Edward P. McCabe facts for kids
Edward P. McCabe (born October 10, 1850 – died March 12, 1920) was an important African American leader. He was a settler, lawyer, and land agent. McCabe became one of the first African Americans to hold a major political job in the American Old West. He was a Republican in Kansas. McCabe worked hard to encourage black families to move to what was then the Oklahoma Territory. He hoped to create a state where black people would be the majority. This new state would be free from the white control common in the Southern United States. To achieve this goal, McCabe helped start the city of Langston, Oklahoma.
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Early Life and Career
Edward P. McCabe was born in Troy, New York, on October 10, 1850. As a child, he moved around to different cities like Fall River, Massachusetts, Newport, Rhode Island, and Bangor, Maine. When his father passed away, Edward left school to start working.
He later moved to New York City and found work on Wall Street. However, he saw no chance to get better jobs there, only clerk or porter roles. So, in 1872, he moved to Chicago. In Chicago, he worked as a clerk for a famous businessman named Potter Palmer. After that, he became a clerk in the U.S. Treasury Department office in Cook County, Illinois.
A New Start in Kansas
In 1878, McCabe moved to Nicodemus, Kansas. This town was settled by African Americans. There, he worked as a lawyer and helped people buy land. After two years, he was chosen to be the county clerk for Graham County. The next year, he was elected to that job for a full term.
When he was 32, McCabe was elected as the Kansas State Auditor. This made him the highest-ranking African American politician outside of the Southern states during that time. He served two terms as state auditor. After that, he tried to get a third term but did not win.
Vision for Oklahoma
After his time in Kansas, McCabe moved to Washington, D.C.. He tried to convince President Benjamin Harrison to appoint him as governor of the new Oklahoma Territory. Even though he didn't get the job, he still moved to Oklahoma Territory in 1890. He was determined to make a difference there.
Soon after arriving, he became the first Treasurer of Logan County, Oklahoma. McCabe was also one of three people who founded Langston City. By 1881, several black leaders were planning for many thousands of freed slaves to move to Oklahoma. McCabe bought a large piece of land, about 320 acres, near Guthrie, Oklahoma. This land became the town of Langston around 1892.
Founding Langston City
Langston was an all-black community located about ten miles northeast of Guthrie. The city was named after John Mercer Langston. He was a black Congressman from Virginia who promised to support a black college in Langston City. Finally, in 1897, a school called the Colored Agricultural and Normal School opened there. This school later became Langston University.
The main idea behind founding Langston was to help stop unfair treatment based on race. It was part of a bigger plan to create more than 25 new "black settlements" within the Oklahoma Indian Territory.
A Dream of a Black Majority State
McCabe then started an ambitious plan to build a state. He used Langston as the center of his efforts. He encouraged many black people to move there. His goal was for them to eventually outnumber white people in the territory. In 1892, he even predicted that in a few years, Oklahoma would have two black senators in Congress. He planned to organize black settlers so they would be the majority of voters in every part of the proposed state.
McCabe strongly supported the idea of making Oklahoma an all-black state. He wanted to help make this dream come true. He also hoped to be appointed governor or secretary of the Oklahoma Territory himself.
Newspapers for black communities in Oklahoma promoted the idea of progress and a chance to escape racial unfairness. These efforts by McCabe and others had great results. The black population in Oklahoma continued to grow until it became a state in 1907. Between 1900 and 1906, the number of black people more than doubled. Black Oklahomans owned large farms and even controlled entire towns.
Legacy
Despite these gains, Oklahoma did not become a state with a black majority. McCabe also did not get a higher political job. Even though his biggest dream didn't fully come true, Edward P. McCabe played a very important role. He stood up for African American rights during a time when there was a lot of racial unfairness.
Edward P. McCabe passed away on March 12, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois. He was buried in Topeka, Kansas.
