R. C. O. Benjamin

R. C. O. Benjamin (né Robert Charles O'Hara Benjamin; March 31, 1855 – October 2, 1900) was a West Indies-born American journalist, lawyer, and minister. He was an editor or contributor to numerous newspapers throughout the country, and may have been the first black editor of a white paper when he became editor of the Daily Sun In Los Angeles, California. He was also possibly the first black man admitted to the California bar, and may have been admitted to the bar in twelve states. In 1900 he was working as a prominent lawyer in Lexington, Kentucky when he was beaten for helping register black voters by a white man who opposed his efforts. Later that day he was killed by the same man.

Early life and education Robert Charles O'Hara Benjamin was born in St. Kitts on March 31, 1855. He attended compulsory schools until the age of eleven when he was sent to England for private tutoring, and then enrolled in Trinity College, Oxford University where he studied for three years. He left Oxford without receiving a degree and made a two year tour of the East Indies including Sumatra and Java. After returning to England, he sailed to New York City, arriving April 13, 1869. Ten days later he took a six month cruise to South America and the Caribbean as a cabin boy on the Lepanto captained by Cyrus E. Staples. The tour stopped in Venezuela, Curaçao, Demerara, and the West Indies. In the fall of 1869 he returned and settled in New York City.

Early career In New York he became associated with Henry Highland Garnet, Cornelius Vancott, Isaac Hayes, and Joe Howard, Jr. He took work as a soliciting agent for the paper, the New York Star, where Howard was an editor. In this position, he befriended J. J. Freeman, editor of the Progressive American, and Benjamin was made city editor of that paper. Around this time he was naturalized as a US citizen.

Journalist, writer, and orator He returned to journalism, and owned and edited a number of papers throughout the country, including the Colored Citizen in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Chronicle in Evansville, Indiana, and the Negro American in Birmingham, Alabama, where he settled for some time. He also was a pamphlet writer, writing pamphlets on African-American history and issues. Further, he was a noted orator and often spoke out against lynchings and violence against blacks.

He was also noted as a poet, and his work was published in an anthology of nineteenth century African American poetry in 1992.

California In 1887, Benjamin moved to California where he was an editor for the Los Angeles Observer and the San Francisco Sentinel. He was for some time the local editor of the Daily Sun In Los Angeles. The Sun was a white paper, and Benjamin may have been the first black man to edit a white journal. In California, he became the first black man admitted to the bar in 1887. He practiced in San Francisco and may have been the first black lawyer to visit Oregon. Benjamin is claimed to have been admitted to the bar in 12 states, including Virginia, Tennessee, California, Rhode Island, and Alabama.

Later career and death

In December 1892, Benjamin married Lula M. Robinson. They had a son and a daughter. In 1897, Benjamin, his wife, Lula, and their two children he returned to Lexington, Kentucky where he edited the Lexington Standard.

Murder Monument honoring Benjamin at African Cemetery No. 2, dedicated in 1910 ten years after his murder alt=Monument honoring Benjamin at African Cemetery No. 2, dedicated in 1910 ten years after his murder On October 2, 1900, Benjamin was murdered while helping to register blacks to vote in Lexington.

His life in Lexington is the subject of historic fiction told in first person narratives in the novel A Wounded Snake by Joseph G. Anthony.

Benjamin was buried in Lexington's African Cemetery No. 2.

Publications Benjamin, R. C. O. Poetic gems, Peck & Allan, (Charlottesville, Va.) 1883. Benjamin, R. C. O. Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture: Warrior and Statesman, with an Historical Survey of the Island of San Domingo from the Discovery of the Island by Christopher Columbus, in 1492, to the Death of Toussaint, in 1803. Vol. 1. Evening Express Print Company, 1888. Benjamin, R. C. O. Don't : a book for girls. Valleau & Peterson, Book and Job Printers, (San Francisco), 1891. Benjamin, R. C. O. The negro problem : and the method of its solution, an address delivered at the A.M.E. Zion Church, Portland, Oregon, June 3d, 1891. George E. Watkins Souvenir and Directory Publishing Co., (San Francisco) 1891. Benjamin, R. C. O. Southern outrages; a statistical record of lawless doings. (Los Angeles, Cal.), 1894 Benjamin, R. C. O. Benjamin's pocket history of the American Negro : a story of thirty-one years, from 1863 to 1894. Marion Trint, (Providence, RI) 1894. Benjamin, R. C. O. Light after darkness : being an up-to-date history of the American Negro. Daniel Murray Pamphlet Collection (Library of Congress), Marshall & Beveridge, Printers, (Xenia, Ohio), 1896.