We tend to think of slavery and the Civil War as our distant past, and in some respects both are. The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves on Jan. 1, 1863, and the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, outlawing slavery, was ratified was two years later.
Yet former slave owners were very much alive well after the Civil War ended in 1865 and still shaping our country’s laws and society. In fact, some were even serving in Congress in the late 19th and into the early 20th century, making laws that affected every citizen of the U.S. – including newly freed African-Americans.
To determine which member of Congress was the last from his or her state to own slaves, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a database of Congressional slaveholders compiled by the Washington Post. According to the Post’s research, based on censuses and other historical records, more than 1,700 people who served in the U.S. Congress in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries enslaved Black people at some point in their lives.
The Post considered more than 5,500 members of Congress who were born before 1840 and had reached age 21 at the time of the census taken just before the start of the Civil War in 1860. In addition to senators and members of the House of Representatives, the list includes half a dozen delegates to Congress who represented their territories before they had achieved statehood. (Images of slaves are among these 50 photos from American life in the 19th century.)
Most slaveholders had left Congress by the mid- to late-1800s. Massachusetts Representative Theodore Sedgwick was the earliest to exit, leaving in 1801. After Northern states abolished or phased out slavery, the number of slave-owning Congressmen from that part of the country declined – though some legislators kept their slaves for decades longer.
Click here to see the last slaveholder in Congress from every state
The last former slave owner to serve in Congress was white supremacist and lynching advocate Rebecca Latimer Felton, appointed to the Senate when she was almost 88 years old as a placeholder for Georgia governor Thomas W. Hardwick, who was running for the office. When another candidate, Walter F. George, won instead, he allowed Felton to take his seat – to gain political capital – for a single day when Congress reconvened. She became the nation’s first female senator, though she served for only 24 hours. (In contrast to Felton, here are 36 Black women who changed American history.)
Alabama: William Richardson
> Start date: March 4, 1899
> End date: March 31, 1914
> Congresses served: 56th, 57th, 58th, 59th, 60th, 61st, 62nd, 63rd (Representative)
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Arkansas: Poindexter Dunn
> Start date: March 18, 1879
> End date: March 4, 1889
> Congresses served: 46th, 47th 48th, 49th, 50th (Representative)
California: Marion Biggs
> Start date: March 4, 1887
> End date: March 3, 1891
> Congresses served: 50th, 51st (Representative)
Connecticut: Gideon Tomlinson
> Start date: Dec. 6, 1819
> End date: March 3, 1837
> Congresses served: 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th (Representative); 22nd, 23rd, 24th (Senator)
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Delaware: John Henry Hoffecker
> Start date: March 4, 1899
> End date: Junee 16, 1900
> Congresses served: 56th (Representative)
Florida: Wilkinson Call
> Start date: March 4, 1879
> End date: March 3, 1897
> Congresses served: 46th, 47th 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st, 50th, 53rd, 54th (Senator)
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Georgia: Rebecca Latimer Felton
> Start date: Nov. 21, 1922
> End date: Nov. 22, 1922
> Congresses served: 67th (Senator)
Iowa: Timothy Davis
> Start date: March 4, 1857
> End date: March 3, 1859
> Congresses served: 35th (Representative)
Illinois: Carter Henry Harrison
> Start date: Dtc 5, 1875
> End date: March 3, 1879
> Congresses served: 44th, 45th (Representative)
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Indiana: Jesse David Bright
> Start date: March 4, 1845
> End date: Feb 5, 1862
> Congresses served: 29th, 30th, 31th, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th, 37th (Senator)
Kentucky: James Bennett McCreary
> Start date: March 4, 1885
> End date: March 3, 1909
> Congresses served: 49th, 50th 51st, 50th, 53rd, 54th (Representative), 58th, 59th, 60th (Senator)
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Louisiana: Donelson Caffery
> Start date: Dec. 31, 1892
> End date: March 3, 1901
> Congresses served: 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, 56th (Senator)
Massachusetts: Theodore Sedgwick
> Start date: March 4, 1789
> End date: March 3, 1801
> Congresses served: 1st, 2nd, 3rd (Representative); 4th (Representative, Senator); 5th, 6th (Senator)
Maryland: Barnes Compton
> Start date: March 4, 1885
> End date: May 15, 1894
> Congresses served: 49th, 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd (Representative)
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Maine: George Evans
> Start date: Dec. 7, 1829
> End date: March 3, 1847
> Congresses served: 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th (Representative); 26th (Representative, Senator); 27th, 28th, 29th (Senator)
Michigan: Lewis Cass
> Start date: March 4, 1845
> End date: March 3, 1857
> Congresses served: 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th (Senator)
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Missouri: Francis Marion Cockrell
> Start date: March 4, 1875
> End date: March 3, 1905
> Congresses served: 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th (Senator)
Mississippi: James Gordon
> Start date: Dec. 27, 1909
> End date: Feb. 22, 1910
> Congresses served: 61st (Senator)
North Carolina: Zebulon Baird Vance
> Start date: Dec. 7, 1858
> End date: April 14, 1894
> Congresses served: 35th, 36th (Representative); 46th, 47th 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd (Senator)
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New Hampshire: Obed Hall
> Start date: Nov. 4, 1811
> End date: March 3, 1813
> Congresses served: 12th (Representative)
New Jersey: Robert Field Stockton
> Start date: March 4, 1851
> End date: Jan. 10, 1853rd
> Congresses served: 32nd (Senator)
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New Mexico: José Francisco Chaves
> Start date: March 4, 1865
> End date: March 3, 1871
> Congresses served: 39th, 40th, 41th (Territorial Delegate)
New York: Amos Phelps Granger
> Start date: March 4, 1855
> End date: March 3, 1859
> Congresses served: 34th, 35th (Representative)
Ohio: Henry Roelif Brinkerhoff
> Start date: March 4, 1843
> End date: April 30, 1844
> Congresses served: 28th (Representative)
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Oregon: Joseph Lane
> Start date: March 4, 1851
> End date: March 3, 1861
> Congresses served: 32th, 33rd, 34th, 35th (Territorial Delegate); 36th (Senator)
Pennsylvania: William Constantine Culbertson
> Start date: March 4, 1889
> End date: March 3, 1891
> Congresses served: 51st (Representative)
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Rhode Island: James De Wolf
> Start date: March 4, 1821
> End date: Oct. 31, 1825
> Congresses served: 17th, 18th, 19th (Senator)
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South Carolina: William Elliott
> Start date: March 4, 1887
> End date: March 3, 1903
> Congresses served: 50th, 51st, 52nd, 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th (Representative)
Tennessee: George Washington Gordon
> Start date: March 4, 1907
> End date: Aug. 9, 1911
> Congresses served: 61st, 62nd, 62nd (Representative)
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Texas: Roger Quarles Mills
> Start date: March 4, 1873
> End date: March 3, 1899
> Congresses served: 43rd, 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st (Representative); 52nd (Representative, Senator); 53rd, 54th, 55th (Senator)
Utah: William Henry Hooper
> Start date: March 4, 1859
> End date: March 3, 1873
> Congresses served: 36th, 39th, 40th, 41st, 42nd (Territorial Delegate)
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Virginia: James Alexander Walker
> Start date: March 4, 1895
> End date: March 4, 1899
> Congresses served: 54th, 55th (Representative)
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Washington: James Patton Anderson
> Start date: March 4, 1855
> End date: March 3, 1857
> Congresses served: 34th (Territorial Delegate)
Wisconsin: Henry Dodge
> Start date: March 3, 1841
> End date: March 2, 1857
> Congresses served: 27th, 28th (Territorial Delegate); 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th (Senator)
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West Virginia: Johnson Newlon Camden
> Start date: March 4, 1881
> End date: March 3, 1895
> Congresses served: 47th, 48th, 49th, 52nd, 53rd (Senator)
Wyoming: Stephen Friel Nuckolls
> Start date: March 4, 1869
> End date: March 3, 1871
> Congresses served: 41st (Territorial Delegate)
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