First Black Indiana House of Representatives

James Hinton (25 Dec 1834 – 6 Nov 1892). Born in North Carolina, his family moved to Indiana around 1848. After education in Indiana and Ohio, he worked as a teacher, wagon driver, and barber. By 1862, he was working in Indianapolis as a real estate agent. When Blacks were allowed to enlist in the army during the Civil War with the passage of the Second Confiscation and Militia Act of 1862 and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, Hinton enlisted in the Massachusetts 54th and 55th United States Colored Regiments because Indiana did not have a unit. He returned to Indiana in 1863 to help organize the Indiana 28th USCT.

Following the Civil War, he promoted for the Republican “party of Lincoln” to African American voters. He advocated for education for Black children and asked for fair shares of public school funds to be provided to schools and teachers. He also served as a presidential elector-at-large and was one of two Black delegates for the National Republican Convention in 1872. He was the first African American to hold statewide office when he was appointed Trustee of the Wabash and Erie Canal. In 1880, he was elected to represent Marin County in the Indiana House of Representatives.