Charles H. Pearce
Charles H. Pearce | |
---|---|
Florida Senate | |
In office 1870–1884 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1817 Maryland |
Died | 1887 | (aged 69–70)
Political party | Republican |
Charles H. Pearce (1817–1887) was a religious and political leader in Florida. An
Pearce was born into slavery in Maryland and bought his freedom[citation needed] then moved North to New Haven, Connecticut, where he was ordained, and later to Canada, where he served as a preacher and became a British citizen.
Early life, education and career as minister
Pearce was born into slavery in 1817 in
Pearce later moved to Canada and became a British citizen, as it was still a colony. An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 refugee African Americans from the United States had settled there to gain freedom from slavery. He preached there until 1865.
AME missionary to the South
In 1865, after the Civil War, Pearce moved to Florida as an AME missionary. Based in the North, the church sent numerous missionaries to the South to aid the
Political career
Pearce said, "A man in this State, cannot do his whole duty as a minister except he looks out for the political interests of his people."
While helping establish new congregations of the AME Church, Pearce also joined the Republican Party and built political power through these networks. Most freedmen joined the Republicans. Pearce was elected to the Constitutional Convention of 1868 of Florida. He was expelled by moderate Republicans because of his British citizenship.
Later in 1868, Pearce was elected as a Republican to the
Pearce also helped establish educational institutions, including the predecessor to what became
In an act of political payback, in November 1876 Pearce was challenged and disqualified as an
Pearce also had rivals within the AME church and among the leaders of the black Baptist Church in Florida. Many of the latter had quickly established independence with their congregations after the war from the white-dominated
See also
References
- ^ Canter Brown Jr., Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924, (Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1998), p. 4
- ^ Dorothy Dodd, "'Bishop' Pearce and the Reconstruction of Leon County", Apalachee (1946), p. 6.
- ISBN 9780807120828. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- ^ History Archived 2015-10-13 at the Wayback Machine Edward Waters College.
- ^ a b Larry E. Rivers, Canter Brown Jr. Laborers in the Vineyard of the Lord: The Beginnings of the AME Church in Florida, 1865-1895, University Press of Florida, 2001
- ^ portrait
- ^ Congressional Edition, Volume 1733, pp. 14 and 387