The students of the Radical University: Michael J. O'Dowd

Michael J. O'Dowd (b. August 22, 1850; d. January 9, 1882) 

South Carolina. White. 

Occupation: Farmer, farm laborer, M.D. 

Father's Occupation: farmer.

Michael J. O'Dowd was born in South Carolina to William Henry and Claudia Elizabeth Salley O'Dowd.  His mother Claudia was a South Carolina native, but his William father had immigrated from Ireland.  William was a Catholic.  This was a source of controversy within Claudia's family, although she joined the Catholic Church and raised her children in the faith.

The father William was a farmer.  According to family history, he ran a planation in Tabernacle Township (in what is now Aiken County) until he lost it in a poker game.  The family then moved to land around Salley (a town in what is now Aiken County, near Blackville) given to them by Claudia's father.  

Michael was only 11 years old when the Civil War broke out, so he did not serve in the military. However, his oldest brother Howell Jones did. Howell enlisted on September 25, 1864, a few weeks after the Fall of Atlanta.  He was a private in Company F of the 2nd Regiment, South Carolina Artillery.  On March 1, 1865, while stationed in Greensboro, North Carolina, Howell died of pneumonia.

Michael himself was directly impacted by the war too.  In early 1865, Union troops burned his family's home during their invasion of South Carolina.  The family was forced to live in a building previously used for storage.

Michael worked on the family farm until around 1874, when he pursued a college education. He enrolled as a medicine student at the University of South Carolina on November 2, 1874.  He did not complete a degree and had left by January 1876.

Michael continued his education at the Medical College of Georgia (now Georgia State Medical College) in Augusta.  He graduated in 1878.

After completing his education, Michael returned to South Carolina, returning to the area his parents' home.  There he farmed and worked as a physician.    In 1880, he was appointed Manager of Election for Brown's precinct (a voting precinct in Orangeburg County).

Michel died on January 9, 1882.  He is buried in a family cemetery in Aiken County.

Sources
1). Year: 1860; Census Place: Orangeburg, Orangeburg, South Carolina; Page: 394

2). 1870; Census Place: Rocky Grove, Orangeburg, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1506; Page: 342A

3). 1880; Census Place: Goodland, Orangeburg, South Carolina; Roll: 1237; Page: 160D

4). "Notice," The Orangeburg democrat. October 29, 1880, p. 2.

5).  Salley, Olin Jones.  "A History of the Salley Family 1690-1965."  Print on Demand by Orangeburg County Historical Society.   p. 225

The students of the Radical University: Henry Pinckney

H. H. Pinckney
From Centennial Encyclopaedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Henry Hammond Pinckney (b. January 11, 1860?/1861?, d. April 2 1920)
South Carolina.  Black.
Occupation: carpenter, minister.
Father's occupation: carpenter

Henry Hammond Pinckney was born in Charleston, South Carolina.  Historical sources are inconsistent about his birth year with one source listing 1860 and another 1861.  Sources are also inconsistent about his mother.  One source says she was Matilda Pinckney, while another says she was Priscilla Owens (Hammond) Pinckney.  Henry's father was Joseph Pinckney, a free person of color who worked as a carpenter.

Henry began his education in Charleston and attended the Avery Normal Institute.  He also became involved with the AME church as a teenager. At age 15 (around 1875), he made a public confession of faith at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

After graduating from Avery, Henry enrolled at the University of South Carolina, entering as a freshman following the modern studies track at some point after February 1875.  The university closed before he completed his degree.

After the university closure, Henry returned to Charleston. There he lived with his father and worked as a carpenter.  He also began to become more involved with the AME Church, joining the church in 1878.   He was licensed to preach in 1883, joined the South Carolina Annual Conference (the regional church body) in 1884, and then was ordained as a deacon in 1885.

Around 1886, Henry left Charleston for the New Jersey.  He was ordained as an elder in 1887 in Trenton, New Jersey and then served as a church pastor at churches in various cities in New Jersey: Rahway (1887-90), Snow Hill (1892-94), Gouldtown (1894-96), Burlington (1896-98), and Bordentown (1898-99).

Around 1899, Henry decided to continue his education.  He attended the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Philadelphia for 15 months and was a student at the Seminary at Princeton for 2 years.  He left before completing a degree.  While in Princeton, he was pastor at the Mt Pisgah AME Church in Princeton.  At some point, he received a D.D. degree from Paul Quinn College.

Around the end of Pinckney's time at Princeton, he began serving as a presiding elder.  He was presiding elder of the Trenton district from 1901-05, the Newark District 1905-1907, and the New York Conference (1907).  During this period, he also worked as assistant editor of the Christian Recorder (the official publication of the AME church) from 1900-06, serving as editor in 1900 and 1908.

Later Henry settled in Camden, New Jersey and worked as a pastor at the Mt. Pisgah AME church in Salem, New Jersey.  He died in Camden on April 2, 1920.  He was buried in the city, in Mount Peace Cemetery.

Sources
1.  Hawkins, John Russell.  Centennial Encyclopedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  Book Concern of the A.M.E. Church, Philadelphia, PA.  1916.

2.  "The Princeton Seminary Bulletin."  May, 1920.  Trustees of the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church.

3.  1860; Census Place: Charleston Ward 5, Charleston, South Carolina; Page: 402

4.  1870; Census Place: Charleston Ward 4, Charleston, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1486; Page: 256B

5.  1880; Census Place: Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina; Roll: 1222; Page: 251A

6.  New Jersey State Archive; Trenton, NJ, USA; State Census of New Jersey, 1905; Reference Number: L-07; Film Number: 5

7.  1910; Census Place: Camden Ward 3, Camden, New Jersey; Roll: T624_872; Page: 6A

The students of the Radical University: John T. Rafra

John Townsend Rafra (b. Abt. 1856)
South Carolina.  Black.
Occupation: carpenter, teacher, janitor.
Father's Occupation: farmer.

John T. Rafra was born in South Carolina to Isaac and Catherine Rafra.  His father worked as a farmer in Timmonsville, South Carolina.

Rafra registered at the University of South Carolina at some time between February 1875 and January 1876.  He was a college student following the modern studies track.  The university closed before he completed his degree.

After the university closure, Rafra returned to Timmonsville and worked as a teacher.  He was also involved in politics.  Around 1883, he testified before the U.S. House Committee on Elections.  The committee had been charged with investigating a contested election in the Congressional District that Rafra lived in (then the 1st District; now roughly the 7th).  In 1880, the Democratic incumbent John S. Richardson had defeated the Republican challenger Samuel L. Lee in the 1880 election, but Lee contested the outcome.  Lee argued that Richardson had only received a majority of the votes because his supporters had committed fraud, violence, and intimidation

Rafra testified in support of Lee's claim.  Rafra had been a federal supervisor of the election in Timmonsville. He explained that, on Election Day, he counted 75 people who cast votes for the Democratic candidate and then boarded a train to travel to a nearby town to (illegally) vote again. Despite the testimony of Rafra and a number of others, the committee upheld the outcome of the election.

In 1889, Rafra was appointed postmaster for Society Hill (a small town about 30 miles from Timmonsville).  The next year (in 1890) he had moved to Darlington (the county seat) and had returned to teaching.

Rafra left Darlington County and returned to Columbia in 1901.  Writing in 1911, fellow former U of SC student C. C. Scott reported that he was "employed at the government building in Columbia, rendering efficient service." Federal records show that he employed as a laborer in the federal courthouse and post-office.

Sources
1). 1880; Census Place: Timmonsville, Darlington, South Carolina; Roll: 1227; Page: 372C

2). Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census. Official Register of the United States, Containing a List of the Officers and Employees in the Civil, Military, and Naval Service.  1889.

3). Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census. Official Register of the United States, Containing a List of the Officers and Employees in the Civil, Military, and Naval Service.  1901.

4). Columbia, South Carolina, City Directory, 1903

5). 1900; Census Place: Darlington, Darlington, South Carolina; Page: 9

6). United States, Congress, House, Digest of Election Cases: Cases of Contested Elections in the House of Representatives, Forty-Seventh Congress, from 1880 to 1882, inclusive.  Mis. Doc. No. 35. Government Printing Office, Washington.  1883.

The students of the Radical University: Thomas R. Evans

Thomas Robeson Evans (b. December 29, 1857, January 17, 1936)
South Carolina.  White.
Occupation: manufactoring, merchant, farmer.
Father's occupation: farmer.

Thomas R. Evans was born in Spencerville, South Carolina (in Chesterfield county) to Rebecca Ford and Robert E. Evans.  His father Robert was a farmer in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.  Robert enlisted in the Confederate army in April 1861, around the time Fort Sumter was bombarded and served for most of the Civil War.  He was wounded in summer 1864.  By the war's end, he was a captain in the 6th Regiment, South Carolina Cavalry.  The son Thomas was too young to have served in the military.

Thomas registered as a student at the University of South Carolina on October 5, 1874.  He left the university at some point before January 1876 without having completed his degree.

After leaving the university, Thomas returned to Chesterfield County and worked as a merchant in Cheraw.  By 1900, he was working at a sawmill in Society Hill, South Carolina.  He'd returned to Chesterfield County by 1910 and was running a farm.

Thomas continued to work as a farmer in Chesterfield until his death in 1936.  He is buried in the Evans Family Cemetery in Chesterfield.


Source
1). Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of South Carolina.  Publication Number M267.  National Archives Identifier: 586957.  Record Group: 109. State: South Carolina.  Roll 0040.

2). 1860; Census Place: Chesterfield, South Carolina; Page: 174; Family History Library Film: 805217

3). 1870; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1491; Page: 298A

4). 1880; Census Place: Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: 1225; Page: 272D

5). 1900; Census Place: Society Hill, Darlington, South Carolina; Page: 8

6). 1910; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1455; Page: 21A

7). 1920; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1690; Page: 31B

8). 1930; Census Place: Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0018

9). Robeson, S. S., Stroud, C. F., Osborn, K. H. (1916). A Historical and Genealogical Account of Andrew Robeson of Scotland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and of His Descendants from 1653 to 1916. J. B. Lippincott Company. p. 452.