Liberty Billings
Liberty Billings | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1823 Saco, Maine, USA |
| Died | 1877 (aged 53–54) |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service | Union Army |
| Commands | 1st South Carolina Volunteer 33rd United States Colored Infantry |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War |
Liberty Billings (1823–1877)[1] was an American officer in the Union Army, a Unitarian minister, and a state senator.
Billings was born in Saco, Maine in 1823.[2] He was educated at Thornton Academy[3] and later graduated from Meadville Theological School in 1848.[4]
Billings served as Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry which in turn became the 33rd United States Colored Infantry during the American Civil War.[2][1] He was a Republican (Radical Republican) during the Reconstruction Era and served as a state senator in Florida. He was involved in the constitutional convention that developed the 1868 Florida Constitution.[5] Billings has been honored posthumously as a Great Floridian.[6]
He was deemed ineligible to participate in the constitutional convention and was voted out along with others accused of being residents of other states.[7]
The Billings House located in the Fernandina Beach Historic District in Fernandina Beach, Florida.[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Kevin M. McCarthy (2007). African American Sites in Florida. Pineapple Press Inc. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-56164-385-1.
- ^ a b c Thamm, Suanne (2019-07-22). "Who was Liberty Billings?". Fernandina Observer. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
- ^ Thornton Academy (1918). List of Students, 1813-1848, Thornton Academy, Saco, Maine. York Institute.
- ^ School, Meadville Theological (1910). General Catalogue of the Meadville Theological School: Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1844-1910. The School. p. 3.
- ^ "Liberty Billings, Florida's forgotten radical Republican | fau.digital.flvc.org". fau.digital.flvc.org.
- ^ "Liberty Billings- Great Floridians 2000 - Blue Plaques on Waymarking.com". Waymarking.
- ^ Society, Florida Historical (January 10, 1972). "Florida Historical Quarterly" – via Google Books.
- 1823 births
- 1877 deaths
- 19th-century Unitarians
- American Unitarians
- People of Florida in the American Civil War
- People of Maine in the American Civil War
- African Americans in the American Civil War
- Union army colonels
- Radical Republicans
- Members of the Florida House of Representatives
- People from Saco, Maine
- African-American Christian clergy
- African-American state legislators in Florida
- Fernandina Beach, Florida
- Thornton Academy alumni