William M. Viney

William M. Viney was an African-American political organizer, a civil rights activist, farmer, and minister.[1] Viney served as a constitutional convention delegate in South Carolina during the Reconstruction era, as a political organizer, and as a sergeant in the American Civil War.[2][3]

William M. Viney
Born
Ohio, U.S.
Other namesW. M. Viney
Occupationpolitical organizer, a civil rights activist, farmer, minister

Biography

William M. Viney was born in Ohio,[3] and early in life he worked as a broom maker. He served as a sergeant in Company G of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War.[4]

After the war he settled in the Colleton County of South Carolina and bought land near Somerville,[4][5] and in July 1865 he tried to integrate Charleston, South Carolina's streetcars by riding on one for "whites only".[2][3] He travelled throughout the Colleton County District holding meetings and reached out to poor whites in his political organizing, which led up to the South Carolina's 1868 Constitutional Convention.[4] He was frequently threatened violence during his political organizing.[4]

He was a delegate to South Carolina's 1868 Constitutional Convention.[6][7]

References
  1. "Index to Politicians: Vincente to Vlodeck". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 2021-11-05. Viney, W. M. — of Colleton County, S.C. Delegate to South Carolina state constitutional convention from Colleton County, 1868. African ancestry. Burial location unknown.
  2. Foner, Eric (1996). Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. Louisiana State University Press. p. 219. ISBN 9780807120828.
  3. Holt, Thomas (1979). Black Over White: Negro Political Leadership in South Carolina During Reconstruction. University of Illinois Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-252-00775-0.
  4. Saville, Julie (1996-04-26). The Work of Reconstruction: From Slave to Wage Laborer in South Carolina 1860-1870. Cambridge University Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-521-56625-4.
  5. The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Volumes 85-86. South Carolina Historical Society. 1984. pp. 248–249.
  6. Representatives, USA House of (October 31, 1868). "House Documents". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
  7. "The Political Graveyard: South Carolina: 1868 Constitutional Convention". politicalgraveyard.com.


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