Jeremiah Haralson

Born: April 1, 1846 near Columbus, Georgia

Died: 1916 near Denver, Colorado

United States Representative, 1875–1877

Republican from Alabama

Haralson was considered one of the most powerful orators of the time and also had a great sense of humor. He used his skills to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives but only served one term.
Haralson was born a slave near Columbus, Georgia. He was sold twice as a child before John Haralson, a lawyer from Selma, Alabama, purchased him in 1859. After winning his freedom in 1865, Jeremiah Haralson taught himself to read and write. He made his living as a farmer near Selma.
Haralson was a political maverick and was not strictly loyal to the Republican Party. In 1876, he lost the primary to James Rapier, the other Black Congressmen from Alabama, and entered the general election as an Independent. Haralson and Rapier split the Black vote and as a result, the election was won by the Democrat, a former Confederate general and Selma's sheriff.
Later in life he lived in Texas, Oklahoma and finally in Colorado, where he became a coal miner. Sometime in 1916, he went on a hunting trip and never returned, so the story goes. It is speculated that he was killed by a wild animal near Denver. He was 69 or 70 years old.
For more details about Haralson's life and death, see Killed by wild beasts: The strange story of Jeremiah Haralson's 'death' by Brian Lyman in the Montgomery Advertiser (Feb. 26, 2020).

Jeremiah Haralson

1880

Brady-Handy Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

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