OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Tidbits of Ohio -- Part 32 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 April 12, 2005 ************************************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley Tid Bits - Part 32 Notes by S. Kelly +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part 32. John Mercer Langston John Mercer Langston was born December 14, 1829 in Louisa County, Virginia. He was the son of Captain Ralph Quaries, a Revoluntary War Veteran and Plantation owner. His Mother was Lucy Jane Langston. Captain Quaries had freed Lucy and her daughter ( whom he had fathered ) 23 years earlier with the terms of manumission, stating that they were free persons at liberty to go where they please and to exercise and enjoy all the rights of free persons. Lucy was of mixed Indian and Negro descent. After a period of following the terms literally, and giving birth to three children, not by Quaries, Lucy returned and resumed her relationship with Quaries. Together they would bring three other children, including John Mercer Langston into the world. John charactered his parents relationship with respectability, aristocracy, and affection, stating " Heaven approved their union, because church and state would not." Upon his father's and mother's death in 1834. John inherited one-third of the 2030 acre estate, personal property, cash and stocks. Because he was still a minor William Gooch of Chillicothe, Ohio was appointed executor with four others over the estate, and took John under his roof treating him like his own son. Then in 1839 when John was around ten years old, William Gooch sought to relocate in Missouri to take advantage of opportunities there. However, Missouri was a slave state, which would have put John and his inheritance in jeopardy, so John's brothers instigated habeas corpus against Gooch to remove his guardianship and keep John in Ohio. He was placed with Richard Long, a New England Puritan abolitionist, who had purchased Gooch's farm. Long began to prepare John to be a laborer, driving horse and cart and working in the fields. However, John had been groomed to be a gentleman by the Gooch's family, and had been surrounded with books and an affectionate family life. His stay with Long lasted only a year and a half, before his brother Gideon took him to live in Cincinnati. Cincinnati was the most violently anti-abolitionist city in Ohio, and deeply segregated. However, it was also home to one of the largest populations of black people, boasting skilled artisans and craftsmen, and a self-sufficient Black community. Here, John Langston became immersed in the life and culture of the free black community, of which his brother Gideon was a leader. John was placed with another community leader, John Woodson. During his stay in Cincinnati racial tensions boiled over, and on September 3, 1841, a marauding white mob attacked the black residents, destroying homes and businesses. Well armed blacks fought back, and the mob retreated, but in the following weeks Cincinnati authorities liberally applied an interpretation of the infamous Black Laws and even arrested many of those who had complied with the laws. Thus, the black community was forced to pay for the damages that the whites had done to them. These years would prove to be imporant to Langston, as he learned self-determination, and the power of a mobilized black community. He was exposed to the best in anti-slavery rhetoric, and the finest oratory, and he came away in 1843 with a greater understanding of black freedm and empowerment. After having his guardianship turned over to his half brother William in 1843, John enrolled in the Chillicothe black school where he was taught by two of Oberlin's early black students, one of whom, George Vashion, who would become Oberlin's first black graduate. John Langston was so impressed that he decided to attend Oberlin himself, against William's wishes, However with prodding from Gideon, ( another brother ), and from Vashion, William consented. At the age of 14, Langston enrolled in the Preparatory Department at Oberlin College. While a student at Oberlin he excelled in debate. He graduated from the Collegiate Department in 1849 the fifth black man to graduate. Inspired by his experiences in Cincinnati, he involved himself in the black rights movement. In 1848, at the invitation of Frederick Douglas, Langston delivered an impromptu speech to the National Black Convention in Cleveand, condemming those who refused to help fugitive slaves. It was during this interval that he met Caroline Wall, sister of O.S.B. Wall ( class of 1872 ), whom he courted and married. John Langston advanced to the college department from which he graduated in 1848 with a B.A., the fifth black graduate to do so. In 1849 theology was one of the few outlets for negroes of training and ability. Persons of authority in the North did not object to Negroes preaching as a calling while the South tolerated it in most places, as a necessary evil. On the whole, preaching was the conservative profession of the day, and also one of the few which the poor negro economy could support. So, even though John Langston really aspired to be a lawyer, prudence dictated that he first reinforce himself with theological education. Once armed with theological training, he felt ready to undertake the study of law. Applying for admission to the Albany Law School, he was informed that he might enter if he disclaimed being a Negro, which he refused to do. Undaunted by his experience he prevailed upon Philemon Bliss Esq., to permit him to read law in his office; and on September 13, 1854, after an examination in open court, John Langston was admitted to the bar of Ohio, at Elyria, Lorain County. Langston began the practice of law in Brownhelm. later removing to Oberlin, which became his headquarters for many activities. He served as recuiting agent for the Massachusetts 54th ( the nations first black regiment ) and 55th regiments, and 5th Ohio, during the Civil War; found time to be active in speaking engagements on behalf of Equal Rights League, as well as serving on the City Council and the Board of Education of the City of Oberlin. In 1866 Langston first became an Inspector General and later was appointed Inspector General of the Educational activities of the Freedmen's Bureau, which position permitted him to study conditions first hand of the freedmen throughout the South. At one time, whether because of political considerations or otherwise, Preident Andrew Jackson tendered the administration of the Fredmen's Bureau to his hands, which Langston declined with regrets. Meanwhile, the Board of Trustees of Howard University elected him Dean of the Law Department, which formally opened on January 6, 1869, Langston having first severed his employment with the Fredmen's Bureau. The first six years of the exisitence of the Law Department were eventful ones. First, he had the responsibility of placing the department on a stable foundation with respect to curriculum, finance, and the recruitment of students grounded in the fundamentals of education. Secondly, the Freedmen's Bureau which had aided the University generally, became the subject of a congressional investigation, which sought to impugn the lofty purposes, high ideals, and benevolence of General Howard. Finally, the nation suffered the vicissitudes of economic depresion, often declared to have been ushered in by speculators attempting to corner the gold market. Graduates of the Law Department totaled 58 for the seven year period of Langston's deanship. Some illustrious names at the bar had their initiation into the law with him. They were Abram W. Shadd, John H. Cook, Wathal G. Wynn, Augusta D. Straker, George Mabson, James C. Napier, James H. Smith and many others, including Charlotte B. Ray, daughter of Presyterian minister Charles B. Ray of New York City. Miss Ray, it is said, was the first Negro woman admitted to the bar in the United States; she being admitted in 1872. During the period that General Howard was under Congressional fire, Langston assumed the acting presidency upon the resignation of President Howard. When the trustees took action to fill the position, there was acrimonious dissension among them with respect to Howard's successor. The Negro members of the Board of Trustees favored Langston's appointment as president, but the white Trustees successfully opposed him and the Board chose George Whipple, a high ranking officer of the Congressional Church, as General Howard's successor. In any event, Langston terminated his relationship with the University in June, 1875. Langston was an avid and devoted crusader for the Republican Party. and he vied with Frederick Douglass for the honor of being regarded as the spokesman for the Negro people and the foremost orator of his time. But being the politician that he was, Langston became the beneficiaryof political preferment and influence. Thus, beginning in 1871, he served as attorney and member of the Board of Health of the District of Columbia; Minister to Haiti for eight years; President of Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute for two years. Finally he was elected and served as Member of the United States Congress from the 4th District of Virginia, the first Negro ever elected to Congress from the Old Dominion State. More than a century would pass before Virginia would send another to Congress. But Langston didnot sit for his full two year term. His election was contested by his Democratic opponent, E.C. Venable. It was one of the most sensational contested elections in Congressional history, but Langston was seated after an eighteen month battle led successfully by three Negro attorneys: James H. Hayes ( Class of 1885 ) of the Petersburg bar, Matt N. Lewis and Scott Wood ( Class of 1885 ) of the Richmond bar. John Langston had two incidents in his lifetime which brought him before the bar in the Supreme Court of the United States. On January 17, 1867, on motion of General James A Garfield, then U.S. Senator from Ohio and who would later be elected the 20th President of the United States, Langston was admitted to practice before that August body. The second is the case of U.S. v. Langston, 118 U.S. 389 ( 1886 ), in which the Court upheld Langston's challenge to an attempt by Congress to decrease the amount of his compensation for his service as Minister to Haiti. Langston died at his home in Washington,D.C. on October 15, 1897. Beyond doubt, he was foremost among Negro leaders and a author of his time. Countless schools. playgrounds, housing projects, and monuments have been dedicated to his memory and serve as a constant reminder of his greatness and his important place in American history. He no doubt, was an important role model for future Negro leaders, and an inspiration for us all, no matter where we descended from, showing that if we apply ourselves, anything can be accomplished. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid Bits continued in part 33.