Lewis Thomas Christmas Explained

Office1:North Carolina House of Representatives
Term Start1:1879
Term End1:1880
Birth Date:November 5, 1855
Birth Place:Warren County, North Carolina
Death Place:Raleigh, North Carolina
Party:Republican

Lewis Thomas Christmas (November 5, 1855 - June 27, 1928) was a reverend, teacher, school principal and state legislator in North Carolina. He represented Warren County, North Carolina, in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1879 to 1880.[1] [2]

Biography

Christmas was born November 5, 1855, in Warren County.

He graduated from the Theological Department of Shaw University in 1884, the same department he would later teach at.

Christmas was elected to represent Warren County, North Carolina, in the North Carolina House of Representatives in August 1878.[3] He served the county with fellow African-American Republican Hawkins Wesley Carter. In the 1879 session he served on the Counties, Cities, Towns and Townships and the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind Asylum committees and introduced a bill to provide compensation for people who had been wrongfully imprisoned.[4]

He served as principal of the Wilmington Training School.[5]

He was a Baptist[6] and was a Reverend working as the pastor of the Central Baptist Church in Wilmington, North Carolina.[7] He also served as State Missionary for the Negro State Baptist convention for many years. In 1920 he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree from the Florida Baptist College.[8]

He authored a publication titled An Evil Router in 1900 which was a missionary pamphlet intended to "medicate moral derelicts".[9]

He died June 27, 1928, at home in Raleigh, North Carolina, and was survived by his wife and daughter as well as seven siblings.[10]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. A History of African Americans in North Carolina (1997) page 209
  2. Book: Wellman, Manly Wade. The County of Warren, North Carolina, 1586-1917. October 10, 2017. UNC Press Books. 9781469617077 . Google Books.
  3. News: The General Assembly . 1 February 2023 . The News and Observer . 6 August 1878 . 3.
  4. Book: Journal of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina . 1879 . North Carolina. General Assembly. House of Representatives . 1 February 2023. 44,76,106 .
  5. Web site: Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. North Carolina Dept of Public. Instruction. December 11, 1893. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Google Books.
  6. Web site: Who's who Among North Carolina Negro Baptists: With a Brief History of Negro Baptist Organizations. M. W.. Williams. December 11, 1940. Google Books.
  7. Web site: Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of North Carolina, for the Scholastic Years .... North Carolina Department of Public. Instruction. December 11, 1897. Department of Public Instruction. Google Books.
  8. News: "Rev. L.T. Christmas Honored," The Warren Record (Warrenton, North Carolina) 12 Oct 1920, Page 1 . 1 February 2023 . The Warren Record . 12 October 1920 . 1.
  9. Book: Mitchell, Michele. Righteous Propagation: African Americans and the Politics of Racial Destiny after Reconstruction. October 12, 2005. 135 . Univ of North Carolina Press. 9780807875940 . Google Books.
  10. News: Rev L. T. Christmas dies at home here . 11 December 2022 . The News and Observer . 28 June 1928 . 2.