ALLEN, Macon B. (1816-1894). Two documents related to Macon Allen, the first African American licensed to practice law in the US. Charleston, SC, 1877.

Partly-printed document signed ("Macon B. Allen, Probate Judge"). Charleston, SC, 29 March 1877. 8 1/2 x 13 3/4 in. (creased, few separations at creases, toning). Docketed verso. Document is a Warrant of Appraisement for Administration, of the estate of Sarah Ann Carter, by Gilbert Carter of the Charleston Railroad offices.

Partly-printed document signed ("W. M. Muckenfuss"). Charleston, SC, 27 August 1877. 8 1/2 x 14 in. (creased, a significant separation along one crease and chipping to edges/corners, toning). Docketed verso. Document is an Execution Against Property citing the City Council of Charleston as the Plaintiff and Macon B. Allen as the Defendant. Allen is ordered to pay $146.02 "with interest thereon from the fourth day of June 1877."

An interesting pair of documents in which Macon B. Allen appears in the role of Probate Judge and Defendant.

Born free in Indiana, Macon Bolling Allen, became the first African American to be licensed to practice law in the United States, as well as the first African American Justice of the Peace.

After passing the bar exam in Maine and earning his recommendation, he was given a license to practice law on 3 July 1844. Facing professional discrimination there, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he passed that state's bar exam in 1845, and later became the Justice of the Peace for Middlesex County in 1848. After the Civil War, he moved to Charleston, SC, where he was elected judge of the Inferior Court in 1872. Soon after, he was elected as Probate Judge for Charleston County. Allen moved to Washington, DC after the Reconstruction Era, working as an attorney for the Land and Improvement Association. He continued to practice law until his death at age 78.

Property from the Augustana Collection