Richard H. Cain

Richard H. Cain

Richard Harvey Cain (born April 12, 1825 in Greenbrier County , Virginia , †  January 18, 1887 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician . Between 1873 and 1879 he represented the state of South Carolina in the US House of Representatives twice .

Career

Richard Cain was born to free African American parents in what is now West Virginia . In 1831 he moved to Gallipolis , Ohio with his father . There he attended public schools. Later he graduated from Wilberforce University and another school in Hannibal ( Missouri ). Cain first worked as a hairdresser in Galena and then took up the profession of pastor of the African Methodist Episcopal Church . In 1859 he was a deacon in Muscatine ( Iowa ). Between 1861 and 1865 he served as a pastor in Brooklyn .

After the Civil War ended , Richard Cain moved to Charleston , South Carolina in 1865 . There he was again active as a clergyman. At the same time he began a political career as a member of the Republican Party . In 1868 he was a delegate to a meeting to revise the state constitution of South Carolina; from 1868 to 1872 he was a member of the State Senate . Cain also edited the South Carolina Leader newspaper at times.

In 1872, Cain was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington in the re-established fifth constituency of South Carolina. Since he renounced another candidacy in 1874, he was initially only able to complete one legislative period in Congress until March 3, 1875 . In 1876 he was re-elected to the House of Representatives in the second district, where he served another term between March 4, 1877 and March 3, 1879 as the successor to Charles W. Buttz . There he advocated the Civil Rights Act of 1875 . In 1878 he no longer ran for Congress.

In 1880 Richard Cain was appointed bishop of his church. In that capacity, he oversaw the Louisiana and Texas counties . He was also involved in the founding of Paul Quinn College , of which he was president until 1884. Richard Caine died on January 18, 1887 in the federal capital Washington.

Web links

• Richard H. Cain in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Richard H. Cain in the database of Find a Grave (English)