Benjamin A. Boseman

Benjamin Antony Boseman Jr. (July 30, 1840 – February 23, 1881), sometimes misspelled Bozeman, was an African-American physician and state legislator. He was born in Troy, New York, son of Benjamin and Annaretta Boseman, the oldest of five children.[1] In the 1860 U.S. Census he is described as mulatto. His father was a steward on a steamboat, and then sutler.[1]

He studied in the Preparatory (high school) Division of New York Central College from 1854 to 1856.[2]

After a lengthy apprenticeship with prominent Dr. Thomas C. Brinsmade in Troy, Boseman completed his medical studies at Dartmouth Medical School in 1863 and Bowdoin College's Maine Medical College in 1864.[3] He then served the Union as an assistant surgeon in the U.S. Colored Troops. Stationed at Camp Foster, Hilton Head, South Carolina, he treated sick and wounded soldiers, and medically examined prospective recruits.[1]

At the end of the war he opened a medical practice in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1869 he was appointed physician to the Charleston City Jail.[1] He married Virginia Montgomery[1] and they had two children.[4] Another source says that he had a son Christopher and a daughter Ana, and that Virginia was mulatto.[5]: 348 

Radical Republicans in the South Carolina Legislature

Boseman served in the South Carolina House of Representatives for three consecutive terms, from 1868 until 1873,[3] representing Charleston County.[6] As a legislator, he introduced in 1870 South Carolina's first comprehensive Civil Rights bill.[7]

In 1869, the South Carolina Legislature, beginning the misspelling of his name as "Bozeman", appointed him and Francis L. Cardozo trustees of South Carolina College, predecessor of the University of South Carolina.[8] He was also appointed to the Board of Regents of the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum.[1]

In 1872, he was nominated for Comptroller General of South Carolina, but he declined the nomination.[9][5]: 351 

In 1873, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Boseman the first Black postmaster of Charleston.[10] His salary was $4,000 (equivalent to $97,711 in 2022). He invested in railroad and phosphate mining.[11] Boseman served as postmaster until his death in 1881, at the age of 40 (not 41).[12]

References
  1. Newmark, Jill (April 15, 2013). "Benjamin Anthony Boseman (1840-1881)". blackpast.org. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  2. Parks, Marlene K. (2017). New York Central College, 1849–1860. 2 volumes. Vol. I, part 2, alphabetically. ISBN 978-1548505752. OCLC 1035557718.
  3. "Benjamin Antony Boseman, Jr". badahistory.net. Archived from the original on 2020-06-09. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  4. "Married". The Elevator (San Francisco, California). Vol. 9, no. 41. January 17, 1874. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  5. Hine, William C. (1982). "Dr. Benjamin A. Boseman Jr.: Charleston's Black Physician–Politician". In Rabinowitz, Howard N. (ed.). Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Period. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. pp. 335–362. ISBN 0252009290.
  6. "South Carolina During the Late 1800s - the 49th General Assembly (1870-1872)". Archived from the original on 2019-08-09. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  7. Noonan, Ellen (10 December 2012). The Strange Career of Porgy and Bess: Race, Culture, and America's Most Famous Opera. ISBN 9780807837337. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  8. Brown, Loretta Costello (December 2, 1983). "USC celebrates 110 years of black presence". The Index–Journal (Greenwood, South Carolina). p. 9. Archived from the original on October 8, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  9. "The Slates". Newberry Herald (Newberry, South Carolina). July 17, 1872. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2021-07-09 – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
  10. "The Charleston (S.C.) Post Office". New York Daily Herald (New York, New York). July 27, 1877. p. 7. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  11. Lincove, David A. (2000). Reconstruction in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313291999. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  12. Gleaton, Dionne (February 12, 2005). "Black History Month. Postal Service. After Civil War, African-Americans [sic] began long record of contributions to Post Office". Times and Democrat (Orangeburg, South Carolina). p. 19. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2021 – via newspapers.com.

Further reading
  • Hine, William C. (1982). "Dr. Benjamin A. Boseman Jr.: Charleston's Black Physician–Politician". In Rabinowitz, Howard N. (ed.). Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Period. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. pp. 335–362. ISBN 0252009290.
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