by Paul R. Spitzzeri
As we continue on through 1888 and the story of R.C.O. Benjamin, the first Black attorney licensed to practice not only in Los Angeles but California, as well, his involvement in local politics led him into some serious verbal and physical conflict as the presidential election of that year approached.
The day after his long analysis of African-American [male] voting was published, as detailed in part seven of this post, the Los Angeles Times of 11 September briefly reported that the Eureka Republican Club, comprised of Black voters in the Angel City and of which Benjamin was briefly president, voted for the expulsion of him, Jacob Soares (his partner in the Los Angeles Observer newspaper) and the Rev. Tilghman Brown of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the building of which also housed the newspaper.
This was undoubtedly because of the conflict that arose as Benjamin advocated for more independence among African-American voters from what he considered a blind loyalty to the Republican Party because of its role in freeing the slaves a quarter of a century before. We’ve also seen how his commentaries in Los Angeles and elsewhere advocated that Black people vote on the basis of what would better their condition, not by strict adherence to party.
In its edition of the 17th, the Los Angeles Herald noted that the Colored Mens’ Independent Protective League held a meeting at the Requena Street address of the church and newspaper with Thomas Pearson chairing and Benjamin as secretary. It was added that “a goodly number of new members joined the League” while “rousing speeches” were given by five Black men and one white man, but not Benjamin. Moreover, the account observed,
The League renewed their pledge to support only such men on the county ticket as they believed best calculated to honestly and faithfully discharged the duties of their respective offices.
Another bout of fisticuffs erupted at the end of the month, as remarked upon in the Los Angeles Tribune of the final day of September. C.H. Twine, who previously got into conflict with Benjamin as noted here earlier, was involved in a “political discussion” with John J. Neimore in downtown Los Angeles. Neimore, whose Wikipedia page states came to Los Angeles in 1879 and founded a newspaper called the Owl, actually did not migrate to the Angel City until the end of 1887 (he was a shoemaker in Austin, Texas in that year’s directory). He went on found the California Eagle, which had a long run as the preeminent Black newspaper in the city.
The two, stated the paper, “got into a row over the question of taking steps to stop the defection from the [Republican] party threatened by R.C.O. Benjamin, a local colored politician.” Why the men weren’t named relative to their positions is notable, but it was recorded that one insisted on quick, decisive action, that seemed to be Twine, who was mentioned as “the prime mover of the ‘Bonebrake Invincibles,’ a campaign club.”
As for the other, the Tribune wrote that he “wished it ignored entirely,” this, apparently, being Neimore. It was then stated that “the trouble culminated in Nieman [sic] striking Twine” with the latter chasing the former to the Spring Street men’s clothing store of Bluett and Sullivan, later Mullen and Bluett, where Neimore found refuge under a counter and the pair were nabbed by officers.
In its coverage, however, the Herald wrote that the battle brewed during a meeting of the Republican County Central Committee, at which Benjamin was present representing the Oro Fino Club, mentioned in part six, as well. His opponents in the Eureka organization sought to have him ejected from the meeting, but “he defended himself in a long speech and was allowed to stay.” This led to the blowup between Neimore and Twine, but the paper continued that they were ordered out of the meeting with the former rushing down the stairs and into the street and his adversary hot on his heels before the denouement at the store.
With respect to Benjamin’s discourse on African-American voting, this brought a reply in the Herald of the 11th from John Cox, a resident of Bunker Hill who proudly subscribed himself “a native of Georgia” and affirming that he was a Democrat. Yet, Cox related a breakfast discussion from two days before with a Republican from Iowa “which goes far to prove many of your allegations of ill treatment of the Negro by the Republican party.”
This latter, also said to be a man of wealth, told Cox that “he liked the Chinaman a great deal better than he did the Negro,” of whom too many were migrating to California. Moreover, the former Iowan continued, “the Negro is getting to be too independent and hard to control.” This led Cox to insist,
That the Negro was held in greater contempt by the Republicans of the North than by the Democrats of the South; that the “color line” was more sharply drawn at the North, and among Republicans, than at the South; that the colored people were just as much slaves of the Republican party as they were of their Southern masters; and that, under the guidance of Providence . . . the day was not far distant when the colored people would be enabled to rise above their ignorance and degradation, assert their independence, and break the shackles of their second slavery.
Cox repeated the old canard, moreover, that Blacks had a “God-gifted devotion” to their masters “when many of [the white] wives and children were at the mercy of the race,” while he also asserted that “the natural affection existing between the whites and blacks at the South was so strong” that they risked their lives for that of the other. Concluding that it was a fact that a Democratic president, Grover Cleveland, was appointing African-American men to government positions (see the earlier references in this post to the appointment of James C. Matthews as recorder of deeds), it seemed clear that Cox hoped Benjamin would be successful in coaxing other Black men to vote for the Democrats in November.
While Benjamin was affirmed by this letter, Twine, who employed the appellation of “Major,” followed up his beating of Neimore to bash the “Statesman” and “literate Negro correspondent of the Los Angeles Herald,” which was a Democratic-supporting sheet, in his own missive to the Express of 13 September. Twine began by countering Benjamin’s observation that the Observer was founded as an independent paper, asserting he was “reliably informed” that Republicans made up the base of its subscribers and that the office would be “the headquarters of the colored Republicans.”
Instead, Twine claimed, Benjamin “did not care a continental for Republicanism or Democracy,” but, rather, that his subscribers “should empty their sacks into the coffers of the Observer.” Here, recall the comment of the publisher of the Black-owned Washington Bee that Benjamin was a pursuer of wealth. The correspondent continued.
As to the intelligent colored people of Los Angeles expressing admiration for the independent spirit of the Observer, allow us to beg leave to differ about that, because you have continually, at every convention, sought recognition at their hands, claiming that you were a statesman who would reflect credit on the [African-American] race . . . so astute a politician and lawyer as yourself should know that a privilege does not make a right . . . the party of Republicanism should be dear, and is dear, to every negro who has the redemption of his race at heart.
Twine added that not only were Black Americans given “political birth” by the G.O.P., but the party “placed us on an equality with the Caucasians.” Claiming that the paper which published Benjamin’s essay “directed your pen,” the writer expressed “surprise that so able and astute a ‘statesman’ as yourself would allow even the great editor of the Los Angeles Herald to direct you to make such an egregious mistake” as claiming that the likes of Frederick Douglass were no longer vital to young African-Americans.
Douglass [misspelled as Douglas], Twine continued, “has done more to make the negro a man, citizen and statesman than any other man that lives, not only in America, but under the broad canopy of heaven.” The same, however, could not be said for Benjamin, with the Major concluding with:
If the editor of the Herald is under the impression that this would-be “statesman” exercises controlling influence with the colored people, it is a very great mistake, for he does not control even his own vote . . . the Republican party is the party of protection; it is the party that made four millions of slaves freemen . . . On the other hand, the Democratic Party is a party which seeks to enslave the wage-workers of America by placing them in competition with the pauper labor of Europe . . . and making paupers of millions of wage-workers who now enjoy comforts and luxuries through protection [tariffs].
Benjamin appears to have kept a much lower profile after the beating administered to him by his Black opponents in early September. He may have taken up the nom de plume of Cicero as a columnist for the Observer when it was edited by Thomas Pearson and we’ll explore this in some posts in October.
The Express of 16 November briefly remarked that “R.C.O. Benjamin, the colored attorney, has announced himself as a candidate of the Fourth Ward, subject to the [decision of the] Republican [county] convention.” This appears to be the first time an African-American announced a candidacy for an elected office in Los Angeles and, although the Tribune of the 21st stated that he “was on hand” at the confab “with a considerable following,” he was not nominated.
The paper’s edition of the 30th mentioned that a group of Black residents of the First Ward, which included East Los Angeles [now Lincoln Heights] and the area north of the Plaza, long known as Sonoratown, gathered in the latter section “for the purpose of organizing for the ensuing city election.” It was added that “R.C.O. Benjamin has been invited to address the meeting and other colored speakers will be present.”
The 2 December issue of the Tribune commented that “a large and enthusiastic meeting was held last evening by the colored citizens of Los Angeles a 21 San Pedro Street,” though it may be that the street number was in error, as 31 San Pedro was the site of the recently completed First African Methodist Episcopal Church, just renamed as Stevens A.M.E.
The account observed that “stirring speeches” were given by many attendees, including Benjamin, “exhorting all colored citizens to stand by the straight Republican ticket,” so it appears that he returned to the G.O.P. fold despite his assertions of independence and perhaps as part of his desire to hold office.
With the emphasis on journalism and politics, not much was found during this period regarding his legal practice. An unusual situation was noted in the Express of 7 December in which Benjamin was retained by a man whose daughter was said to be absent from home and hanging around with the wrong element, so “at his instigation a warrant was sworn out” for the child’s arrest with the expectation that she might be committed to a girls’ home.
The year 1889 also began quietly for Benjamin, though the Herald of 10 February noted that he was one of ten Republicans who sought a position as a police judge. Four days later, the Times briefly recorded that he was invited to speak to Republicans in the Seventh Ward as they gathered for strategizing about the upcoming campaign. Notably, in the Black-owned Republican Advocate, edited by Neimore, it was remarked,
At the Seventh ward today R.C.O. Benjamin the colored Mexican Republican [it is unclear what the paper meant by that phrase, but it certainly was a pejorative] had some strong words, but no damage was done, as their passion was on a se[e]-saw.
The Tribune of 3 April covered a meeting of African-American residents who gathered, with Neimore as secretary, to express their concerns that the Times opposed the appointment of two Black police officers, Robert W. Stewart and Joseph H. Green, the first such hiring in the history of the department. Stewart was one of two men who wrote a scathing denunciation of Benjamin in September and which was mentioned in part seven of this post.
Among the resolutions were that African-Americans were requested to stop reading or subscribing to the paper, with the Express and Tribune hailed as “true advocates of the Republican party and the rights of our race” and worthy of support from “the intelligent readers of our race who are in favor of a clean press.
Moreover, the article noted that “a committee of seven was appointed to call upon the colored people and inform them that the Times was an enemy of their race” and to avoid supporting it. Another committee of five, including Neimore, Henry Owens and Benjamin, were appointed “to wait on the Board of Police Commissioners and thank them for having recognized the colored race and appointing two on the force of Los Angeles.”
In early June, Benjamin was in consideration to be consul to Antigua, apparently as recognition for his support of Republicans now that Benjamin Harrison was president. This led to letters to the editor in the Herald and Times from those who used the names of “Voter” and “Pro Bono Publico.” The first, with the Herald identifying him as Louis T. Jacobs, wrote that “the colored citizens of Los Angeles are somewhat thunderstruck” at the idea, adding that they should have been consulted “as to his moral and political standing.” For example, it was remarked that,
Mr. Benjamin has been ruled out of the A.M.E. Church for conduct unbecoming a christian, which he pretends to be. He has also been turned out of the Harrison and Morton Club, and the “Eureka” Club, both of Republican proclivities. During the last campaign Mr. Benjamin edited a paper called the Observer, in which he advocated both Democratic and Republican principles, and whoever gave him the most money, he advocated their rights of candidacy.
As to the second, appearing in the Times, the writer opined that the proposed nomination “was striking a blow at the respectable and intelligent class of the race” and given his short tenure in Los Angeles, it was also asserted that his contributions for Black people and the G.O.P. “will require a microscope to see.” He was labeled an obstructionist to the party and “bounced” from those clubs “for being a traitor,” while his ousting from the A.M.E. Church was from a charge by a trustee. The letter ended with the insistence that Benjamin “is morally and politically not fit to hold any menial position, much less the honorable position he aspires to” and the member of Congress considering his nomination was “blind to common decency.
Not surprisingly, Benjamin responded vehemently and bluntly, calling Jacobs “a vile and cowardly Ethiopian cur” and as “a lying black Democratic Scoundrel of the sublimest proportions.” He claimed that Senator John Sherman (whose visit to Montgomery, Alabama, and Benjamin’s attempts to visit him at his hotel were recounted in this post) supported the appointment and that he was to be appointed consul to Liberia by President James Garfield had he not stepped aside in favor of a friend, Henry Highland Garnet, who died of malaria there shortly afterward.
Benjamin also cited his entry in William J. Simmon’s Men of Mark, which contained a biographical sketch that Benjamin clearly provided and he stated he had many news clippings “speaking in the highest terms of my character . . . and wishing me success in my effort to get the place for which I am aspiring. He then informed readers that he represented Jacobs in a forgery case, during which he was ill, and got him a release from jail, “for which service he has never paid me.”
To back up the assertion that “Jacobs is such a notorious scamp that the respectable Colored Citizens do not associate with him,” Benjamin printed a letter of support for the consulship that maligned Jacobs as “a libel on the race” and “a malicious and irresponsible Democrat,” with the signees including nearly thirty names, including Twine, Rev. Brown, former Observer city editor William Sampson, longtime resident Horatio Marteen, and Monroe A. Majors, who will be our next profiled figure in the “Black Pioneers of Los Angeles County” series.
Majors provided, two months later, a testimonial for Benjamin’s nomination, calling him a “good liberty-loving citizen, respected by all alike, and a lawyer as well as a good scholar.” He lauded his political experience through the North and South, which “abundantly testifies to his competency, and will tell wonderfully for our race in the coming time.” The physician, the first African-American doctor in Los Angeles, concluded, “we believe him to be the foremost negro on the coast, [and] noble in his calling.”
Jacobs tried calling a meeting to further organize opposition, but the Herald of 11 June reported there were more Benjamin supporters in attendance than otherwise, so he tried to adjourn the gathering in haste and was rebuffed. Twine spoke, among others, in favor of Benjamin’s potential nomination and when Benjamin walked in later, he briefly thanked the assemblage for their support before the gathering dispersed. Two weeks later, though, the paper commented that letters opposing the nomination were sent to Washington, D.C., though it is not known if they had an effect on stopping the process, as Benjamin was not nominated, after all.
In early August, though, it was reported that Benjamin decamped for Tacoma in what would, in November, become the State of Washington, but, instead, he settled in San Francisco and we’ll pick the story there in part nine.