Caesar Perkins (March 1839 – September 22, 1910) was a member of the Virginia General Assembly, elected in both 1869 and 1887. He represented Buckingham County as a Republican.
Early life
Caesar Perkins was born into slavery in March 1839. His name is sometimes rendered as Ceasar Perkins. His parents' names were Joseph and Clarcy Mosely, but he used the name "Perkins" because it was the name of his master. It is not known how Perkins was freed from slavery.
He was a Baptist minister.
Political career
In 1869, Perkins was elected to the Virginia General Assembly, and he was elected again in 1887; in both cases, he represented Buckingham County. In his first election, he defeated candidates from the Conservative Party. He was a Republican. During his first term, he voted to ratify the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, which codified racial equality.
In 1898, Perkins served at the state's Republican convention, which nominated Colonel R. T. Hubard (or Hubbard) for Congress. Hubard denied that Perkins had been promised anything for the nomination. Two years later, Perkins served again at the state's Republican convention, which again nominated Hubard for Congress.
According to a newspaper account in 1904, he was the last-serving black member of the Virginia legislature. The same story, which caricatured what the writers called his "genuine darky dialect" (for instance, rendering part of his speech as "Yawl Democrats is 'bout ter let dis assembly break up widout keepin' yo' promis' ter pass on de licker question"), was reprinted years later in other newspapers.
Death
Perkins died on September 22, 1910.
See also
References
Citations
- Hahn 2003, p. 371; Robinette 2021.
- Cromwell 1920, p. 470.
- ^ Ingram & White 2005, p. 38.
- Wolfe 2015, p. 9.
- ^ Robinette 2021.
- Goff 2019.
- Lexington Gazette 1898, p. 2.
- Hubard 1898, p. 3.
- Staunton Spectator and Vindicator 1900, p. 3.
- Pittsburg Press 1904, p. 6.
- Long Branch Daily Record 1907, p. 6.
Bibliography
Scholarship
- Cromwell, J. W. (1920). "RE: Richmond Planet". Letter to C. G. Woodson. Journal of Negro History. doi:10.2307/2713683. JSTOR 2713683. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
- Goff, Lisa (June 27, 2019). "In path of pipeline, descedents of freedmen fight to preserve historic Virginia". Platform. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
- Hahn, Steven (2003). A nation under our feet: Black political struggles in the rural South, from slavery to the great migration. Belknap Press.
- Ingram, E. Renée; White, Charles W. (2005). Buckingham County (illustrated ed.). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738518428.
- Robinette, Dustin Landon (December 22, 2021). "Caesar Perkins (1839–1910)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
- Wolfe, Brendan (2015). "In search of freedom: African Americans after the Civil War". VFH Views. p. 9.
Newspapers
- Hubard, R. T. (November 17, 1898). "From Colonel Hubard". Staunton Spectator and Vindicator. p. 3.
- "Republican convention". Lexington Gazette. August 24, 1898. p. 2.
- "Caesar Perkin's rat story". Long Branch Daily Record. June 15, 1907. p. 6.
- "Caesar Perkins Aesop". Pittsburg Press. January 29, 1904. p. 6.
- "Republicans nominate Hubard". Staunton Spectator and Vindicator. April 6, 1900. p. 3.