Walls, Josiah Thomas, 1842-1905
Josiah Thomas Walls (December 30, 1842 – May 15, 1905) was a United States congressman who served three terms in the U.S. Congress between 1871 and 1876. He was one of the first African Americans in the United States Congress elected during the Reconstruction Era, and the first black person to be elected to Congress from Florida. He also served four terms in the Florida Senate.
Josiah Walls was born into slavery in 1842 near Winchester, Virginia. During the American Civil War, he was forced to join the Confederate army and work in support. He was captured by the Union Army in 1862 at Yorktown. He voluntarily joined the United States Colored Troops in 1863 and rose to the rank of corporal. He was discharged in Florida and settled in Alachua County, Florida.
Walls served as a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1868, representing Alachua County. Later that year, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives from Alachua, along with his friend, Henry Harmon, serving in Florida's first Reconstruction Legislature.
Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
---|---|---|---|
referencedIn | Records of the U.S. Senate, 1789 - 2015. Isaac Bassett's Papers, ca. 1880 - ca. 1895. [Box] 3 - Folder C | National Archives at Washington, D.C | |
referencedIn | Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789 - 2015. Committee Papers, 1793 - 1946. Committee Papers of the Committee on Elections from the 42nd through 45th Congresses | National Archives at Washington, D.C | |
referencedIn | Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789 - 2015. Committee Papers, 1793 - 1946. Committee Papers of the Committee on Elections from the 44th Congress | National Archives at Washington, D.C |
Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
---|---|---|---|
referencedIn | Josiah Walls : Florida's Black Congressman of Reconstruction |
Filters:
Relation | Name | |
---|---|---|
employeeOf | Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University | corporateBody |
memberOf | Florida. Legislature. Senate | corporateBody |
memberOf | United States. Army | corporateBody |
memberOf | United States. Congress. House | person |
Place Name | Admin Code | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Tallahassee | FL | US | |
Winchester | VA | US | |
Gainesville | FL | US | |
Picolata | FL | US | |
Harrisburg | PA | US | |
Alachua County | FL | US |
Subject |
---|
Occupation |
---|
Army officers |
Teachers |
Lawyers |
Representatives, U.S. Congress |
State Senator |
Activity |
---|
Person
Birth 1842-12-30
Death 1905-05-15
Male
Americans
English