“D” is for DeLarge, Robert Carlos (1842-1874). Legislator, Congressman. DeLarge was born in Aiken, the son of a slave-owning Black tailor and his Haitian-born wife. He learned the barbering trade before enlisting in the Confederate navy. He later regretted his actions and donated most of his wartime earnings to the Republican Party. After the Civil War he became an ardent Republican. A gifted orator, he used his skills to help organize the Republican Party in South Carolina. In 1867 he was elected to the General Assembly. In 1870 he narrowly defeated a white Republican to serve the Second Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. The election was contested and a congressional committee removed him from office in 1873. Robert Carlos DeLarge did not seek reelection because of failing health and died a year later.
"D” is for DeLarge, Robert Carlos (1842-1874)
