Rapier, James Thomas, 1837-1883

<p>James Thomas Rapier (1837-1883) was one of three African American Republican congressmen from Alabama during Reconstruction and fought for passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1875. Educated in Canada, he returned to his home state, overcame death threats from the Ku Klux Klan, and became a leading figure in the Alabama Republican Party. He was also a teacher, land owner, lawyer, journalist, civic leader, and labor organizer and also served in many official capacities, such as commissioner to the World's Fair in Paris, France, and the Vienna Exposition in Austria, secretary of the Alabama Equal Rights League, federal internal revenue assessor, and notary public.</p>

<p>Rapier was born in Florence, Lauderdale County, on November 13, 1837, to John H. and Susan Rapier. He had three older brothers. His father was emancipated in 1829 and became a prosperous barber. His mother born into a free black family in Baltimore, Maryland; she died in 1841 in childbirth. In 1842, Rapier and his brother John Jr. moved to Nashville, Tennessee, with their paternal grandmother, Sally Thomas, who worked as a cleaning woman. From 1847 to 1853, Rapier attended a school for African American children, where he learned to read and write. Rapier then moved with his father's half-brother Henry Thomas to a community established by formerly enslaved people who had escaped in Buxton, Ontario, Canada, where he attended the Buxton Mission School. He studied Latin, Greek, mathematics, and the Bible. Rapier experienced a religious conversion and became devoted to supporting civil rights.</p>

<p>In 1856, Rapier attended a normal school (a training school for teachers) in Toronto, Canada, where he earned a teaching degree. The following year, he attended the University of Glasgow in Scotland and Montreal College, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He worked as a school instructor in Buxton until 1864, when he relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, and briefly attended Franklin University. He reported for a northern newspaper and purchased 200 acres of land in Maury County, Tennessee, where he became a successful cotton planter. In 1865, Rapier began his political career with a keynote address at the Tennessee Negro Suffrage Convention in Nashville.</p>

<p>A freeborn Alabamian educated in Canada, James Thomas Rapier fended off death threats from the Ku Klux Klan, rose to the top of the state Republican Party, and won a seat in the 43rd Congress (1873–1875). Rapier was one of seven black Representatives who fought for the passage of the major Civil Rights Bill of 1875. “Mr. Speaker,” he declared on the House Floor, “nothing short of a complete acknowledgement of my manhood will satisfy me.”</p>

<p>James Thomas Rapier was born in Florence, Alabama, on November 13, 1837, to John H. and Susan Rapier. He had three older brothers: Richard, John, Jr., and Henry. The Rapiers were wealthy and well established in Florence. John Rapier, Sr., was a freed slave who had a lucrative business as a barber for 40 years. Susan Rapier was freeborn and from Baltimore, Maryland, and died in 1841 during childbirth. Five–year–old James Rapier and his brother, John, Jr., went to live with their paternal grandmother, Sally Thomas. Supported by his grandmother’s work as a cleaning woman, James Rapier attended a secret school for black children from 1854 to 1856 but also spent a great deal of time drinking and gambling on riverboats. Disappointed with his son’s behavior, in 1856 John Rapier, Sr., sent him to live with another family member in the experimental black community of Buxton, Ontario, Canada. While living in Buxton, which was inhabited entirely by fugitive slaves, Rapier experienced a religious conversion and decided to devote his life to helping his race. He later attended a normal school in Toronto, earning a teaching certificate in 1863, and returned to Buxton as an instructor. After following the events of the Civil War from Canada, Rapier returned to Nashville in late 1864. There he worked briefly as a reporter for a northern newspaper. With his father’s help, he purchased 200 acres of land in Maury County, Tennessee, and, over time, became a successful cotton planter. A self–described loner, he never married.</p>

RAPIER, James Thomas, a Representative from Alabama; born a free black in Florence, Lauderdale County, Ala., November 13, 1837; educated by private tutors in Alabama and studied in Canada; studied law and was admitted to the bar; taught school; returned to the South and traveled as a correspondent for a northern newspaper; became a cotton planter in Alabama in 1865; appointed a notary public by the Governor of Alabama in 1866; member of the first Republican convention held in Alabama and was one of the committee that framed the platform; member of the State constitutional convention at Montgomery in 1867; unsuccessful candidate for secretary of state in 1870; appointed assessor of internal revenue in 1871; appointed State commissioner to the Vienna Exposition by the Governor of Alabama in 1873; commissioner on the part of the United States to the World's Fair in Paris; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress (March 4, 1873-March 3, 1875); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1874 to the Forty-fourth Congress; appointed collector of internal revenue for the second district of Alabama on August 8, 1878, and served until his death in Montgomery, Ala., May 31, 1883; interment in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Mo.

<p>James Thomas Rapier (November 13, 1837 – May 31, 1883) was a politician from Alabama during the Reconstruction Era. He served as a United States Representative from Alabama, for one term from 1873 until 1875. Born free in Alabama, he received his higher education and law degree in Scotland and Canada before being admitted to the bar in Tennessee.</p>

<p>Rapier was a nationally prominent figure in the Republican Party as one of seven blacks serving in the 43rd Congress. He worked in 1874 for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which guaranteed equal access to public accommodations.</p>

<p>James T. Rapier was born free in 1837 in Florence, Alabama to John H. Rapier, a prosperous local barber, and his wife, who were established free people of color. He had three older brothers. His father had been emancipated in 1829; his mother was born into a free black family of Baltimore, Maryland. She died in 1841 when Rapier was four years old. In 1842 James and his brother John Jr. went to Nashville, Tennessee to live with their paternal grandmother Sally Thomas. There they attended a school for African-American children, and learned to read and write.</p>

<p>In 1856 Rapier traveled to Canada with his uncle Henry Thomas, his father's half-brother, who settled in Buxton, Ontario, an all-black community made up chiefly of African Americans. It was developed with the aid of Rev. William King, a Scots-American Presbyterian missionary. King had bought land (with Canadian government approval) for resettlement of black American refugees who had escaped to Canada during the slavery years via the Underground Railroad. The African Americans were building a thriving community, and Rapier's uncle had property there. Rapier attended the Buxton Mission School, which was highly respected and had a classical education.</p>

<p>He pursued higher education in three stages, first earning a teaching degree in 1856 at a normal school in Toronto. He traveled to Scotland to study at the University of Glasgow. Returning to Canada, he completed his law degree at Montreal College and was admitted to the bar.</p>