Josiah t walls biography of william

Later life [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Florida's Past Volume 2 1st ed. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press. ISBN Florida's Black Public Officials, — Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. Fall The Florida Historical Quarterly.

Josiah t walls biography of william

JSTOR The Weekly Floridian. Retrieved University of Florida Press. Sometime during this period, Walls became the mayor of Gainesville. Neither the exact dates of his josiah t walls biography of william in office nor a record of his administration are available, but a few details are clear. He served in the summer ofresigning on or about September 1.

His successor, a pro-Walls white Republican, was Watson Porter, Gainesville postmaster and physician. Further reading [ edit ]. Charles M. Silas L. Jesse J. Authority control databases. United States Netherlands. US Congress. Members of the U. House of Representatives from Florida. Miller Gaetz. Lamar Mays E. Rogers P. The disorganized GOP faced another grim situation josiah t walls biography of william their nominating convention met in August The three previous years would be remembered as the apex of anti—black violence in the state, orchestrated by the well—organized Jacksonville branches of the Ku Klux Klan.

Passing over the incumbent, former Union soldier Representative Charles Hamilton, the state convention delegates advanced the names of their favorite black candidates. Fierce competition between the nominees led tounruly debate as well as attempts to cast fraudulent votes, and almost resulted in rioting. The narrow victory was not encouraging for Walls.

In the general election, he would confront not only Democratic opposition but also the doubts of his own party. Walls faced former slave owner and Confederate veteran Silas L. Niblack in the general election. Walls countered these charges by challenging his opponent to a debate and speaking at political rallies throughout northern Florida the most populous section of the state.

Niblack quickly contested the election. He provided solid evidence that the canvassers who rejected Democratic ballots in at least eight counties throughout the state were not legally allowed to do so; their job had been limited to counting votes. Walls claimed that he had lost more votes due to voter intimidation by the Ku Klux Klan in several northeastern counties, but he had little tangible evidence to support this claim.

The Republican majority declared Niblack the winner on January 29, —a rare case in which the committee decided with the candidate from the minority party. Walls was just 34 votes shy of carpetbagger Republican William Purman. Niblack, running as a Conservative, was third. Walls spent much of the 42nd and 43rd Congresses advancing the political and economic interests of his Florida constituents.

Walls adds his mite to what has gone before and does it well. He managed to gain pensions for Seminole War veterans who fought several battles against Native Americans in Florida throughout the early 19th century. Walls feared the cause of public education would languish if it were left to the states. Worshipful Josiah T. Introduction Josiah T.

Southern States Convention of Colored Men Walls participated in several state conventions to discuss incessant problems facing blacks. National Education Fund Act of The author of the National Education Fund Act ofWalls was an advocate of appropriating federal funds to support public education. Mayor After being admitted to the Florida bar and subsequent to his removal as a U.

Entrepreneurship Farmer AfterJosiah Walls concentrated on his farming activities. House of Representatives Archive. George A. Smathers Library University of Florida. Trudeau N. Castle Books. Banks JA. Accessed May 17, Contested election: Silas L. Niblack vs. Walls, from Florida. Accessed May 20, Walls Bar Association. Accessed May 10, Accessed October 10, Twitty, Mary F.

Hallelujah, What a Ride. Walls, Josiah Accessed March 12, Weinflied D. Walls participated in several national conventions, which were held to discuss problems facing blacks. Grant, which called on the Republicans to nominate John Mercer Langston for vice president in Before the legislative reapportionment that was based on the census ofWalls, who was under the age of thirty, became the first African American from Florida to be elected to the United States Congress where he appeared to win a narrow victory.

This was Florida's only seat in Congress at that time. He took his seat, as a Republican member of the House of Representatives March 4,accepting assignments on the Militia, the Committee on Mileage, and the Committee on Expenditures in the Navy Department. However, he was unseated following a protest by his defeated opponent, Silas L. Niblack, of Lake City.

Niblack disputed the election five days after Walls won, charging that officials had unfairly rejected some of his votes while accepting Walls' illegal ballots. Though it was Walls who protested that voters were intimidated at the polls, the House Committee on Elections unseated Walls by declaring Niblack the winner on January 29, Still Walls had the last laugh because Niblack held office for less than two months before it was time for the next election.

Walls had served almost twenty-three months in the 42nd Congress before being ousted. When the state was divided into two districts inWalls ran for Congress and again won election, but this time to a full term. This election posed Walls against Niblack, and Walls beat him by a majority of seventeen hundred votes. So Niblack replaced Walls and served for two months before Walls was once again back in office.

Walls was a strong proponent of a national public education system that could be funded by the sales of public lands as well as mandatory schooling for all children and put forth bills that supported a federal education system for all children. He realized that education was the key for resolving many of the social problems, injustices, and oppressions that existed in the United States.

He also introduced bills for relief of private pensioners and Seminole War veterans. One of his most significant bills was aimed at granting military support to the Cubans in their revolt against the colonial oppression of Spain. Spain had brought African slaves to Cuba to work the sugar and tobacco plantations and had wiped out the Indian inhabitants by treating them inhumanely.

None of his bills was successful; however, Walls lived to see his dream realized when Cuba became independent inand the United States obtained a protectorate over Cuba in The fifty-one bills Walls introduced during his five years in Congress covered such issues as private pensions, internal improvements of waterways and harbors, establishing mail routes, relief for men who had served in the Seminole Wars and for Florida citizens who had lost property during the Civil Warand general amnesty.

He abstained from the final vote on the Civil Rights Bill February 5, because it omitted reference to public schools. Walls was re-elected inbut the results were challenged by his opponent—former Confederate general Jesse Johnson Finley of Jacksonville, Florida. Walls served from March 4, to April 19, The subsequent recount gave the election to Finley.

A majority of six Democrats and one Independent Republican of the Committee on Elections reported that Walls' votes in one Columbia county precinct had been tampered with by the Republican state senate candidate who had been mysteriously murdered in August and should be deleted from Walls' total, thereby making Finley the winner. The committee's three Republicans maintained that the disputed ballots, which had been burned in a suspicious courthouse fire, were not cast illegally and that Walls was entitled to his seat.

The Democratic controlled House adopted the majority report, and Walls' congressional career ended. In August Walls, without party support, was defeated by Horatio Bisbee for re-nomination to the House. In November, he was elected to the state senate, where be became a champion of mandatory public education. Frustrated by his political isolation and overwhelmed with feelings of futility, Walls took an indefinite leave of absence in February and left the state senate.

Upon his return to Alachua County, Walls owned and operated a successful tomato and lettuce farm, sawmill, and orange grove. He also remained interested in political developments. Inafter again being beaten by Bisbee for the Republican nomination to the House, he ran as an independent candidate but was unsuccessful. In the fall of he was defeated in another bid for the state senate.