Joseph Hayne Rainey (
June 21,
1832 –
August 1,
1887) was the first
African American person to serve in the
United States House of Representatives and the second black person to serve in the United States Congress (U.S. Senator
Hiram Revels was the first).Rainey was born in
Georgetown, South Carolina. His parents were both
slaves, but his father, Edward, had a successful business as a
barber, enabling him to purchase his family's freedom shortly after Joseph Rainey's birth. As an adult, Rainey followed his father by becoming a barber. In
1861, with the outbreak of the
American Civil War, Rainey was drafted by the
Confederate government to work on fortifications in
Charleston, South Carolina, as well as to work as a laborer on
blockade runner ships. In
1862, he and his wife were able to escape to
Bermuda. They settled in the town of
St. George, Bermuda, where Rainey worked as a barber, while his wife established herself as a successful dressmaker. In
1865, the couple moved to the town of
Hamilton when an outbreak of yellow fever threatened
St. George. Rainey worked at the Hamilton Hotel as a barber and a bartender, while becoming a respected member of the community.
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