Henry McNeal Turner and black legislators

Henry McNeal Turner was a minister, a politician, and the first Southern bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He organized new congregations for blacks in Georgia after the Civil War. He was born in free South Carolina where he learned to read, write, and became a Methodist preacher. He joined the church in 1858 in St. Louis, where he became a minister. In the Civil War, Henry was the first black chaplain in the US Colored Troops. After that, he was appointed to the Freedmen's Bureau in Georgia. He lived in Macon and was elected into the Georgia legislature in 1868. There he built many churches. In September of 1868, the legislature kicked out the African-American members of the legislator. These blacks, led by Turner, got the federal government to get them their seats back. Because of the support from all the black legislators (about 69) public education was adopted and started in Georgia. In 1880, Turner was elected the first Southern bishop. Turner then began supporting the emigration of blacks back to Africa.

Image From: Wikipedia