Jacob Moorer
| Jacob Moorer | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April , 1863 Orangeburg County, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | February 27, 1935 (aged 71) Orangeburg, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Claflin University |
| Occupation | Lawyer, Civil Rights Activist |
| Spouse(s) | Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer |
Jacob Moorer (April 1863 – February 27, 1935) was a South Carolina lawyer and civil rights activist. He frequently fought cases in opposition to the elector provisions of the 1895 South Carolina Constitution, which he viewed as disenfranchising blacks. His most famous case was Franklin v. South Carolina, a murder case involving black sharecropper Pink Franklin which he and John Adams, Sr. appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
Moorer was born during the Civil War in Orangeburg County, South Carolina to Wilson and Hazel Moorer. He learned to read and write by age 8, and worked on his father's farm. He graduated from the college of the Normal School at Claflin University in 1892 and was admitted to the bar in 1896. Education was very important to him, before passing the bar he was principal of LaGrange Academy in Georgia and he believed in universal education. In 1898 in a debate society, he argued in the negative on the question, "Does the present system of education among the colored people create a supply for which there is no demand?" He was one of few black lawyers in the area, it was reported in 1905 that he was the only black at the Orangeburg bar. He was noted for his formal dress, which was remarkable in the summer South Carolina heat. In 1899, he married renowned black poet, Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer; they had no children.
Around that time, Moorer became involved with politics. He was a candidate for the state legislature for the Union Republican party in 1896. He was secretary of the organizing committee of the Orangeburg Colored Fair in December 1896 and was a Census Enumerator in 1900.
He continued to be very active in the Orangeburg County Republican Party throughout his life. He was a congressional delegate for Orangeburg County to the Republican Convention for the seventh Congressional District in 1900 and was elected secretary of the convention in 1902. and again in 1908.
In 1898, Moorer played a role he frequently repeated throughout his career, championing the electoral and civil rights of African-Americans. He argued on behalf of James H. Weston against the tabulation of votes for Congress in the election of J. William Stokes in 1898 for a seat in the House. In the official tabulation, Stokes received 1,456 votes and Weston 81. Moorer objected that the election and registration laws were unconstitutional, and his objection was overturned, an argument and outcome he repeated many times. In 1902, he contested the election of Congressman Asbury Francis Lever on behalf of Alexander D. Dantzler - not the first time Dantzler had been contested his loss. In 1904, he contested congressional election of Lever on behalf of Minister C. C. Jacobs, and in 1905 he represented Isaac Meyers contesting the election of James O'H. Patterson and again represented Jacobs in 1905 contesting Lever's re-election.
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