Hyman, John Adams, 1840-1891

HYMAN, John Adams, a Representative from North Carolina; born a slave near Warrenton, Warren County, N.C., July 23, 1840; was sold and sent to Alabama; returned to North Carolina in 1865 and engaged in agricultural pursuits; pursued elementary studies; delegate to the State equal rights convention in 1865 and to the State constitutional convention in 1868; member of the State senate 1868-1874; elected as a Republican to the Forty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1877); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1876; resumed agricultural pursuits; special deputy collector of internal revenue for the fourth district of North Carolina from July 1, 1877, to June 30, 1878; died in Washington, D.C., on September 14, 1891; interment in Harmony Cemetery.

<p>While in bondage, John Adams Hyman repeatedly broke laws prohibiting his education so he could learn to read and write, and as a result, was sold at least eight times. After his emancipation, Hyman sought with equal determination to become the first black U.S. Representative from North Carolina. Though the shy legislator made no speeches on the House Floor, a letter to Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, written in 1872, demonstrated his eloquence. “If [an African American] is a man,” Hyman declared, “he is entitled to all the rights and privileges of any other man. There can be no grades of citizenship under the American flag.”</p>

<p>Born into slavery near Warrenton, North Carolina, on July 23, 1840, John Adams Hyman is believed to have been a child of Jesse Hyman, a slave. Starting in his early twenties, John Hyman was a janitor for a Warrenton jeweler. Hyman later noted that he was treated like “chattel, bought and sold as a brute.”3 When he gained his freedom in March 1865, Hyman returned to Warrenton, where he became a farmer and opened a country store. He also became a trustee of the first public school in his area. Hyman married and had two sons and two daughters. The names of his immediate family members are not known. Upon his return, Hyman became active in the movement to secure political rights for North Carolina blacks. At age 26, he served on two committees at the state’s Freedmen’s Convention, including the committee on invitations, an important panel whose purpose was to encourage the attendance of influential politicians and to raise awareness about the convention. Hyman also served as a delegate to the March 1867 Republican State Convention, and as the registrar for northern Warren County, recruiting emancipated voters. In November 1867, Hyman was elected to the Warren County delegation to the North Carolina constitutional convention, which met in Raleigh the following January. Hyman was one of 15 black delegates in the 133–member body. In 1868, he won election to the state senate where he served for six years. From this seat, Hyman wrote U.S. Senator Charles Sumner in support of his Civil Rights Bill. He also opposed President Andrew Johnson’s leniency toward ex–Confederates and strongly advocated requiring states to ratify the 14th Amendment before being readmitted to the Union. Hyman voted against impeaching Republican Governor William Holden in 1872 for ordering the arrest of Ku Klux Klan members suspected of lynching and terrorizing the state’s black population. In the senate, which was divided over how to resuscitate North Carolina’s postwar economy, Hyman deflected Conservatives’ and Democrats’ charges that he accepted bribes from railroad lobbyists. Most members of the penitentiary committee, on which Hyman served, were caught up in this scandal.</p>

<p>John Adams Hyman (July 23, 1840 – September 14, 1891) was a Republican U.S. Congressman from North Carolina from 1875 to 1877, the first African American to represent the state in the House of Representatives. He was elected from North Carolina's 2nd congressional district, including counties in the northeast around New Bern.</p>

<p>Born into slavery in 1840 near Warrenton, North Carolina, Hyman did not receive any formal education as a child. By 1861, he was working as a janitor for a jeweler named King in Warrenton. King was from the free state of Pennsylvania and taught Hyman to read and write; when this was discovered by whites in town, they ran off the man and his wife. When Hyman persisted in trying to gain an education, at the age of 21 he was sold downriver to a new master in Alabama. In twenty-five years as a slave, Hyman was sold at least eight times.</p>

<p>After the American Civil War and the emancipation of enslaved people, Hyman returned to North Carolina in 1865. He worked as a farmer and pursued elementary studies.</p>

<p>Recognized for his leadership, Hyman was chosen as a delegate to the State equal rights convention in 1865 and to the State constitutional convention in 1868. Hyman was elected to the North Carolina Senate, where he served from 1868 to 1874 in the Reconstruction-era legislature.</p>

<p>John Adams Hyman, politician, state senator, and congressman, was born a slave near Warrenton, Warren County. Sold and sent to Alabama, he returned to Warren County in 1865 a free man. With the rise of African American participation in North Carolina politics, Hyman became a delegate to the second Freedman's Convention held in Raleigh during 1866. The following year, he was a delegate to the first Republican state convention and attended the Republican state executive committee meeting. With North Carolina a part of Military District Number Two, under E. R. S. Canby, he also was chosen a "Register" for Warren County to assist in the registration of voters in 1867. In 1868, he became a delegate to the North Carolina Constitutional Convention.</p>

<p>Also in 1868 Hyman, together with three other African Americans, was elected to the North Carolina Senate. Representing the Twentieth Senatorial District (Warren County) from 1868 to 1874, he supported civil rights for African Americans during both his terms. However, his efforts were clouded by his involvement in frauds and payoffs of significant proportions: irregular activities as a member of a committee to locate a site for a penitentiary, accepting money from lobbyists during the Milton S. Littlefield-George W. Swepson railroad bond scandal, and demanding money from a congressional candidate in return for his support. Aside from these episodes, Hyman's participation in legislative matters was minimal.</p>

<p>Hyman was a strong political campaigner. With Warren County a part of the gerrymandered Second Congressional District, also known as the "Black Second," he decided to run for Congress. Although defeated in 1872, he was elected in 1874, thus becoming the first black to represent North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives and the only Republican to represent North Carolina in the Forty-fourth Congress (1875–77). Hyman supported all legislation to secure and protect the rights and privileges of African Americans, and he strongly supported suffrage rights. His votes on issues arising from the Civil War and Reconstruction reflected his Republican sentiments. For example, he opposed the appointment of former Confederate officials to federal posts, as well as the removal of disabilities imposed on southern leaders by the Fourteenth Amendment. His stand on the main issues confronting the Congress also demonstrated his party affiliation. He supported Rutherford B. Hayes over Samuel J. Tilden in the disputed presidential election of 1877, which was decided by Congress; he favored a third term for Ulysses S. Grant, whom he avidly supported; and he opposed the resumption of specie payments.</p>