Macon Bolling Allen | |
---|---|
Born | Allen Macon Bolling August 4, 1816 Indiana, U.S. |
Died | October 15, 1894 Washington, D.C., U.S. | (aged 78)
Resting place | Charleston, South Carolina |
Other names | Allen Macon Bolling |
Occupation(s) | Lawyer, judge |
Known for | First African-American lawyer and Second African-American Justice of the Peace |
Spouses |
|
Children | 7 |
Macon Bolling Allen (born Allen Macon Bolling; August 4, 1816 – October 15, 1894) was an American attorney who is believed to be the first African American to become a lawyer and to argue before a jury, and the second to hold a judicial position in the United States. Allen passed the bar exam in Maine in 1844 and became a Massachusetts Justice of the Peace in 1847. He moved to South Carolina after the American Civil War to practice law and was elected as a judge in 1873 and again in 1876. Following the Reconstruction Era, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he continued practicing law.