Samuel Small (1826 or 1827 – October 30, 1883) was a Baptist minister and state legislator who lived in

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Florida, United States. Located in North Central Florida, the city's population was 63,591 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 56,315 at the 2010 census and making ...

. He was one of several African Americans who served in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

representing

Marion County, Florida Marion County is a county located in the North Central region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 375,908. Its county seat is Ocala. Marion County comprises the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan S ...

and Ocala during 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 ...

. The era was a hotbed of secessionist ferment before 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 ...

. He was born in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and brought to Florida as a boy. Soon after emancipation he became pastor of Mount Moriah Baptist Church. He served as Marion County Voter Registrar in 1867 and 1868, and a county commissioner from 1868 to c. 1872.

Eric Foner Eric Foner (; born February 7, 1943) is an American historian. He writes extensively on American political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African American biography, the American Civil War, Reconstr ...

documented him as a literate farmer who was born in 1826 or 1827 and came to Florida before the Civil War. He represented Marion County in the state house in 1874 and 1875. He is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Ocala. He was enslaved on the Osceola Plantation. It was a former Spanish land grant later owned by John M. Taylor. Taylor's son R. Fenwick Taylor served on the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...

for 35 years, 18 of them as chief justice.

References

External links

Findagrave entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Small, Samuel 1820s births 1883 deaths Members of the Florida House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Florida Legislature African-American politicians during the Reconstruction Era