Josiah T. Walls

Infobox_Congressman
name=Josiah Thomas Walls

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date of birth=birth date|1842|12|30|mf=y
place of birth=Winchester, Virginia
dead=dead
date of death=death date and age|1905|5|15|1842|12|30|mf=y
place of death=Tallahassee, Florida
state=Florida
district=
term=March 4, 1871 - January 29, 1873 and March 4, 1873 - April 19, 1876
preceded=Charles M. Hamilton
succeeded=Jesse Finley
party=Republican
profession=

Josiah Thomas Walls (1842-1905) was a United States Congressman from 1871 until 1876.

Early life

Josiah Walls was born a slave near Winchester, Virginia. He was forced to join the Confederate Army and was captured by the Union Army in 1862 at Yorktown. He voluntarily joined the United States Colored Troops in 1863 and rose to the rank of corporal. He was discharged in Florida and settled in Alachua County.

Political career

He was elected as the sole representative from Florida to the Forty-second United States Congress in 1871, but the vote was contested by Silas L. Niblack. The U.S. Committee on Elections eventually unseated Walls. Walls ran and was elected again in 1873. After serving one term in the house he ran for re-election in 1874. He apparently won the election but Jesse Finley contested this and was eventually declared the winner by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. This unseating was the end of Walls political career. He returned to Florida and farmed until his death on May 15, 1905.

In office, Walls introduced bills to establish a national education fund and aid pensioners and Seminole War Veterans.

References

*Klingman, Peter D. "Josiah Walls: Florida's Black Congressman of Reconstruction". Gainesville: University Presses of Florida, 1976. ISBN 0813003997

External links

* [http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/507/An_odd_political_career_for_Josiah_Walls/ African American Registry]
*CongBio|W000093/|name=WALLS, Josiah Thomas|inline=1