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{{Infobox State Senator
{{Infobox State Senator
| image = |
| image = |
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| children=
| children=
| profession=[[Minister (Christianity)]], [[Newspaper Editor]], [[Educator]]
| profession=[[Minister (Christianity)]], [[Newspaper Editor]], [[Educator]]
| religion=[[Presbyterian_Church_in_the_United_States_of_America|Old School Presbyterian]] until 1867, [[Methodist_Episcopal]] 1867-1868
| religion=[[|Old School Presbyterian]] until 1867, [[]] 1867-1868
| party=[[Republican Party (United States)#Founding_and_19th_Century|Republican]]
| party=[[Republican Party (United States)#Founding_and_19th_Century|Republican]]
|alma_mater= [[Oberlin College]]
|alma_mater= [[Oberlin College]]
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==Civil war service==
==Civil war service==
[[File:26th_Regiment_USCT_colors.png||thumb|100px|left|Colors for 26th Regiment Infantry, U.S. Colored Troops]]
[[File:.png||thumb|100px|left|Colors for 26th Regiment Infantry, U.S. Colored Troops]]


In December 1863, Randolph volunteered to serve in Civil War for the Union, joining the [[26th Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops]] at [[Rikers Island]], New York, serving as its chaplain. As the only African American officer in the 26th, he received the Regimental banner from [[Vincent Colyer]] at the unit's commissioning ceremony on March 27, 1864.<ref name=Union/>
In December 1863, Randolph volunteered to serve in Civil War for the Union, joining the [[26th Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops]] at [[Rikers Island]], New York, serving as its chaplain. As the only African American officer in the 26th, he received the Regimental banner from [[Vincent Colyer]] at the unit's commissioning ceremony on March 27, 1864.<ref name=Union/>
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==Reconstruction==
==Reconstruction==
After his unit disbanded, Randolph chose to remain in South Carolina during [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]]. He attended the Colored People's Convention in Charleston in 1865.<ref name=EQUALRIGHTS/>, subsequently joining the [[Freedman's Bureau]], serving as assistant superintendent for education in Charleston. In seeking a position with the Bureau, Randolph had written:<ref name=RIKERSCHAPLAINS/>
After his unit disbanded, Randolph chose to remain in South Carolina during [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]]. He attended the Colored People's Convention in Charleston in 1865.<ref name=EQUALRIGHTS/> subsequently joining the [[Freedman's Bureau]], serving as assistant superintendent for education in Charleston. In seeking a position with the Bureau, Randolph had written:<ref name=RIKERSCHAPLAINS/>


<blockquote>I am desirous of obtaining a position among the freedmen where my qualifications and experience will admit of the most usefulness. I don't ask position or money. But I ask a place where I can be most useful to my race. My learning and long experience as a teacher North, and my faithful service as Chaplain demand that I seek such a place. If you should obtain for me some responsible position in the Freedmen's Bureau...you would never regret it. -- B. F. Randolph
<blockquote>I am desirous of obtaining a position among the freedmen where my qualifications and experience will admit of the most usefulness. I don't ask position or money. But I ask a place where I can be most useful to my race. My learning and long experience as a teacher North, and my faithful service as Chaplain demand that I seek such a place. If you should obtain for me some responsible position in the Freedmen's Bureau...you would never regret it. -- B. F. Randolph
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As assistant superintendent, he established schools for freedmen on various plantations around Charleston and secured teachers for them.<ref name=BLACKCHARLESTONIANS94/> Randolph also toured established schools throughout the state to review their operations and ensure they were adequately staffed and supplied. Schools visited included those in Columbia, Camden, Darlington, Cheraw, and Marion, SC.<ref name=ADVOC11May1867/>
As assistant superintendent, he established schools for freedmen on various plantations around Charleston and secured teachers for them.<ref name=BLACKCHARLESTONIANS94/> Randolph also toured established schools throughout the state to review their operations and ensure they were adequately staffed and supplied. Schools visited included those in Columbia, Camden, Darlington, Cheraw, and Marion, SC.<ref name=ADVOC11May1867/>
in February 1867, Randolph started the Charleston Advocate, a weekly newspaper for freedmen, co-founding it with Rev. E. J. Adams, and serving as its co-editor. In March 1867, Randolph petitioned to and was accepted on a provisional basis by the South Carolina Mission Conference of the [[Methodist_Episcopal#Civil_War_and_Reconstruction|Methodist Episcopal Church]] as a minister of their church.<ref name=ADVO09March1867/> Randolph had trained as a minister in the [[Old School-New School Controversy|Presbyterian Church in Ohio (Old School, Northern)]], but believed that he could more effectively serve freedmen in South Carolina under the auspices of the M. E. church's Mission Conference.<ref name=POLITICALSC/>
in February 1867, Randolph started the Charleston Advocate, a weekly newspaper for freedmen, co-founding it with Rev. E. J. Adams, and serving as its co-editor. In March 1867, Randolph petitioned to and was accepted on a provisional basis by the South Carolina Mission Conference of the [[Methodist_Episcopal#Civil_War_and_Reconstruction|Methodist Episcopal Church]] as a minister of their church.<ref name=ADVO09March1867/> Randolph had trained as a minister in the [[Old School-New School Controversy|Presbyterian Church in Ohio (Old School, Northern)]], but believed that he could more effectively serve freedmen in South Carolina under the auspices of the M. E. church's Mission Conference.<ref name=POLITICALSC/>


In late 1867 Randolph was elected as a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1868 under the Reconstruction Laws set by the U. S. Congress. At the Convention, he wrote the article that authorized the first system of free public education in the state. He also authored language granting for the first time the right to vote to landless men, both black and white. Prior to 1868, landless white men were disfranchised. He also successfully introduced an “equal protection clause”, regardless of race, consistent with the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], which South Carolina would ratify the following year.<ref name=BLACKCHARLESTONIANS94/>
In late 1867 Randolph was elected as a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1868 under the Reconstruction Laws set by the U. S. Congress. At the Convention, he wrote the article that authorized the first system of free public education in the state. He also authored language granting for the first time the right to vote to landless men, both black and white. Prior to 1868, landless white men were disfranchised. He also successfully introduced an “equal protection clause”, regardless of race, consistent with the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], which South Carolina would ratify the following year.<ref name=BLACKCHARLESTONIANS94/>
Subsequent to the Convention, Randolph ran for the Orangeburg seat in the State Senate and was elected to a 4-year term. He was also selected by the Republican membership as Chair of the Republican Central Committee for the state, was a delegate to the 1868 Republican National Convention which nominated [[Ulysses S. Grant]] for President, and was one of the nation's first African American [[Electoral_College_(United_States)#Electors|Electors]].<ref name=CongressForKids/>
Subsequent to the Convention, Randolph ran for the Orangeburg seat in the State Senate and was elected to a 4-year term. He was also selected by the Republican membership as Chair of the Republican Central Committee for the state, was a delegate to the 1868 Republican National Convention which nominated [[Ulysses S. Grant]] for President, and was one of the nation's first African American [[Electoral_College_(United_States)#Electors|Electors]].<ref name=CongressForKids/>


==Assassination==
==Assassination==
[[File:Benjamin F. Randolph.png||thumb|250px|Benjamin F. Randolph, Harper's Weekly, October 25, 1868]]
[[File:Benjamin F. Randolph.png||thumb|250px|Benjamin F. Randolph, Harper's Weekly, October 25, 1868]]


As state senator and Republican committee officer, Randolph traveled throughout the state to campaign on behalf of both state and national candidates. In October 1868 he conducted a train tour to the upcountry region of South Carolina on behalf of the national Republican ticket (Randolph was still in the beginning of his 4-year term as state senator and was not standing for re-election). He gave a campaign speech in Abbeville, SC, on October 15. The next day he took a train for Anderson. While changing trains at Hodges' Depot in Hodges, SC, Randolph was gunned down on the station platform by three white men. The attack occurred in broad daylight, with many witnesses, and the assailants mounted their horses and rode away without pursuit. The county coroner's inquest found that no attacker could be identified. Randolph was buried in [[Columbia, SC]], because it was felt that feelings ran too high in Charleston.<ref name=POLITICALSC/>
As state senator and Republican committee officer, Randolph traveled throughout the state to campaign on behalf of both state and national candidates. In October 1868 he conducted a train tour to the upcountry region of South Carolina on behalf of the national Republican ticket (Randolph was still in the beginning of his 4-year term as state senator and was not standing for re-election). He gave a campaign speech in Abbeville, SC, on October 15. The next day he took a train for Anderson. While changing trains at Hodges' Depot in Hodges, SC, Randolph was gunned down on the station platform by three white men. The attack occurred in broad daylight, with many witnesses, and the assailants mounted their horses and rode away without pursuit. The county coroner's inquest found that no attacker could be identified. Randolph was buried in [[Columbia, SC]], because it was felt that feelings ran too high in Charleston.<ref name=POLITICALSC/>


A subsequent investigation by the state authorities resulted in a warrant being issued in Columbia for the arrest of [[D. Wyatt Aiken]]. A former Confederate colonel and prominent planter who lived nearby in Cokesbury, Aiken had publicly issued threats against Randolph's life<ref name=JIMCROWS/> which had been reported by the federal military authority in the region.<ref name=SCRECON/> Aiken was arrested by state constables on November 9, 1868, and briefly detained on suspicion as an accessory before the fact,<ref name=COLPhoenixNOV10/> but was released on $5,000 bail on November 12,<ref name=COLNOV13/> and was never brought to trial.
A subsequent investigation by the state authorities resulted in a warrant being issued in Columbia for the arrest of [[D. Wyatt Aiken]]. A former Confederate colonel and prominent planter who lived nearby in Cokesbury, Aiken had publicly issued threats against Randolph's life<ref name=JIMCROWS/> which had been reported by the federal military authority in the region.<ref name=SCRECON/> Aiken was arrested by state constables on November 9, 1868, and briefly detained on suspicion as an accessory before the fact,<ref name=COLPhoenixNOV10/> but was released on $5,000 bail on November 12,<ref name=COLNOV13/> and was never brought to trial.


Aiken subsequently wrote an open letter to the state Governor, published in the ''Charleston Daily News'' on November 19, 1868, disputing the authority of the state Constable to arrest him and claiming that he was feloniously incarcerated in Columbia for two days.<ref name=CHARLESNOV19/> On December 23, 1868, state constables arrested Fletcher Hodges of Hodges Station as an accessory to the murder of Randolph. He was also subsequently released and never brought to trial. There were again protests in the press that the state Constable lacked jurisdiction in Abbeville County.<ref name=COLDEC30/>
Aiken subsequently wrote an open letter to the state Governor, published in the ''Charleston Daily News'' on November 19, 1868, disputing the authority of the state Constable to arrest him and claiming that he was feloniously incarcerated in Columbia for two days.<ref name=CHARLESNOV19/> On December 23, 1868, state constables arrested Fletcher Hodges of Hodges Station as an accessory to the murder of Randolph. He was also subsequently released and never brought to trial. There were again protests in the press that the state Constable lacked jurisdiction in Abbeville County.<ref name=COLDEC30/>
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The 1868 Constitution that Randolph helped create was replaced in 1895 by a Constitution that greatly reduced voting and legal rights for African Americans. Nonetheless, several innovations introduced by Randolph were retained, in particular free public education and the franchise for landless men, as well as the “equal protection of the law” clause.<ref name=CBGraham/>
The 1868 Constitution that Randolph helped create was replaced in 1895 by a Constitution that greatly reduced voting and legal rights for African Americans. Nonetheless, several innovations introduced by Randolph were retained, in particular free public education and the franchise for landless men, as well as the “equal protection of the law” clause.<ref name=CBGraham/>


Benjamin Randolph's body was re-buried in 1871 at a cemetery in Columbia, SC, which was established in his honor and named for him. Eight other Reconstruction-era African American legislators would be buried in Randolph Cemetery, as well as bishops, attorneys, and Columbia's first black postmaster. In 1995, [[Randolph Cemetery]] was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name=Cemetery/>
Benjamin Randolph's body was re-buried in 1871 at a cemetery in Columbia, SC, which was established in his honor and named for him. Eight other Reconstruction-era African American legislators would be buried in Randolph Cemetery, as well as bishops, attorneys, and Columbia's first black postmaster. In 1995, [[Randolph Cemetery]] was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name=Cemetery/>


In 2008, the 140th anniversary of the 1868 Constitutional Convention to which Randolph was a delegate, the 117th Session of the South Carolina General Assembly declared February 2, 2008, as “Senator Benjamin Franklin Randolph Day” in conjunction with the unveiling of a historic marker at Randolph Cemetery in his honor.<ref name=SCAssembly/>
In 2008, the 140th anniversary of the 1868 Constitutional Convention to which Randolph was a delegate, the 117th Session of the South Carolina General Assembly declared February 2, 2008, as “Senator Benjamin Franklin Randolph Day” in conjunction with the unveiling of a historic marker at Randolph Cemetery in his honor.<ref name=SCAssembly/>


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{reflist|2|refs =
{{reflist|2|refs =


⚫
<ref name=EQUALRIGHTS>{{cite web|url=http://law.sc.edu/equal_rights/5s-randolph.shtml|title=All we ask is Equal Rights|publisher=University of South Carolina Law School|last=Burke|first=W. Lewis}}</ref>
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<ref name=ADVOC11May1867> {{cite news|newspaper=Charleston Advocate|date=May 11, 1867|title=untitled, col. 6, bottom|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025784/1867-05-11/ed-1/seq-2/}}</ref>

⚫
<ref name=ADVO09March1867> {{cite news|newspaper=Charleston Advocate|date=March 9, 1867|title=South Carolina Mission Conference | page=2 | url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025784/1867-03-09/ed-1/seq-2/}}</ref>


<ref name=BLACKCHARLESTONIANS149>{{cite book|title=Black Charlestonians|last=Powers, Jr.|first=Bernard E.|page=149|publisher=University of Arkansas Press|year=1994|location=Fayetteville|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=pQ1PPMIIFBQC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149}}</ref>
<ref name=BLACKCHARLESTONIANS149>{{cite book|title=Black Charlestonians|last=Powers, Jr.|first=Bernard E.|page=149|publisher=University of Arkansas Press|year=1994|location=Fayetteville|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=pQ1PPMIIFBQC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=Elliott>{{cite book|last=Denbow|first=Carl Jón|last2=Cordingley|first2=Gary E |title=Stories of Medicine in Athens County, Ohio|location=Athens, OH|chapter=Pioneer African American Physicians|publisher=Cordingley Neurology|date=Oct. 7, 2012|url=http://www.cordingleyneurology.com/chapter9.html}}</ref>
⚫
<ref name=BLACKCHARLESTONIANS94>{{cite book|title=Black Charlestonians|last=Powers, Jr.|first=Bernard E.|pages=94-95|publisher=University of Arkansas Press|year=1994|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=pQ1PPMIIFBQC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94| location=Fayetteville}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=Union>{{cite book|title=Report of the Committee on Volunteering|page=30|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=5OoaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA30#v=onepage |location=New York City|publisher=Union League Club|date=October 18, 1864}}</ref>
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<ref name=CBGraham>{{cite web| url =http://www.cas.sc.edu/poli/courses/scgov/Articles/SC_Constitution_History.htm| title =South Carolina’s Constitutions| accessdate = October 8, 2009| last =Graham| first =C. Blease| publisher =[[University of South Carolina]]| archiveurl =http://web.archive.org/web/20080225080851/http://www.cas.sc.edu/poli/courses/scgov/Articles/SC_Constitution_History.htm| archivedate =February 25, 2008}} </ref>


<ref name=Cemetery> {{cite web|title=Historic Randolph Cemetery|url=http://www.historicrandolphcemetery.org/history/benjamin-franklin-randolph.php|accessdate=June 13, 2013}}</ref>
<ref name=>{{cite web|title= |url=http://www..org//-.}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=Dyer>{{cite book|last=Dyer|first=Frederick Henry|title=A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion|pages=1727–1728|location=Des Moines|publisher=Dyer Publishing Co.|year=1908}}</ref>
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<ref name=CHARLESNOV19> {{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026994/1868-11-19/ed-1/seq-4/ | date=November 19, 1868|page=1|title=Sharp Letter from Col. D. Wyatt Aiken to Governor Scott Denouncing his late Arbitrary Arrest|publisher=Charleston Daily News}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=BLACKCHARLESTONIANS94>{{cite book|title=Black Charlestonians|last=Powers, Jr.|first=Bernard E.|pages=|publisher=University of Arkansas Press|year=1994|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=pQ1PPMIIFBQC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94| location=Fayetteville}}</ref>
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<ref name=COLDEC30>{{cite news|newspaper=The Daily Phoenix|date=December 30, 1868|title=More arrests in Abbeville| page=1, col. 1|location=Columbia, SC |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027008/1868-12-30/ed-1/seq-1/}}</ref>


<ref name=COLNOV13>{{cite news|newspaper=The Daily Phoenix|date=November 13, 1868|title=Release of Col. Aiken| page=2, col. 5|location=Columbia, SC |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027008/1868-11-13/ed-1/seq-2/}}</ref>
<ref name=>{{cite news|newspaper= |date= , |title=, col. , |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn//--/ed-1/seq-2/}}</ref>


<ref name=COLPhoenixNOV10> {{cite news|newspaper=The Daily Phoenix|date=November 10, 1868|title=Arrest of Col. D. Wyatt Aiken| page=2, col. 6|location=Columbia, SC |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027008/1868-11-10/ed-1/seq-2/}} </ref>
<ref name=>{{cite news|newspaper= |date= , |title= | page=2 | url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn//--/ed-1/seq-2/}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=POLITICALSC>{{cite web|title=Political Assassination in South Carolina|last=Huff, Jr.|first=A. V.|date=April 26, 2006|publisher=South Carolinian Society, 70th Annual Meeting|url=http://library.sc.edu/socar/uscs/2007/huff07.html}}</ref>
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<ref name=CongressForKids> {{cite web|url=http://www.congressforkids.net/Elections_nationalcon.htm| title=National Conventions: Did You Know?|date=2008|publisher=The Dirksen Congressional Center|location=Pekin, IL}} </ref>


⚫
<ref name=CongressForKids>{{cite web|url=http://www.congressforkids.net/Elections_nationalcon.htm| title=National Conventions: Did You Know?|=2008|publisher=The Dirksen Congressional Center|location=Pekin, IL}}</ref>
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<ref name=COURIER10Dec1869> {{cite news|newspaper=The Courier|date=December 10, 1869|title=State Constable| page=2, col. 6|location=Walhalla, SC |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026912/1869-12-10/ed-1/seq-2}} </ref>


⚫
<ref name=JIMCROWS>{{cite book|title=Jumpin' Jim Crow: Southern Politics from the Civil War to Civil Rights|chapter=Chapter 3: One Man's Mob is another Man's Militia: Violence, Manhood, and Authority in Reconstruction South Carolina|last=Kantrowitz|first=Stephen|page=84, foonote 16|publisher=Princeton University Press|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yFvjsEYP7hAC&pg=PA84#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref>
⚫
<ref name=Dyer>{{cite book|last=Dyer|first=Frederick Henry|title=A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion|pages=1727–1728|location=Des Moines|publisher=Dyer Publishing Co.|year=1908}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=SCRECON>{{cite web|title=Reconstruction as an Armed Insurgency|last=De Knight|first=W.F.|date=Oct. 16, 1868|url=http://screconstruction.org/Reconstruction/Primary_Sources/Entries/1868/10/16_DeKnight,_W.F._to_Lt._Wm._Stone_%28B.F._Randolph_Assassination%29.html}}</ref>
⚫
<ref name=Elliott>{{cite book|last=Denbow|first=Carl Jón|last2=Cordingley|first2=Gary E |title=Stories of Medicine in Athens County, Ohio|location=Athens, OH|chapter=Pioneer African American Physicians|publisher=Cordingley Neurology|date=Oct. 7, 2012|url=http://www.cordingleyneurology.com/chapter9.html}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=>{{cite news|newspaper= |date= , |title= | page=2 | url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn//--/ed-1/seq-2/}}</ref>
⚫
<ref name=EQUALRIGHTS> {{cite web|url=http://law.sc.edu/equal_rights/5s-randolph.shtml|title=All we ask is Equal Rights|publisher=University of South Carolina Law School|last=Burke|first=W. Lewis}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=>{{cite news|newspaper=The |date= , |title= | page=2, col. |location=, SC |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn//--/ed-1/seq-2}}</ref>
⚫
<ref name=JIMCROWS> {{cite book|title=Jumpin' Jim Crow: Southern Politics from the Civil War to Civil Rights|chapter=Chapter 3: One Man's Mob is another Man's Militia: Violence, Manhood, and Authority in Reconstruction South Carolina|last=Kantrowitz|first=Stephen|page=84, foonote 16|publisher=Princeton University Press|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yFvjsEYP7hAC&pg=PA84#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=CHARLESNOV19>{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026994/1868-11-19/ed-1/seq-4/ | date=November 19, 1868|page=1|title=Sharp Letter from Col. D. Wyatt Aiken to Governor Scott Denouncing his late Arbitrary Arrest|publisher=Charleston Daily News}}</ref>
⚫
<ref name=POLITICALSC> {{cite web|title=Political Assassination in South Carolina|last=Huff, Jr.|first=A. V.|date=April 26, 2006|publisher=South Carolinian Society, 70th Annual Meeting|url=http://library.sc.edu/socar/uscs/2007/huff07.html}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=COLDEC30>{{cite news|newspaper=The Daily Phoenix|date=December 30, 1868|title=More arrests in Abbeville| page=1, col. 1|location=Columbia, SC |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027008/1868-12-30/ed-1/seq-1/}}</ref>
<ref name=RIKERSCHAPLAINS> {{cite web|title=Rikers Island-trained USCT Regiments' Chaplains|url=http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/cw-usct/2rikersusctchaplains.html}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=Zuczek>{{cite book|last=Zuczek|first=Richard|title=State of Rebellion: Reconstruction in South Carolina|pages=54, |year=1996|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|location=Columbia|url=http://books.google.com/books?ei=O87RUc-EDen-0gGF2IGoBA&id=vTf7dBjas-MC}}}</ref>
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<ref name=SCAssembly> {{cite web|title=Honorable Benjamin Franklin Randolph|last=Rutherford|first=Rep.|date=January 22, 2008|url=http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess117_2007-2008/bills/4518.htm|publisher=South Carolina General Assembly}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=>{{cite news|newspaper= |date= , |title=, col. 6, |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn//--/ed-1/seq-2}}</ref>
⚫
<ref name=SCRECON> {{cite web|title=Reconstruction as an Armed Insurgency|last=De Knight|first=W.F.|date=Oct. 16, 1868|url=http://screconstruction.org/Reconstruction/Primary_Sources/Entries/1868/10/16_DeKnight,_W.F._to_Lt._Wm._Stone_%28B.F._Randolph_Assassination%29.html}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=CBGraham>{{cite web| url =http://www.cas.sc.edu/poli/courses/scgov/Articles/SC_Constitution_History.htm| title =South Carolina’s Constitutions| accessdate = October 8, 2009| last =Graham| first =C. Blease| publisher =[[University of South Carolina]]| archiveurl =http://web.archive.org/web/20080225080851/http://www.cas.sc.edu/poli/courses/scgov/Articles/SC_Constitution_History.htm| archivedate =February 25, 2008}}</ref>
⚫
<ref name=Union>{{cite book|title=Report of the Committee on Volunteering|page=30|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=5OoaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA30#v=onepage |location=New York City|publisher=Union League Club|date=October 18, 1864}}</ref>


<ref name=Cemetery>{{cite web|title=Historic Randolph Cemetery|url=http://www.historicrandolphcemetery.org/history/benjamin-franklin-randolph.php|accessdate=June 13, 2013}}</ref>
⚫
<ref name=Zuczek>{{cite book|last=Zuczek|first=Richard|title=State of Rebellion: Reconstruction in South Carolina|pages=54, 57-58|year=1996|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|location=Columbia|url=http://books.google.com/books?ei=O87RUc-EDen-0gGF2IGoBA&id=vTf7dBjas-MC}}}</ref>


⚫
<ref name=SCAssembly>{{cite web|title=Honorable Benjamin Franklin Randolph|last=Rutherford|first=Rep.|date=January 22, 2008|url=http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess117_2007-2008/bills/4518.htm|publisher=South Carolina General Assembly}}</ref>
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}}


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}}
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==External Links==

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* {{cite journal |journal=United States Congress: Testimony taken by the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States: The Ku-Klux Conspiracy|volume=Vol. IV: South Carolina |year=1872|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/aca4911.0004.001/666 | pages=p. 1256-1260|title=Testimony of William Tolbert, ''Hoge v. Reed, contested election''|publisher= U. S. Government Printing Office}} In this section of the report, Tolbert testifies to the efforts to suppress the black vote in South Carolina and his involvement in the assassination of Randolph.''


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==External ==
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* {{cite web|url=http://screconstruction.org/Reconstruction/Sites_of_violence/Entries/1868/10/16_Assassination_of_B.F._Randolph_%28Hodges_Depot%29.html |title=Reconstruction as an Armed Insurgency: Assassination of B.F. Randolph (Hodge’s Depot)|publisher=Ehren Foley, Public History Program at the University of South Carolina|date=2012}} Web page with map and links to primary sources concerning Randolph's assailants. A related page contains an extensive bibliography on reconstruction in South Carolina.
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* {{cite journal |journal=United States Congress: Testimony taken by the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States: The Ku-Klux Conspiracy|volume= IV: South Carolina |year=1872|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/aca4911.0004.001/666 | pages=p. |title=Testimony of William Tolbert, ''Hoge v. Reed, contested election''|publisher= U. S. Government Printing Office}} In this section of the report, Tolbert testifies to the efforts to suppress the black vote in South Carolina and his involvement in the assassination of Randolph.''


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* {{cite web|url=http://screconstruction.org/Reconstruction/Sites_of_violence/Entries/1868/10/16_Assassination_of_B.F._Randolph_%28Hodges_Depot%29.html |title=Reconstruction as an Armed Insurgency: Assassination of B.F. Randolph (Hodge’s Depot)|publisher=Ehren Foley, Public History Program at the University of South Carolina|=2012}} Web page with map and links to primary sources concerning Randolph's assailants. A related page contains an extensive bibliography on reconstruction in South Carolina.
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* {{cite web| url=http://dcollections.oberlin.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/civilwar/id/175/rec/2| publisher=Oberlin College Archives|last=Cooley|first=Samuel A.|title=Studio photograph of Army Chaplain Benjamin Franklin Randolph|date=1865}} Benjamin Randolph ''cartes-de-visite'', source for the ''Harper's Weekly'' illustration accompanying Randolph's obituary.


⚫
* {{cite web| url=http://dcollections.oberlin.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/civilwar/id/175/rec/2| publisher=Oberlin College Archives|last=Cooley|first=Samuel A.|title=Studio photograph of Army Chaplain Benjamin Franklin Randolph|=1865}} Benjamin Randolph ''cartes-de-visite'', source for the ''Harper's Weekly'' illustration accompanying Randolph's obituary.
⚫
* {{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=YfQoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP8&ots=kKnyfhPRFk | title=Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of South Carolina|date=1868|publisher=Denny & Perry|last=Woodruff|first=J.}} Debates and proceeedings of the 1868 South Carolina Constitutional Convention, January 14 through March 17, 1868.


⚫
* {{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=YfQoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP8&ots=kKnyfhPRFk | title=Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of South Carolina|=1868|publisher=Denny & Perry|last=Woodruff|first=J.}} Debates and proceeedings of the 1868 South Carolina Constitutional Convention, January 14 through March 17, 1868.


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Revision as of 05:03, 15 August 2013

Benjamin F. Randolph
Member of the South Carolina Senate
from the Orangeburg, SC district
In office
August 11, 1868 – October 16, 1868
Preceded byReconstruction Era
Personal details
Born1820
Kentucky
DiedOctober 16, 1868
Hodges, South Carolina
Resting placeRandolph Cemetery
34°0′35.23″N 81°3′14.17″W / 34.0097861°N 81.0539361°W / 34.0097861; -81.0539361 (Benjmain F. Randolph Gravesite)
Political partyRepublican
Alma materOberlin College
ProfessionMinister (Christianity), Newspaper Editor, Educator
Signature

Benjamin Franklin Randolph (1820 – October 16, 1868) was an African American educator, an army chaplain during the Civil War, and a Methodist minister, newspaper editor, politician, and state senator in the early part of the Reconstruction Era in South Carolina. Randolph was selected to be one of the first African American Electors in the United States at the 1868 Republican National Convention, for the Ulysses Grant Republican presidential ticket. Randolph also served as the chair of the state Republican Party Central Committee. He was a delegate to the 1868 South Carolina Constitutional Convention, where he played an important role in establishing the first universal public education system in the state, and in granting for the first time the right to vote to black men and non-property owning white men. On October 16, 1868, Randolph was assassinated by members of the KKK.

Early life

Benjamin Franklin Randolph was born in Kentucky in 1820, the child of free African Americans. He moved with his family to Ohio as a child, where he attended school in Warren County, OH. He enrolled in Oberlin Preparatory & Collegiate in 1854 and matriculated at Oberlin College in 1857, studying in the Classics Department.[1] In 1858, he moved to Buffalo, NY, where he served as the principal of a public school for black students.[2]

Civil war service

Colors for 26th Regiment Infantry, U.S. Colored Troops

In December 1863, Randolph volunteered to serve in Civil War for the Union, joining the 26th Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops at Rikers Island, New York, serving as its chaplain. As the only African American officer in the 26th, he received the Regimental banner from Vincent Colyer at the unit's commissioning ceremony on March 27, 1864.[3]

The unit was deployed to Beaufort, South Carolina, in March 1864, and participated in actions at the Battle of John's Island in the first week of July, sustaining 97 casualties.[4] The unit also fought at the Battle of Honey Hill, and the Battle of Tulifinny. As Chaplain, Randolph's duties included writing letters for members of the regiment and assisting the regimental hospital attendant, Noah Elliott, with care of the sick and wounded.[5] The regiment was mustered out in South Carolina in August 1865.[6]

Reconstruction

After his unit disbanded, Randolph chose to remain in South Carolina during Reconstruction. He attended the Colored People's Convention in Charleston in 1865.,[1] subsequently joining the Freedman's Bureau, serving as assistant superintendent for education in Charleston. In seeking a position with the Bureau, Randolph had written:[5]

I am desirous of obtaining a position among the freedmen where my qualifications and experience will admit of the most usefulness. I don't ask position or money. But I ask a place where I can be most useful to my race. My learning and long experience as a teacher North, and my faithful service as Chaplain demand that I seek such a place. If you should obtain for me some responsible position in the Freedmen's Bureau...you would never regret it. -- B. F. Randolph

As assistant superintendent, he established schools for freedmen on various plantations around Charleston and secured teachers for them.[7] Randolph also toured established schools throughout the state to review their operations and ensure they were adequately staffed and supplied. Schools visited included those in Columbia, Camden, Darlington, Cheraw, and Marion, SC.[8]

in February 1867, Randolph started the Charleston Advocate, a weekly newspaper for freedmen, co-founding it with Rev. E. J. Adams, and serving as its co-editor. In March 1867, Randolph petitioned to and was accepted on a provisional basis by the South Carolina Mission Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church as a minister of their church.[9] Randolph had trained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church in Ohio (Old School, Northern), but believed that he could more effectively serve freedmen in South Carolina under the auspices of the M. E. church's Mission Conference.[10]

In late 1867 Randolph was elected as a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1868 under the Reconstruction Laws set by the U. S. Congress. At the Convention, he wrote the article that authorized the first system of free public education in the state. He also authored language granting for the first time the right to vote to landless men, both black and white. Prior to 1868, landless white men were disfranchised. He also successfully introduced an “equal protection clause”, regardless of race, consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which South Carolina would ratify the following year.[7]

Subsequent to the Convention, Randolph ran for the Orangeburg seat in the State Senate and was elected to a 4-year term. He was also selected by the Republican membership as Chair of the Republican Central Committee for the state, was a delegate to the 1868 Republican National Convention which nominated Ulysses S. Grant for President, and was one of the nation's first African American Electors.[11]

Assassination

Benjamin F. Randolph, Harper's Weekly, October 25, 1868

As state senator and Republican committee officer, Randolph traveled throughout the state to campaign on behalf of both state and national candidates. In October 1868 he conducted a train tour to the upcountry region of South Carolina on behalf of the national Republican ticket (Randolph was still in the beginning of his 4-year term as state senator and was not standing for re-election). He gave a campaign speech in Abbeville, SC, on October 15. The next day he took a train for Anderson. While changing trains at Hodges' Depot in Hodges, SC, Randolph was gunned down on the station platform by three white men. The attack occurred in broad daylight, with many witnesses, and the assailants mounted their horses and rode away without pursuit. The county coroner's inquest found that no attacker could be identified. Randolph was buried in Columbia, SC, because it was felt that feelings ran too high in Charleston.[10]

A subsequent investigation by the state authorities resulted in a warrant being issued in Columbia for the arrest of D. Wyatt Aiken. A former Confederate colonel and prominent planter who lived nearby in Cokesbury, Aiken had publicly issued threats against Randolph's life[12] which had been reported by the federal military authority in the region.[13] Aiken was arrested by state constables on November 9, 1868, and briefly detained on suspicion as an accessory before the fact,[14] but was released on $5,000 bail on November 12,[15] and was never brought to trial.

Aiken subsequently wrote an open letter to the state Governor, published in the Charleston Daily News on November 19, 1868, disputing the authority of the state Constable to arrest him and claiming that he was feloniously incarcerated in Columbia for two days.[16] On December 23, 1868, state constables arrested Fletcher Hodges of Hodges Station as an accessory to the murder of Randolph. He was also subsequently released and never brought to trial. There were again protests in the press that the state Constable lacked jurisdiction in Abbeville County.[17]

In 1870, Congress conducted a series of hearings with respect to the political situation in South Carolina under Reconstruction. Included in the committee report was the testimony of a man who came forward and confessed to involvement in the assassination, and who testified that he belonged to a group whose goal was to “kill out the leaders of the republican party and drive them out of the state.” The committee taking testimony identified this group as the Ku Klux Klan[18] The witness identified Col. Aiken as a leader in the community but did not tie him directly to the assassination, although his testimony did implicate Fletcher Hodges. The witness, listed in Congressional records as William Tolbert, had surrendered himself to a state constable and was held in the state penitentiary. Subsequent to his testimony, he disappeared from the jail, was declared to have escaped, and was shot by a constable on December. 3, 1869, near Greenwood, SC, a few miles from Hodges Station.[19] No one was ever brought to trial for Randolph's murder.

Legacy

The 1868 Constitution that Randolph helped create was replaced in 1895 by a Constitution that greatly reduced voting and legal rights for African Americans. Nonetheless, several innovations introduced by Randolph were retained, in particular free public education and the franchise for landless men, as well as the “equal protection of the law” clause.[20]

Benjamin Randolph's body was re-buried in 1871 at a cemetery in Columbia, SC, which was established in his honor and named for him. Eight other Reconstruction-era African American legislators would be buried in Randolph Cemetery, as well as bishops, attorneys, and Columbia's first black postmaster. In 1995, Randolph Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[21]

In 2008, the 140th anniversary of the 1868 Constitutional Convention to which Randolph was a delegate, the 117th Session of the South Carolina General Assembly declared February 2, 2008, as “Senator Benjamin Franklin Randolph Day” in conjunction with the unveiling of a historic marker at Randolph Cemetery in his honor.[22]

References

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External links

  • "Testimony of William Tolbert, Hoge v. Reed, contested election". United States Congress: Testimony taken by the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States: The Ku-Klux Conspiracy. IV: South Carolina. U. S. Government Printing Office: p. 1256–1260. 1872. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help) In this section of the report, Tolbert testifies to the efforts to suppress the black vote in South Carolina and his involvement in the assassination of Randolph.

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