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Robert Scott Smalls

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Robert Scott Smalls Veteran Famous memorial

Birth
Beaufort, Beaufort County, South Carolina, USA
Death
22 Feb 1915 (aged 75)
Burial
Beaufort, Beaufort County, South Carolina, USA GPS-Latitude: 32.432865, Longitude: -80.6723171
Memorial ID
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US Congressman, Military Figure. He was a Republican Congressman from South Carolina during the Post-American Civil War Reconstruction Era. Born a slave in South Carolina on the John McKee plantation, he engineered a daring escape and delivered to Union forces a Confederate transport steamer manned by a crew of 6 slaves. When delivering C.S.S. "The Planter," flying under a white flag to the commanding officer of the Union fleet on May 12, 1862, he said that the ship was intended as a gift given from his people to the cause of freedom. He and his family were considered free from that point, as well as his crew and their families. After his story was published in "Harper's Weekly," he was hailed in Washington DC as a hero and was awarded for his valor with $1,500. He helped to recruit Black soldiers for the Union Army. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in Company B, 33rd Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, Robert Smalls fought in 17 battles in the Civil War by his own count. Eventually, the US Navy made him a captain and he was given command of "The Planter." He was discharged as commanding officer of "The Planter" and from military service on June 11, 1865. After the war, he returned to South Carolina where he entered politics. Elected first to the State House of Representatives, he entered the state Senate in 1872 before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1875. Since it was against the law to teach slaves, he was an adult before he could read, yet he was a fierce orator. He served in the United States Congress for five terms from 1875 to 1887, in a time when Black Americans serving in politics were often being murdered. He did not serve in the 46th Congress. He was a delegate to the South Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1895, witnessing the passage of legislation, which greatly reduce the legal rights of black South Carolinians for decades. After leaving Congress, he moved back to his hometown of Beaufort where he became very successful as a duty collector for the port, publisher of a newspaper and served in the South Carolina militia as a major general. For the back taxes, he purchased the McKee plantation mansion, which stayed in his family until 1953. In January of 2017, President Barack Obama issued an executive order establishing Reconstruction Era National Monument in Beaufort County, noting the significance of Robert Smalls in our nation's history. This is located near his homesite and the cemetery of his last resting place. In 1856, he married Hannah Jones, a slave who worked as a hotel maid in Charleston. The couple had two daughters and their only son, Robert, Jr., died of smallpox as a toddler. As a widower, he married in 1890, a school teacher Annie Elizabeth Wigg, and the couple had a son before her death about 1895.
US Congressman, Military Figure. He was a Republican Congressman from South Carolina during the Post-American Civil War Reconstruction Era. Born a slave in South Carolina on the John McKee plantation, he engineered a daring escape and delivered to Union forces a Confederate transport steamer manned by a crew of 6 slaves. When delivering C.S.S. "The Planter," flying under a white flag to the commanding officer of the Union fleet on May 12, 1862, he said that the ship was intended as a gift given from his people to the cause of freedom. He and his family were considered free from that point, as well as his crew and their families. After his story was published in "Harper's Weekly," he was hailed in Washington DC as a hero and was awarded for his valor with $1,500. He helped to recruit Black soldiers for the Union Army. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in Company B, 33rd Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, Robert Smalls fought in 17 battles in the Civil War by his own count. Eventually, the US Navy made him a captain and he was given command of "The Planter." He was discharged as commanding officer of "The Planter" and from military service on June 11, 1865. After the war, he returned to South Carolina where he entered politics. Elected first to the State House of Representatives, he entered the state Senate in 1872 before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1875. Since it was against the law to teach slaves, he was an adult before he could read, yet he was a fierce orator. He served in the United States Congress for five terms from 1875 to 1887, in a time when Black Americans serving in politics were often being murdered. He did not serve in the 46th Congress. He was a delegate to the South Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1895, witnessing the passage of legislation, which greatly reduce the legal rights of black South Carolinians for decades. After leaving Congress, he moved back to his hometown of Beaufort where he became very successful as a duty collector for the port, publisher of a newspaper and served in the South Carolina militia as a major general. For the back taxes, he purchased the McKee plantation mansion, which stayed in his family until 1953. In January of 2017, President Barack Obama issued an executive order establishing Reconstruction Era National Monument in Beaufort County, noting the significance of Robert Smalls in our nation's history. This is located near his homesite and the cemetery of his last resting place. In 1856, he married Hannah Jones, a slave who worked as a hotel maid in Charleston. The couple had two daughters and their only son, Robert, Jr., died of smallpox as a toddler. As a widower, he married in 1890, a school teacher Annie Elizabeth Wigg, and the couple had a son before her death about 1895.

Bio by: Linda Davis


Inscription

"My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be the equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life."
Robert Smalls
Nov 1, 1895



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  • Maintained by: Find a Grave
  • Added: Feb 13, 2003
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7181274/robert_scott-smalls: accessed ), memorial page for Robert Scott Smalls (5 Apr 1839–22 Feb 1915), Find a Grave Memorial ID 7181274, citing Tabernacle Baptist Church Cemetery, Beaufort, Beaufort County, South Carolina, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.