James T. Rapier Signed Document

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RAPIER, James T. (1837- 1883) a Representative of Alabama. His father was a succesful planter which enabled Rapier to be educated by private tutors in Alabama, and he later studied at Montreal College in Canada, at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, and at Franklin College in Nashville, Tennessee. Shortly after the Civil War, Rapier (by then a successful cotton planter in his own right) became involved in state politics. Appointed a notary public by the Governor of Alabama in 1866; member of the first Republican convention held in Alabama and was one of the committee that framed the platform, he also served as its vice-president before turnign his attention to the field of labor. Urging urban workers and rural sharecroppers to organize, Rapier was a key force in setting up Alabama's first Negro labor convention, which he himself served as chairman. Having spawned a vigorous labor movement in his home state, Rapier next concentrated on establishing a newspaper through which he could develop a platform voicing his strongly libertarian sentiments. To this end, he served as editor and publisher of the Montgomery Sentinel, which not only strengthened the solidarity of the Negro community, but also created a greater rapport between the two races in Alabama. Rapier was nominated as a Congressional candidate at the Republican party convention of 1872. He would serve from 1873 to 1875 and worked for the passage of such progressive legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1875. Rapier's Congressional career came to a close with the rapid rise of the Ku Klux Klan and the ascension to power of a Democratic bloc which eventually came to control Alabama's politics. He was appointed collector of internal revenue for the second district of Alabama on August 8, 1878, and served until his death in Montgomery, Ala., May 31, 1883.Partly-printed Document Signed, "James T. Rapier" 1p. folio, being a "Summary of Stamps and Coupons returned to Commissioner of Internal Revenue" for the 2nd District of Alabama. Fine.

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