Simeon W. Beard was an American minister, teacher, and politician who worked in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

and then in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

. He served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

. He was a delegate to Georgia's constitutional convention in 1867 and 1868.Freedom's Lawmakers by Eric Foner Louisiana State Univerdity Press (1996) page 14 and 15 African American legislators were expelled from office in Georgia. Beard was a member of the Union Waiter's Society. He taught in

before returning to Augusta. His school in Charleston was established in the antebellum period. Beard's classes were relatively expensive and well supplied. He was part of the Georgia delegation, along with Georgia Governor

Rufus Bullock Rufus Brown Bullock (March 28, 1834 – April 27, 1907) was a Republican Party politician and businessman in Georgia. During the Reconstruction Era he served as the state's governor and called for equal economic opportunity and political rights f ...

who met with the U.S. president. He read the Declaration of Independence and

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...

at a Freedmen's Celebration. He addressed an 1870 meeting of Republicans. The ''Sweetwater Enterprise'' described him as a bright

mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...

and a fanatic. It noted his calls to arm Black militias to protect African Americans. In 1867 he compared the American Civil War to the Biblical account of the

parting of the Red Sea The Crossing of the Red Sea ( he, קריעת ים סוף, Kriat Yam Suph, parting of the Sea of Reeds) forms an episode in the biblical narrative of The Exodus. It tells of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses, from the pursuing Egyptians ...

in Egypt to make way for freedom for the Jews. He partnered with white

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...

agent John Bryant to establish the ''Loyal Georgian'' newspaper. He was literate. Emily Edson Briggs described his appearance and wrote that "his words burn as if they had been forged in a redhot furnace."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Simeon 19th-century American politicians Year of birth missing Year of death missing 19th-century American writers Clergy from Charleston, South Carolina Schoolteachers from South Carolina African-American people in Georgia (U.S. state) politics

See also

References