the US and overseas.Liston, Kathy Lee Erlandson, "A murder in Charlotte Court House," Charlotte Gazette, 11 Feb 2020 https://www.thecharlottegazette.com/2020/02/17/a-murder-in-charlotte-court-house

Legacy

Holmes is presumed buried on the land he had bought, although only the receipt for his burial survives.Works Progress Administration, The Negro in Virginia (Arno Press and the New York Times (1969) at p. 236 or John R. Blair Publisher North Carolina 1994 p. 261 Long-lost witness accounts of the incident were discovered at the Charlotte Courthouse in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Joseph R. 1830s births 1869 deaths People murdered in 1869 African-American politicians during the Reconstruction Era Virginia Republicans People of Virginia in the American Civil War African-American people in Virginia politics Shoemakers 19th-century American slaves People from Charlotte County, Virginia People murdered in Virginia Deaths by firearm in Virginia People enslaved in Virginia Racially motivated violence against African Americans in Virginia