More tales of North Carolina's 19th-century African American legislators

Part 3: Members of the 1883 session of the General Assembly

Earlier this year, I began introducing readers to a handful of African American legislators elected to the North Carolina General Assembly during the nineteenth century, among more than 125 black state legislators, all Republicans, who held office between 1868 and 1900.

This week, I continue my occasional series on North Carolina’s black public servants during the period, many of whom I have written about in previous articles for the North Carolina Historical Review and in other publications. Today’s post looks at the lives of legislators who served in the 1883 session of the General Assembly:

Wiley Baker (1850?-1921), of Dogwood, served one term in the N.C. House of Representatives as a Republican from Northampton County, elected in 1882.  He was born  on February 14, 1849 or 1850, in Halifax County, status unknown, to Pollie Baker, born about 1809; his father’s name may have been Jack Baker. Little else is known of his early life, except that he had one sister, Amanda Baker; he was educated in the county’s common schools after the Civil War, and appears to have become a farmer.

In Halifax County, Baker served after the Civil War in the 1870s as a constable, overseer of roads, and school committeeman. After becoming active in the Halifax Republican Party, he was selected in 1882 as a nominees for the county’s seats in the N.C. House of Representatives. Elected later that year, he served in the 1883 session of the General Assembly on the House Committee on Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Asylum. He did not seek reelection in 1884.

In the 1880 census, Baker was described as a single farm laborer, living in his mother’s household. In January 1885, he appears to have married Frances Underdue, 18, according to county records, but if so, she died before 1900. One unconfirmed record indicates they may have had one son, John, born about 1895.

In the 1900 census, Baker was listed as a widowed farmer, residing in West Gaston Precinct, with his mother, now aged 91. In the 1910 and 1920 censuses, he is recorded as living alone.

Baker’s death date and place of interment are unknown. He is presumed to have died in Northampton County sometime after 1920, and may be buried in a Baker family cemetery.

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William Belcher (1854-1921?), of Tarboro or Sparta, served one term in the N.C. House of Representatives from Edgecombe County as a Republican, elected in 1882. He was born July 31, 1854, in Edgecombe County to George and Maria Belcher. Belcher grew up in Tarboro, in Lower Conetoe Township, and attended the county’s common schools after the Civil War.  He became a farmer.

In the 1870s, Belcher became active in the Edgecombe County Republican Party. In 1882, Edgecombe Republicans selected Belcher as a party nominee for the county seats’s in the  N.C. House of Representatives. After his election later that year, by a majority of 761 votes over his Democratic opponent, he served on the House Committee on Counties, Towns and Townships in the 1883 session of the General Assembly. He did not seek reelection in 1884.

His occupation was listed as a farm laborer in the 1880 census. He was married to Temple (Tempy) Telfair on January 3, 1878, and they had one child in 1879, according to his 1883 biographical sketch in the General Assembly Sketchbook. They may also have had a son named Benjamin Franklin Belcher.

Belcher and his family appear to have moved to Pitt County by 1900, where they are recorded as living in the 1900 and 1910 U.S. censuses.

Belcher’s death date and place of interment are unknown.  He is presumed to have died in Pitt County sometime after 1910.

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Harry Bonaparte Eaton (1849-1908), of Williamsboro, served two terms in the N.C. House  of Representatives from Vance County as a Republican, elected in 1882 and 1884. Eaton was born in November 1849, either in Franklin or Granville County [from which Vance was later formed], status uncertain. He is believed to have been an older brother or relative of longtime Vance County Register of Deeds Thomas S. Eaton, born free in 1860 in Franklin County, who listed his parents’ names as Thomas and Annie Eaton. Otherwise, little is known of his early life or education.

In the 1870s, Harry Eaton became active in the new Vance County Republican Party, and was selected as the party's first nominee for the county seat in the N.C. House of Representatives in 1882. Elected later that year, he served in the 1883 session of the N.C. House of Representatives. After being reelected in 1884, he served in the 1885 session of the General Assembly, but did not seek reelection in 1886.

Eaton may also have been an unsuccessful candidate for the N.C. Senate 11th District seat in 1892, which was won by the Populist candidate, J. W. Atwater.

Eaton and his wife, Mary Alice Eaton, were married in 1867, and lived in Williamsboro Township  They had at least 14 children, according to the 1900 census, of whom 12 survived, including nine named in 1900: Annie, Judith, Bettie, Arthur, John Q., Rachel, Rebecca, William, and Adolphus. An older son, also named Harry B. Eaton, died in 1915.

Eaton died in Vance County in 1908. His widow Mary (1850-1929) died in Vance County in 1929.  They are both presumably buried in the Eaton family cemetery in Vance County, which is listed as the burial site of their son, Harry B. Eaton (1870-1915).

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Robert R.  Gray (1854?-1901?), of  Tarboro, served one term in the N.C. Senate (Fifth District) from Edgecombe County as a Republican, elected 1882. Born on Poke Island Farm in 1854 or 1855, Gray was the son of Sandy and Bythia Battle, probably enslaved.  Little else is known of his early life. He was presumably educated in the county’s common schools after the Civil War, and became a farmer and schoolteacher.

Gray went on to attend the normal (teacher training) school at St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, between 1872 and 1874, and then taught school in Edgecombe County between 1873 and 1880. He also farmed and worked briefly as a clerk in mercantile business at Killiquick, according to his biographical sketch in the 1883 General Assembly Sketchbook. In the 1870s, he also became active in the Edgecombe County Republican Party.

In 1882, Edgecombe Republicans selected Gray as their nominee for the Fifth District seat (Edgecombe) in the N.C. Senate. Elected later that year, by a majority of 505 votes over his Democratic opponent, he served on the Senate Committee on Salaries and Claims in the 1883 session of the General Assembly. He did not seek reelection in 1884.

He married his wife, Katie Smith, in December 1881. The names of their children, if any, are not recorded.

Gray’s death date and place of interment are unknown.  He is presumed to have died in Edgecombe County sometime after 1901.

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Hilliard Junius Hewlin (1843?-1919), of Brinkleyville, served one term in the N.C. House of Representatives from Halifax County as a Republican, elected in 1882. He was born on November 25, 1843 (1841?) at Enfield, probably free, the son of a free father named Hilliard J. Hewlin (variantly spelled “Huling”) and an unnamed mother. Little is known of his early life; he was presumably educated in the county’s common schools after the Civil War.

According to his biographical sketch in the 1883 General Assembly Sketchbook, “During the late war, he served in the 12th regiment, North Carolina troops, six months,” presumably as a servant for one of the regimental officers from Halifax County. According to the National Park Service database, 12th Infantry Regiment, formerly the 2nd Volunteers, was organized near Garysburg, North Carolina, in May, 1861., with companies drawn from Halifax and seven other counties, serving in General Garland's, Iverson's, and R.D. Johnston's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. After fighting at Hanover Court House, the regiment participated in many conflicts from the Seven Days' Battles to Cold Harbor, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, and ended the war at Appomattax.

After the War ended, Hewlin became active in the Halifax County Republican Party, Among his local offices, he was a justice of the peace four years, including in 1873; constable for six years, school committeeman two years, and a deputy sheriff, prior to his election to the House of Representatives.

In 1882, Halifax Republicans selected Hewlin as a nominee for the county’s seats in the N.C. House of Representatives. Elected by a majority of 3,000 votes over his Democratic opponent, he served on the House Committee on Insurance in the 1883 session of the General Assembly. He did not seek releection in 1884.

After leaving the legislature, he remained active in local politics. and was reappointed as a justice of the peace in 1898. In addition, he served as U.S. postmaster of Brinkleyville, appointed during the administration of President William McKinley, from 1897 to 1901. He was listed as a farmer in the censuses of 1900 and 1910.

He married his wife, Eudora, in 1874, and they had at least six children: daughters Mary E. and Lucy M., who were schoolteachers in 1900; and daughters Lillie W. and Mary D. and sons Ulysses and Joseph.

Hewlin died in Halifax County on April 22, 1919, survived by his wife. They are buried in the Hewlin family cemetery, located near State Road 1309.  

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William H. Johnson (1831-1890), of New Bern, served one term in the N.C. House of Representatives from Craven County as a Republican, elected in 1882.  Born on September 17, 1831, in New Bern, he was probably educated in that city’s common schools after the Civil War.  Little else is known of his early life.

Johnson became active in the Craven County Republican Party in the 1870s. He was also a deputy sheriff of Craven County from 1873 to 1883. In 1882,  Craven Republicans selected him as one of their nominees for the county's seats in the N.C. House of Representatives. Elected later year to the 1883 General Assembly session, he was appointed to the House Committee on Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Asylum.

He was married to Sarah Ann Dare in 1882.  The names of their children, if any, are not recorded.

Johnson died on July 15, 1890, at New Bern; his widow, Sarah, applied for a year’s support, November 3, 1890. His place of interment is not known.

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James McCoy Pittman ( 1852-1934?), of Enfield, served two terms in the N.C. House of Representatives from Halifax County as a Republican, elected in 1882 and 1886.  Pittman was born on October 2, 1852, status unknown, in Halifax County. to Nancy Bertha Lynch and Roosevelt Pittman. He had at least one older brother, Charles, and one older sister, Eddy. Little else is known of his early life, but he probably attended common schools in Halifax after the Civil War. 

Between 1876 and 1882, he was also educated at Shaw University, where he briefly studied medicine. He became a schoolteacher sometime after 1880.

Pittman became active in the Halifax Republican Party in the 1870s, and was appointed as a justice of the peace in Halifax County by the 1880s; and continued to serve in that capacity in October 1898. In 1882, Halifax Republicans selected him as a nominee for the county's seats in the N. C. House of Representatives. After his election later that year, he served in the 1883 session of the General Assembly.

He was renominated for the same seat in 1886. After that election, he served in the 1887 session of the General Assembly, when he appointed to the House Committees on Propositions and Grievances and Insane Asylums. He did not seek reelection in 1888.

In 1890, Pittman was appointed to his first term as U.S. postmaster at Tillery, under the administration of President Benjamin Harrison, and served until 1893. In 1897, he was reappointed to the Tillery postmastership by President William McKinley. 

In 1898, Pittman was removed from office, and later convicted and imprisoned for malfeasance in 1900.  He was listed as a prisoner in the Halifax County jail during the June 1900 census survey.

In 1887, he was married to Ellen Hannon, who died by 1910. The names of their children. if any, are not recorded.  He was listed in the 1910 U.S. census as a widowed farmer, residing with his brother and sister in Coconary, Halifax County.

Pittman died in Enfield on July 2, 1934. His place of interment is unknown, but may be in a Pittman family cemetery. 

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Turner Roscoe Speller (1853-1922), of Windsor, served two terms in the N.C. House of Representatives from Bertie County as a Republican, elected in 1882 and 1886. He was born on March 17, 1853, in Bertie County; his parents' names are unknown, and little else is known of his early life.

He was probably first educated privately—receiving “a quite thorough academical course of instruction,” according to his biographical sketch in the 1887 General Assembly Sketchbook—by attending Bertie County common schools after the Civil War, before enrolling at Saint Augustine’s College in Raleigh, between 1872 and 1877. Thereafter, he became a schoolteacher in Bertie County. 

In 1882, Bertie Republicans chose Speller as their nominee for the county's seat in the N. C. House of Representatives. Elected later that year, he served in the 1883 session of the General Assembly. It is not clear whether he unsuccessfully sought reelection in 1884, as suggested in the 1887 biographical sketch. But he was renominated for that seat in 1886, and after his second election, by a majority of 312 votes over Democrat Burgess Urqehart, he served in the 1887 session of the General Assembly.

Between his legislative terms, he was an alternate delegate from Bertie County to the state G.O.P. convention in 1884. After his second term ended, Speller moved his family to Washington, D.C., by 1900, where he worked as a messenger for the U.S. government.

Speller was married in 1885 to Georgianna Chapman, with whom he at least seven children: Georgie Speller, Wesley B. Speller, Theodore Speller, Hilliard L. Speller, Corrine E. Speller, Lena B. Speller, and Aurelia P. Speller, according to various records, including the 1900 and 1910 U.S. censuses.

Speller died on September 27, 1922, in Washington, D.C. He is buried in that city’s Woodlawn Cemetery. His widow died in 1952.

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Edward Hildred Sutton (1849-1922), of Edenton, served one term in the N.C. House of Representatives from Chowan County as a Republican, elected in 1882. Sutton was reportedly born to Willis Sutton and an enslaved mother in Perquimans County, December 24, 1849. He was educated in the common schools of Charlotte and Edenton; little else is known of his early life.

He worked briefly in the U.S. Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C., before returning to Chowan County in the early 1880s, where he became active in the Republican Party. In 1882, Chowan Republicans selected him as their nominee for the county's seat in the N.C. House of Representatives. His narrow victory that year—by just 25 votes over his Democratic opponent—sent him to the 1883 session of the General Assembly, where he was appointed to the House Committee on Corporations.

After completing his term in the General Assembly, Sutton did not seek reelection in 1884. Sutton moved his family to Baltimore, Maryland. He was later described in the 1910 U.S. census as as working at the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C.

In 1879, while living in Washington, D.C., he married Sarah Treadwell Sutton; they had at least four children, including sons Cameron and Edward Jr., and two daughters, Lizzie and Gertrude.

Edward Sutton died on January 10, 1922, in Washington, D.C., followed by his widow in 1927. They are believed to be buried in that city’s Woodlawn Cemetery. 

Next time: A historian looks at teaching history with hands tied …