Representative Jeremiah Haralson

Jeremiah Haralson served as a Representative from Alabama in the United States Congress from 1875 to 1877. A member of the Republican Party, Jeremiah Haralson contributed to the legislative process during 1 term in office.

Jeremiah Haralson’s service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history. As a member of the House of Representatives, Jeremiah Haralson participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of constituents.

Jeremiah Haralson (April 1, 1846 – disappeared 25 March 1895) was a politician from Alabama who served as a state legislator and was among the first ten African-American United States Congressmen. Born into slavery in Columbus, Georgia, Haralson became self-educated while enslaved in Selma, Alabama. He was a leader among freedmen after the American Civil War. He became active in politics, being elected as a Republican to the State House and the State Senate from Dallas County, Alabama. He was elected in 1874 and served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Alabama’s 1st congressional district in the 44th United States Congress. The conservative Democrats gained control of the state legislature and gerrymandered several districts. In 1876 Haralson was forced to run from the changed Alabama’s 4th congressional district, the only one still having a majority-black population. Running as an independent against the Republican candidate, James T. Rapier, Haralson essentially split the Republican vote. Dallas County Sheriff Charles M. Shelley, a Democrat, won the seat with 38% of the vote. Although not successful in gaining elective office again, Haralson was appointed to Republican patronage positions in the Customs Service, Department of Interior, and the Pension Bureau in Washington, DC. After 1884, he returned to the South. He was convicted of pension fraud in 1894. He appeared to vanish from the historical record upon imprisonment in New York.