Samuel Jones Bampfield (1849–1899), was an American lawyer, newspaper editor, Christian minister, and state legislator who lived in South Carolina.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/SamJBampfield.1898.jpg/220px-SamJBampfield.1898.jpg)
Bampfield was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1849, and graduated from Lincoln University in 1872.[1] He read law in Charleston and passed the bar. He represented Beaufort County, South Carolina in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1874 to 1876.[1] He also served as Beaufort's postmaster and as a clerk of the county court. He edited the New South newspaper and belonged to the Presbyterian Church.
He founded the Berean Presbyterian Church in Beaufort in 1892.[2] He married the 19-year-old daughter of Robert Smalls, Elizabeth Lydia Smalls. They lived at 414 New Street in Beaufort, South Carolina and had 11 children. She took over as postmaster after his death.[3]
Historian Eric Foner documented him as free born and of mixed race.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Foner, Eric (1996-08-01). Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. LSU Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-8071-2082-8.
- ^ "African American Historic Places in South Carolina" (PDF). South Carolina Department of Archives and History. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
- ^ Cordial, Grace (June 21, 2017). "Beaufort District Collection Connections: Heritage Walking Tour: Robert Smalls, 1839–1915".