George Lawrence Mabson was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives and the North Carolina State Senate, as well as the North Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1875.[1]
Mabson was the son of a black woman, Eliza Moore, and a prominent white man, George W. Mabson, in Wilmington, North Carolina.[1] His brother was William P. Mabson, who was also a politician.
In the 1850s, he was sent to Boston to attend school.[1] During the Civil War, Mabson first served in the United States Navy and then joined Company G, 5th Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment in February 1864 and mustered out in Clarksville, Texas, a full Command Sergeant.[1][2] After earning a degree from Howard University Law School, he became the first black lawyer in North Carolina.[1] In 1870, he unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives.[1] He was elected to the North Carolina State Senate in 1872 representing New Hanover.[3]
He was the nephew of William B. Gould and correspond with him frequently during the Civil War.[4][1] In the 1880s, a child who was likely either his son or nephew lived with and worked for Gould in Dedham, Massachusetts.[4]
He died on October 4, 1885, in Wilmington, North Carolina, and was buried at Pine Forest Cemetery in Wilmington.
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Gould IV 2002, p. xxii.
- ^ "Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From The State of Massachusetts", available at Fold3 by Ancestry.com. Note: Listed as "Com. Sergt."
- ^ "General Assembly - Senate". Tri-Weekly Era. 3 September 1872. p. 4. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ a b Gould IV 2002, p. 30.
Works cited
edit- Gould IV, William B. (2002). Diary of a Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor (paperback ed.). Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4708-3.