Madison Davis
Madison Davis | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 27, 1833 |
| Died | August 20, 1902 (aged 68) Georgia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery |
| Party | Republican |
Madison "Mat" Davis (September 27, 1833 – August 20, 1902) was an American slave who became a member of the Georgia Assembly representing Clarke County, Georgia and the first African American postmaster in Athens, Georgia, after being emancipated. He was active in Republican Party politics.
Early years
[edit | edit source]Davis was born into slavery and was owned by a carriage maker.[1] After the U.S. Civil War he was freed from slavery at age 31.[1]
Career
[edit | edit source]Representative of Georgia
[edit | edit source]In 1868, Davis and Alfred Richardson, also a former slave, were elected to the Georgia House of Representatives from Clarke County. Later the same year, 25 of 29 African Americans were ejected from office after Georgia's legislature determined that African Americans had no protected right to serve in public office.[1] Four more were investigated by a committee to determine their heritage and determine whether they were more than one-eighth African-American. That year, he was a delegate to Georgia's constitutional drafting convention.[2]
Madison Davis had a light complexion and was one of two African-American representatives allowed to continue in office.[1] Georgia Supreme Court reversed the decision barring African Americans from office the following year in 1869 and all the legislators were returned to office.[1] He was reelected in 1870.
Later career
[edit | edit source]Davis went into the real estate business. He was appointed postmaster of Athens in 1890 by President Benjamin Harrison;[1] making Davis the first African American to serve in that role.[3] He faced strong opposition from local whites in Athens. (Monroe Morton was the second African-American postmaster in Athens.)
Davis also worked as U.S. Customs Surveyor in Atlanta and was Captain of Relief No. 2, Clarke County's first black fire company.[1]
Death
[edit | edit source]He is buried at Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery in Athens.[3]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b c d e f g Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- Madison Davis at Find a GraveLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- 1833 births
- 1902 deaths
- African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Georgia (U.S. state) postmasters
- Politicians from Athens, Georgia
- 19th-century American slaves
- American firefighters
- Republican Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives
- African-American politicians of the Reconstruction era
- Original 33
- American real estate brokers
- 19th-century American businesspeople
- 20th-century African-American politicians
- People enslaved in Georgia (U.S. state)
- 19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly