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James Hinds | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas's 2nd district | |
| In office June 22, 1868 – October 22, 1868 | |
| Preceded by | Albert Rust (1861) |
| Succeeded by | James T. Elliott |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 5, 1833 Hebron, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 22, 1868 (aged 34) near Indian Bay, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (Before 1865) Republican (1865–1868) |
| Spouse | Anna Pratt |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University at Albany University of Cincinnati (LLB) |
James M. Hinds (December 5, 1833 – October 22, 1868) was the first U.S. Congressman assassinated in office. He served as member of the United States House of Representatives for Arkansas from June 24, 1868 until his assassination by the Ku Klux Klan. Hinds, who was white, was an advocate of civil rights for black former slaves during the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War.
Born and raised in a small town in upstate New York, Hinds went west at the age of nineteen and graduated in 1856 from the Cincinnati Law School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He settled in Minnesota, where he opened a private law practice and was elected district attorney of his county. Looking for a fresh start, Hinds moved to the capital city of Little Rock, Arkansas in 1865. In 1867, he was elected to represent Pulaski County as a Republican at the Arkansas Constitutional Convention. The convention was tasked with rewriting the constitution to allow Arkansas' readmission to the Union following its secession and the American Civil War. At that convention, Hinds successfully advocated for constitutional provisions establishing the right to vote for adult freedmen, and for public education for both black and white children.[1]
Campaigning for Republican candidate Ulysses S. Grant in the 1868 presidential election, Hinds was threatened and targeted by the Ku Klux Klan. In October 1868, while travelling to a political meeting with Joseph Brooks in Monroe County, Hinds was shot to death by a Klansman.[2][3]
- ^ Darrow, William B. (Spring 2015). "The Killing of Congressman James Hinds". Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 74 (1): 18–55.
- ^ Foner, Eric (March 1989). Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877. HarperCollins. p. 342.
- ^ "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas.