Jesse Dungee (circa 1812 - August 1884) was a shoemaker, leeching practitioner, minister,[1] community leader, and state legislator in Virginia.[2][3][4][5] He was a Republican during his state legislative service.[6] He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1871 to 1873.
Dungee was born in King William County. He was of mixed heritage, and he was born outside of slavery.[7] He married and had numerous children.[8] He was related to Shed Dungee who also served in the House.[9] He married Mary Jane Custalo in 1830.[10] John Riley Dungee, an educator, was one of his sons.[11] He was a leader of the Mt. Nebo Baptist Church in West Point, Virginia.[12]
In 1876, a few years after leaving the Virginia House of Delegates, he left the Republican Party and joined the Democratic Party. In an announcement of his party switch, he explained that he desired "full and manly reconciliation" between black and white Virginians. Although he was born outside of slavery, he claimed he was enslaved earlier in his life; this was an attempt, as scholar Stephen Robinson writes, to better connect with black Virginians as a Democrat, a party seen by his contemporaries as elitist.[7]
References
edit- ^ Turner, Nicole Myers (February 20, 2020). Soul Liberty: The Evolution of Black Religious Politics in Postemancipation Virginia. UNC Press Books. ISBN 9781469655246 – via Google Books.
- ^ http://mlkcommission.dls.virginia.gov/lincoln/pdfs/bios/dungey_jesse.pdf
- ^ Foner, Eric (November 16, 1993). Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507406-2 – via Google Books.
- ^ Jackson, Luther Porter (November 16, 1945). Negro Office-holders in Virginia, 1865-1895. Guide Quality Press. ISBN 9780598580269 – via Google Books.
- ^ Jordan, Ervin L. "Jesse Dungey (ca. 1820–1884)".
- ^ "House documents". November 16, 1875 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Robinson, Stephen (2014). ""To think, act, vote, and speak for ourselves": Black Democrats and Black "Agency" in the American South after Reconstruction". Journal of Social History. 48 (2): 363–382. doi:10.1093/jsh/shu076.
- ^ "House History". history.house.virginia.gov.
- ^ Nicholas, Carolyn Dungee (November 16, 2010). Hilda. AuthorHouse. ISBN 9781438992174 – via Google Books.
- ^ Dungee, John Riley (November 16, 1929). "Random Rhymes, Formal and Dialect, Serious and Humorous, Racial, Religious, Patriotic and Sentimental". Guide Publishing Company, printers – via Google Books.
- ^ Caldwell, Arthur Bunyan (November 16, 1921). History of the American Negro and His Institutions. A. B. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 9781548569402 – via Google Books.
- ^ Addison, William J.; Hogenson, Kathryn Jewett (September 24, 2012). West Point. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738592732 – via Google Books.
Further reading
edit- Robinson, Stephen (2010). The Black New South: a study of local black leadership in Virginia and Alabama, 1874-1897 (PhD). Department of History, University of Southampton.
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