In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

147 [ 7 ] “You Ought Not to Insult the Colored People!”: Final Bids for Office Politically, the year 1888 would be difficult for Chicago’s small African American community. The ward redistricting had split it politically and temporarily diluted its strength in Republican councils. Electorally, it would make no gains. A strong effort to have Thomas named as a Republican county commissioner candidate was rebuffed in an embarrassing manner. Worse, a murder case involving a young African American named Zephyr Davis demonstrated that even a united African American community had limited political power. For Thomas, much of the year would be spent solidifying his new position within the First Ward Republican organization. That organization had remained independent of John A. Logan and his Republican machine. Logan had died in December 1886 but the ward continued its independence from the city and state’s new Republican boss, Congressman George R. Davis. The split in the community, the Zephyr Davis case, and the fact that the First Ward Republican machine was independent of the county machine all cost Thomas a Republican nomination for county board in 1888. The Election of 1888 In early March, Thomas was one of several African Americans, including Edward H. Morris, Hannibal Carter, and James Porter, who attended a meeting of representatives of Republican clubs in Illinois that was held in Springfield. Morris was named to one of two assistant secretary positions at the meeting and then named to be a vice president representing the First Congressional District.1 Although in late March Thomas lost the South Town clerk nomination to C. H. McCallister, in late April he was elected to serve as a delegate to the state Republican convention. It was the first presidential election year state convention Thomas had attended as a full delegate. In 1880, he had been selected as an alternate delegate by the anti-Grant forces but “yOu OuGhT NOT TO INSuLT ThE COLOrED pEOpLE!” 148 was not allowed to serve by the pro-Grant party leaders. In 1884, he served as an alternate delegate. Thomas served as one of six African American delegates from the old Second Ward to attend the county Republican convention. Although the new ward boundaries had been put into effect, Republicans decided in 1888 to select delegates to the county convention based on the old ward boundaries . The Republicans of the old Second Ward showed surprising unity. Only one slate of candidates ran for delegate to the county convention. The Second Ward had 11 delegates to the county convention, and these included Thomas, Robert M. Mitchell, and Hannibal Carter. Six of the 11 delegates would go on to serve as delegates at the May 2 state Republican convention in Springfield. Thomas, Mitchell, and Carter were included among the six. This representation demonstrates the political influence that African Americans had developed in the ward before it was split. Both the old First and the old Third Wards sent all-white delegations, while the old Fourth Ward’s delegation included Morris.2 Before the county convention met, Chicago’s African American leaders called a mass meeting to request the Republican State Convention select an African American to serve as a delegate-at-large to the national convention . Thomas was one of the signers of the call. Lloyd G. Wheeler, John G. Jones, and Ferdinand Barnett did not sign it. Almost every other African American political leader in Chicago signed the call, including Edward H. Morris, Edward H. Wright, George Ecton, C. H. McCallister, Samuel Wright, James E. Jones, John Howard, James Bish, Robert Waring, James Porter, W. C. Phillips, and William Baker. McCallister served as chairman of the meeting, and Edward H. Wright served as secretary. Thomas served on a five-member committee to draft a resolution. The absence of Wheeler and John G. Jones can be seen in the nonconfrontational nature of the resolution, which was written by Thomas and the committee. The resolution stated, in part, “We, the colored voters of the State of Illinois, in mass meeting assembled, most respectfully petition you to grant to us a delegate-at-large to the national convention.” After noting that the African American voter had remained faithful to the Republican Party, the resolution further discussed the difficulties within the community of providing such loyalty without reward. The resolution stated, “[We] have been told by those who, like prodigals, have wandered from us, that we will never receive any representation in this regard from Republicans in this state.”3 The 1888 state...

Share