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William U. Saunders

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William U. Saunders (1835 - September 1, 1883) was a barber, soldier, politician, and lawyer who represented Gadsden County, Florida, in the Florida Legislature during the Reconstruction era.

He was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He served in the United States Colored Infantry from 1863-1866.

He was a delegate from Gadsden County to the 1868 Constitutional Convention of Florida despite having been in the county only a few days in his life, according to one account. He had been a barber in Illinois or Maryland. He was described as an eloquent speaker. In 1948 he was described as a Northern Radical Republican.

He traveled the state rallying Black voters.

Historian T. D. Allman wrote that racist revisionists tried to recast him as mulatto to deny his being a black man.

An African American, he served in the United States Colored Infantry from 1863-1866. Canter Brown Jr. documented him as "mulatto". He represented Gadsden County at the 1868 Florida Constitutional Convention. He described as a "fluent speaker."

He died in Clinton, Kentucky.

References

  1. Brown, Canter (July 1, 1998). Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817309152 – via Google Books.
  2. Florida's Black Public Officials by Canter Brown Jr. pages 122, 123.
  3. Davis, William Watson (July 1, 1913). "The Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida". Columbia University Press – via Google Books.
  4. Shofner, Jerrell H. (1966). "Political Reconstruction in Florida". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 45 (2): 145–170. JSTOR 30147741.
  5. ^ "Negro History Bulletin". Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. July 1, 1974 – via Google Books.
  6. Hanna, Kathryn Abbey (July 1, 1948). "Florida, Land of Change". University of North Carolina Press – via Google Books.
  7. Randel, William Peirce (July 1, 1969). Centennial: American Life in 1876. Chilton Book Company – via Google Books.
  8. Allman, T. D. (March 5, 2013). Finding Florida: The True History of the Sunshine State. Grove/Atlantic, Inc. p. 262. ISBN 9780802120762 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924 by Canter Brown Jr. pages 122,123
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