Joseph Rainey, born June 21, 1832 in Georgetown, South Carolina, was the first African-American to be elected to the United States House of Representative. His father managed to purchase freedom for his wife and two sons. Rainey worked with his father as a barber and developed a wide social network in his community.
He traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1959, where he met a free woman of color. They married and returned to South Carolina, where their three children were born. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Rainey was forced to work by the Confederates on fortifications in Charleston, SC. He escaped with his family to Bermuda in 1862, where he resumed work as a barber. He and his wife, a successful dressmaker, made a prosperous living and became well respected in Bermuda.
They returned to South Carolina settling in Charleston in 1866 after the war ended. Rainey's wealth and experience helped establish him as a leader in the city, which was 43 percent African-American. He became involved in politics and was elected to the South Carolina Senate in 1870. That same year, he won a special election to fill a vacancy created by the departure of Benjamin Whittemore, who had been censured for corruption.
Rainey was seated December 12, 1870, becoming the first African-American to be elected to the US House of Representatives. He served a total of four terms, a record for black Congressman, until William Dawson in the 1950s.
After leaving Congress, Rainey continued to work in the government in both Washington, DC and South Carolina. He returned to South Carolina when he retired in 1886. He contracted malaria in died in August 1887 in Georgetown.
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