Reuben H. Tomlinson was a lawyer, Freedmen Bureau official, and politician in South Carolina during the Reconstruction era.

Tomlinson was from Philadelphia.[1]

He was appointed superintendent of education by the Freedmen Bureau in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1865.[2] He expanded the number of schools and hired teachers.[3]

In October 1865 he toured Saxton School with Oliver Otis Howard and other Freedmen Bureau officials as well as dignitaries.[4] He served as Superintendent of Education until October 1868. He was succeeded by Horace Neide and then Edward L. Deane.[1]

He served in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1870.[5] He was a candidate in the 1872 South Carolina gubernatorial election, running as an Independent Democrat.[6] He also served as state auditor.[7]

Tomlinson is also credited as a contributor in the introduction and table of contents of Slave Songs of the United States, published in 1867 and known as the first book-length collection of African-American spirituals.[8]

The state of South Carolina has a collection of his correspondence from 1865 until 1867 when he was Superintendent of Education.[9]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Webster, Laura Josephine (June 4, 1916). "The Operation of the Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina". Department of history of Smith college – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Reuben Tomlinson appointment as Sup. of Schools Oct 1865, South Carolina Leader, Charleston, South Carolina, October 7, 1865, page 2". Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "History of the Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina". Lowcountry Africana.
  4. ^ Jenkins, Wilbert L. (May 15, 2003). Seizing the New Day: African Americans in Post-Civil War Charleston. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253028297 – via pages 84, 191, 200.
  5. ^ "Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of South-Carolina". The State. June 4, 1870 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Capace, Nancy (January 1, 2000). Encyclopedia of South Carolina. Somerset Publishers, Inc. ISBN 9780403093472 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Ginsberg, Benjamin (April 12, 2010). Moses of South Carolina: A Jewish Scalawag during Radical Reconstruction. JHU Press. ISBN 9780801899164 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ Allen, William Francis et al. Slave Songs of the United States. New York: A. Simpson & Co., 1867, pp. xxxvii, xxxix.
  9. ^ Correspondence of Superintendent Reuben H. Tomlinson Dates: 1865-1867, South Carolina. State Department of Education. Superintendent. Series, Correspondence of Superintendent Reuben H. Tomlinson, 1865-1867 Container: 000001