Richard H. Cain

Infobox_Congressman
name=Richard Harvey Cain


date of birth=birth date|1825|4|12|mf=y
place of birth=Greenbrier County, Virginia
dead=dead
date of death=death date and age|1887|1|18|1825|4|12|mf=y
place of death=Washington, D.C.
state=South Carolina
district= A/L
term= March 4, 1873 - March 3, 1875
preceded=
succeeded=
state2=South Carolina
district2= 2nd
term2= March 4, 1877 - March 3, 1879
preceded2=Charles W. Buttz
succeeded2=Michael P. O'Connor
order3 =
office3 =South Carolina State Senator from the Charleston County
term_start3 =1868
term_end3 =1870
state_senate South Carolina
district =Charleston County
party=Republican
spouse =Laura
religion =African Methodist Episcopal
profession=Minister

Richard Harvey Cain (April 12, 1825 – January 18, 1887) was a minister, abolitionist, and United States Representative from 1873 to 1875 and 1877 to 1879.

He was born to free parents in Greenbrier County Virginia, which is now in West Virginia. He was raised in Gallipolis, Ohio. He attended Wilberforce University and attended divinity school in Hannibal, Missouri. He was licensed to preach for the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1844. He joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1848 and became a deacon in Muscatine, Iowa in 1859. In 1861, Cain was a pastor in Brooklyn, New York. In 1862, he was ordained as an elder in 1862 and remained at the Brooklyn church until 1865

He moved to Charleston, South Carolina in 1865 as superintendent of AME missions. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1868. He represented Charleston County in the South Carolina Senate from 1868 to 1872. He also edited the "South Carolina Leader" newspaper (later renamed the "Missionary Record").

He was elected as a Republican to the Forty-third United States Congress in a newly created at-large district. He did not run for re-election in 1874 after redistricting, but ran for the 2nd district in 1876. He was elected to the Forty-fifth United States Congress. His major congressional effort was advocating the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

He was ordained a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1880 and served the diocese of Louisiana and Texas. He helped found Paul Quinn College and served as its president until 1884. He died in Washington on January 18 1887 and is buried in Graceland cemetery. [Edgar, Walter. "South Carolina Encyclopedia" (2006) pp. 119-120, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, South Carolina, ISBN 1-57003-598-2.] [Bailey, N. Louise, Morgan, Mary L., and Taylor, Carolyn R. "Biographical Directory of the South Carolina Senate: 1776-1985", v. I, pp. 246-248, 1986, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, South Carolina, ISBN 0-87249-479-9.]

References

External links

* [http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/141/Richard_Cain_politican_with_conviction/ African American Registry]
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000022/ Congressional biography]