Spelman, James J., 1841-1894

[James J. Spelman (January 18, 1841 to May 25, 1894) was journalist and politician. Spelman spent the early part of his life in Connecticut and New York, where he began delivering newspapers. He became a regular contributor to the Weekly Anglo-African and Pine and Palm. When the Civil War started Spelman advocated for and then helped Black men enlist in the Union army. He moved to Mississippi in 1868 to be a teacher for the Freedmen's Bureau. In 1869, he was appointed a justice of the peace and an alderman for Canton, Mississippi and later that year was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. He worked closely with Governor James L. Alcorn. He and James Lynch co-founded the Colored Citizen paper and Spelman later became a special correspondent for the New York Tribune. He worked heavily in education at all levels throughout the state. He was also a member of the National Temperance Society, Freemans, Kings of Labor, and was a member of the Baptist church.]

found: Against All Odds: The First Black Legislators of Mississippi, website, April 20, 2021web page title (James J. Spelman; born January 18, 1841; died May 25, 1894; served in the Mississippi House of Representatives) - http://much-ado.net/legislators/legislators/james-j-spellman/

found: Freedom's lawmakers: a directory of Black officholders during Reconstruction, 1993 :p. 202 (With James D. Lynch, he [Spelman] published the Jackson Colored Citizen, around 1868-70)

[James J. Spelman (January 18, 1841 to May 25, 1894) was journalist and politician. Spelman spent the early part of his life in Connecticut and New York, where he began delivering newspapers. He became a regular contributor to the Weekly Anglo-African and Pine and Palm. When the Civil War started Spelman advocated for and then helped Black men enlist in the Union army. He moved to Mississippi in 1868 to be a teacher for the Freedmen's Bureau. In 1869, he was appointed a justice of the peace and an alderman for Canton, Mississippi and later that year was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. He worked closely with Governor James L. Alcorn. He and James Lynch co-founded the Colored Citizen paper and Spelman later became a special correspondent for the New York Tribune. He worked heavily in education at all levels throughout the state. He was also a member of the National Temperance Society, Freemans, Kings of Labor, and was a member of the Baptist church.]