United States Congressman. He was elected and served in the United State House of Representatives, serving from the Alabama 1st Congressional District in the 44th United States Congress. He served between March 4, 1875 and March 3, 1877. He was well-respected and a powerful orator. In 1876 he was not re-elected as the voter district had been changed and he had to run as an Independent from the 4th Congressional District. Born a slave in Georgia, he was sold twice. After being sold for the final time to Judge Jonathan Haralson of Selma, Alabama in 1859, he received his education by mainly being self-taught by reading every book he could find. After the American Civil War, he joined with the freedman activities. Becoming active in politics, he was elected as a Republican to the State House in 1870 and in 1872 to the State Senate from Dallas County, Alabama, the county seat being Selma with a majority-black population. When he was not re-elected to Congress in 1876, there was talk of election fraud, and articles were printed in northern newspapers. In an 1876 newspaper, an article reported that there were "scars on every square inch of the back of Jere Haralson" from the beatings he had received while working in the cotton fields as a child. On February 13, 1877, he testified to a United States Senate subcommittee about the violence and fraud that cost him his re-election. All charges were dismissed. He feared for his life living in Alabama. At that point, he was appointed by President Rutherford B. Hayes to Republican patronage positions first in the Customs Service in Baltimore, Maryland, then the Department of Interior and the Pension Bureau in Washington, DC. After August 21, 1884, he returned to the South. He relocated to Louisiana and then Arkansas trying his hand at agricultural sources. While in Arkansas, he served as a pension agent for a short time in 1894. He was arrested on charges of pension fraud, convicted and sentenced on December 9, 1894 for the maximum of two years along with a fine. He was sent to a Federal prison in New York. He seemingly vanishes from the historical records upon entering the prison system in New York. On March 25, 1895, the warden of the Albany County Penitentiary, signed a form confirming Haralson's arrival. Nothing else is documented. In his biography submitted to "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress," it states that he moved to Texas upon being release from prison, then Oklahoma and Colorado, working as a coal miner. He was killed by wild animals while hunting near Denver about 1916. This cannot be proven. He did marry on June 1, 1870 and had one son, Henry, who attended Tuskegee University in Alabama.

United States Congressman. He was elected and served in the United State House of Representatives, serving from the Alabama 1st Congressional District in the 44th United States Congress. He served between March 4, 1875 and March 3, 1877. He was well-respected and a powerful orator. In 1876 he was not re-elected as the voter district had been changed and he had to run as an Independent from the 4th Congressional District. Born a slave in Georgia, he was sold twice. After being sold for the final time to Judge Jonathan Haralson of Selma, Alabama in 1859, he received his education by mainly being self-taught by reading every book he could find. After the American Civil War, he joined with the freedman activities. Becoming active in politics, he was elected as a Republican to the State House in 1870 and in 1872 to the State Senate from Dallas County, Alabama, the county seat being Selma with a majority-black population. When he was not re-elected to Congress in 1876, there was talk of election fraud, and articles were printed in northern newspapers. In an 1876 newspaper, an article reported that there were "scars on every square inch of the back of Jere Haralson" from the beatings he had received while working in the cotton fields as a child. On February 13, 1877, he testified to a United States Senate subcommittee about the violence and fraud that cost him his re-election. All charges were dismissed. He feared for his life living in Alabama. At that point, he was appointed by President Rutherford B. Hayes to Republican patronage positions first in the Customs Service in Baltimore, Maryland, then the Department of Interior and the Pension Bureau in Washington, DC. After August 21, 1884, he returned to the South. He relocated to Louisiana and then Arkansas trying his hand at agricultural sources. While in Arkansas, he served as a pension agent for a short time in 1894. He was arrested on charges of pension fraud, convicted and sentenced on December 9, 1894 for the maximum of two years along with a fine. He was sent to a Federal prison in New York. He seemingly vanishes from the historical records upon entering the prison system in New York. On March 25, 1895, the warden of the Albany County Penitentiary, signed a form confirming Haralson's arrival. Nothing else is documented. In his biography submitted to "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress," it states that he moved to Texas upon being release from prison, then Oklahoma and Colorado, working as a coal miner. He was killed by wild animals while hunting near Denver about 1916. This cannot be proven. He did marry on June 1, 1870 and had one son, Henry, who attended Tuskegee University in Alabama.

Bio by: Linda Davis