Stephen Atkins Swails

Stephen Atkins Swails (1832 – 1900) was a black soldier in Union Army during the American Civil War and later a lawyer and politician.

First Lt. Swails was a member of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment; enlisting and rising through the ranks to receive a commission.

After the war, he worked as an agent for the Freedman's Bureau, became a lawyer and stayed in the South, becoming active in the political life of South Carolina, where he had fought during the war. He became the mayor of Kingstree, a state senator (1868-1878), and a member of the U.S. Electoral College. He also edited a newspaper, the "Williamsburg Republican".

References

* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6417951 Black Civil-War Soldier Gets Overdue Honors] .
* http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/aframsites.pdf .

External links

* [http://members.aol.com/AASCRoom4/SC1868LegislatureR7.htm Radical members of the 1868 Legislature (photo)]