Tindall, R.M., (fl. 1879) to Blanche Kelso Bruce
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09400.132 Author/Creator: Tindall, R.M., (fl. 1879) Place Written: Okoloma, Mississippi Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 13 December 1879 Pagination: 3 p. : docket ; 18 x 12.6 cm. Order a Copy
This letter from Tindall concerns the possibility of him being ousted from his position. He is asking Senator Bruce to go to the department and see if any charges have been brought up against him, and to let him know. He believes the former holder of the post master position, one W.E Weddell and his friends are trying to get him out of the position since he took over from Weddell.
Blanche Kelso Bruce was born into slavery near Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va. on March 1 1841. He was tutored by his master's son, but left his master at the beginning of the civil war and taught school in Hannibal Mo. After the civil war Bruce became a planter in Mississippi, and a member of the Mississippi Levee Board, and Sheriff and Tax Collector for Bolivar County from 1872-1875. Bruce was then elected as a Republican to the United States Senate, where he served from March 4 1875 - March 3 1881. Bruce was the first African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. In 1881 Bruce was appointed by President James Garfield as the Register of the Treasury. Bruce then went on to serve as the Recorder of Deeds for the District of Colombia from 1891-1893, returning to the office of Register of the Treasury from 1897 until his death on March 17, 1898.
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