P.B.S. PINCHBACK

The election of Barack Hussein Obama brings to light the life and career of Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback. Pinchback was Governor of the State of Louisiana from December 9, 1872 to January 13 1873. As Lieutenant Governor, he succeeded Henry Clay Warmoth who was impeached. Pinchback was an African American; the first to be Governor of a U.S. state. He was born in Macon, Georgia the son of a white planter, William Pinchback, and his former mulatto slave, Eliza Stewart.

Pinchback's family moved to Cincinnati to avoid the problems of slavery and he was educated here at Gilmore High School. In 1948 his father died and, fearing his fathers family would put him into slavery, he fled to Terra Haute, IN. He became an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War, recruiting black volunteers in the New Orleans area. He was a political activist there after the war, was elected to the Louisiana State Senate and took over as Lieutenant Governor in natural succession.

Later, he was elected to both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate but was not seated in either. In both cases, his Democrat opponent contested the election and was declared the winner. He went to law school, was admitted to the bar, served on the State Board of Education, was instrumental in the establishment of Southern University and finished his career as a lawyer in Washington, D.C.

Friends, I've lived in this area all my life and never heard of this guy. Amazing!
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