Samuel A. McElwee (1857-1914) was an African-American lawyer and politician in the United States. He was born enslaved in 1857 in

Haywood County, Tennessee Haywood County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the region known as West Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,864. Its county seat and largest city is Brownsville. It is one of only two remaining count ...

. His parents were Robert and Georgianna McElwee. He became a lawyer and the most influential Republican Party leader in Haywood County following the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

. He served in the

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Tennessee Senate, Senate and a Tennessee House of Representa ...

from 1883 to 1888. He was the first African American to serve three terms in legislature and also the first one to be nominated as the Speaker of the House.

Early life

After emancipation, his family moved to a farm in Haywood County in 1866. He attended Freedmen's Bureau Schools. He reported being taught to read as a young child by his former slave master's children, and moved quickly through school. In 1875, he attended

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

in Ohio for a year. Then he returned to the South and taught at a school for three years. He studied Latin, German, and mathematics with a Vanderbilt student whose recommendation got him a Peabody Scholarship to

Fisk University Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...

. In 1878, he enrolled at Fisk and graduated in 1883.

Career

While still a student at the university, he got elected to the General Assembly from Haywood County. He opened up a grocery store in Haywood County and started

reading law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship u ...

on his own. While serving in the legislature he attended the law school of Central Tennessee College in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and obtained a law degree in 1886. During his second term in 1885, he was nominated by then former U.S. Senator Roderick R. Butler to be the speaker of the House of Representatives, and received 32 of the 93 votes. He was the head of the Tennessee Republican Convention and was a delegate to the national convention in Chicago in 1884. He was the first African American to be elected three times for a legislative term in Tennessee. He had spoken at the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

as a commencement speaker in 1887. During the same year, in his third term he proposed a bill that would ensure fairer jury selection. The bill was tabled by a vote of 41–36. He served during an era when

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

ism was in effect. In 1888, he campaigned for a fourth term, but was not elected. This was due to voting fraud and

intimidation Intimidation is a behaviour and legal wrong which usually involves deterring or coercing an individual by threat of violence. It is in various jurisdictions a crime and a civil wrong (tort). Intimidation is similar to menacing, coercion, terro ...

. McElwee and his family left Haywood County because of violence against African Americans. He established a newspaper and a law firm in Nashville, but he and his family moved to Chicago in July 1901. He started a law practice there and spent the rest of his life there. He died in Chicago on October 21, 1914.

References

* Gonzalez, Anthony.
LibGuides: Website-homepage: Home
. ''tnstate.libguides.com''. Retrieved 2023-01-09. * Laska, Lewis L.
Samuel A. McElwee"
. ''The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture''. ''web.archive.org''. 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2023-01-09. *

''This Honorable Body: African American Legislators in 19th Century Tennessee - Biographies, Tennessee State Archive''. ''web.archive.org''. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2023-01-09. {{DEFAULTSORT:McElwee, Samuel A. 1857 births 1914 deaths American freedmen 19th-century American slaves Oberlin College alumni African-American state legislators in Tennessee Tennessee Republicans People from Haywood County, Tennessee Farmers from Tennessee Schoolteachers from Tennessee Fisk University alumni Illinois lawyers Tennessee lawyers Walden University (Tennessee) alumni 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American lawyers 19th-century African-American lawyers 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly

Early life

Career

See also

References