Powers, R.L., (fl. 1876) to Blanche Kelso Bruce
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09400.192 Author/Creator: Powers, R.L., (fl. 1876) Place Written: Macon, Mississippi Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 6 December 1876 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; 20.1 x 12.7 cm. Order a Copy
Powers is writing to Senator Bruce to ask him to keep an eye on Power's nomination to the Senate, and if there is strong opposition to let him know so he can come to Washington to defend himself. In the second half of the letter Powers mentions that the "motto of the Mississippi Democracy is to "Rule or Destroy the negro" and they are as cruel and unrelenting as savages in pursuing this policy.".
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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