People, Locations, Episodes

Jeremiah Haralson, Politician born

JeremiahHaralson

*Jeremiah Haralson was born on this date in 1846. He was a Black politician who served in the House of Representatives.

Born a slave near Columbus, Georgia, Haralson was taken to Alabama and kept in bondage until 1865. After attaining his freedom, he taught himself how to read and write. According to records, he became a farmer, clergyman, powerful orator, and debater. In 1870, he ran for Congress as an independent and defeated the Republican candidate.

In 1870, the twenty-first district elected Haralson to the state Senate. Two years later, he urged Black voters to turn away from the republican movement and remain loyal to the reelection of President Grant.  In 1874, he was elected to Congress and took his seat on March 4, 1875, serving on the Committee on Public Expenditures. Though he made no speeches on the House floor, he introduced several pieces of legislation, including a bill to use proceeds from public land sales for educational purposes and a bill for the Medical College of Alabama relief.

He presented a petition from citizens of Mobile requesting compensation for the use of a medical college building and supplies by officials of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Haralson differed from many in his party when he criticized using federal soldiers to control violence and ensure orderly voting in the South during the 1876 election. He also supported general amnesty for former Confederates.

After leaving Congress, Haralson worked as a clerk at Baltimore’s federal customhouse and a clerk in the Department of the Interior. By 1912, he returned to Alabama and settled in Selma, but soon began years as a wanderer, drifting to Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado.  Wild animals killed him in 1916, but no official records confirmed his death.

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