Joseph Hayne Rainey

Joseph H. Rainey's family home was a National Historic Landmark. Rainey, born in Georgetown County in 1832, was the first African American elected to the US House of Representatives, serving from 1870 to 1879. It is said that he made blockade-running trips during the Civil War. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1868, served two years in the SC Senate, and two years as internal revenue agent of SC. He died in Georgetown, SC, in 1887.

Georgetown, South Carolina · United States