John Adams Hyman" (July 23 1840-September 14 1891)

Was a a Republican U.S. Congress from North Carolina from 1875 to 1877,the first African

American to represent the state in the House of Representatives.He was elected from North Carolina's  2nd congressional district,in the northeast around New Bern.Born into slavery near Warrenton,John did not received any formal education as a child.By 1861,he was working as a janitor for a jeweler named King in Warrenton.King was from Pennsylvania and taught John to read and write;when this was discovered by whites in town,they ran he and his wife off.When John persisted in trying to learn,at the age of 21 he was sold downriver to a new master in Alabama.In Twenty-five years as a slave,John was sold at least eight times.After the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves,John returned to North Carolina in 1865.He worked as a farmer and pursued elementary studies.Recognized for his leadership,he was chosen as a delegate to the state equal rights convention in 1865 and to the State constitutional convention in 1868.John was elected to the North Carolina Senate,where he served from 1868 to 1874 in the Reconstruction era-legislature.In 1874,John was elected as Republican to the 44th United States Congress from North Carolina's congressional district.He "had swept Craven and other counties in the newly created district that became known as the "Black Second."Democrats had established the district to confine voting by blacks;but they elected all but two Republicans representatives for the next quarter century.John served for for one term (March 4,-March 3,1877).After unsuccessfully running for the Republican renomination to Congress in 1876 to Brogden]],the immediate past governor,John returned to agricultural pursuits.By 1877,New Bern had become an African American-majority town;they elected representatives to the board of alderman and the Craven County Commission,until the Democratic state legislature withdrew the county's authority to govern itself.The county  continued to elect at least one black legislator each session to the state for another decade,as did other majority-African-American counties in the northeast part of the state.While in congress,John proposed federal funding for Civil War-related damages in his district.He also called for the reimbursement of the freedmen and women who had lost money in the Federally Chartered Freedman's Bank.Because his seat was challenged his entire term,John was unable to fully make his presence felt in Congress.In 1878 John returned to North Carolina to farm and run a grocery store & liquor store in Warrenton.He continued to attract controversy.When members of the Warrenton Colored Methodist Church accused him of embezzling church funds,he assualted the church's minister and was arrested and fined for assualt.As he was increasingly ostracized by the local community,John left Warrenton and returned to Washington D.C. where he obtained a series of minor appointive posts including special deputy collector of internal revenue,the U.S. Post Office and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.