Liberty Billings

Liberty Billings (1823 - 1877)[1] was an officer in the Union Army, a Unitarian minister, and a state senator. Billings served as Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry which in turn became the 33rd United States Colored Infantry during the American Civil War.[2][1] He was a Radical Republican during the Reconstruction Era and served as a state senator in Florida. He was involved in the constitutional convention that developed the 1868 Florida Constitution.[3] Billings has been honored posthumously as a Great Floridian.[4]

Liberty Billings
Born1823 (1823)
Saco, Maine
Died1877 (aged 53–54)
Allegiance United States
Service/branchUnion Army
Commands held1st South Carolina Volunteer
33rd United States Colored Infantry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
Billings House in Fernandina Beach, Florida
Billings Great Floridian plaque

Billings was born in Saco, Maine in 1823.[2] He was educated at Thornton Academy[5] and later graduated from Meadville Theological School in 1848.[6]

He was deemed ineligible to participate in the constitutional convention and was voted out along with others accused of being residents of other states.[7]

The Billings House located in the Fernandina Beach Historic District in Fernandina Beach, Florida.[2]

References
  1. Kevin M. McCarthy (2007). African American Sites in Florida. Pineapple Press Inc. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-56164-385-1.
  2. Thamm, Suanne (2019-07-22). "Who was Liberty Billings?". Fernandina Observer. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  3. "Liberty Billings, Florida's forgotten radical Republican | fau.digital.flvc.org". fau.digital.flvc.org.
  4. "Liberty Billings- Great Floridians 2000 - Blue Plaques on Waymarking.com". Waymarking.
  5. Thornton Academy (1918). List of Students, 1813-1848, Thornton Academy, Saco, Maine. York Institute.
  6. School, Meadville Theological (1910). General Catalogue of the Meadville Theological School: Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1844-1910. The School. p. 3.
  7. Society, Florida Historical (January 10, 1972). "Florida Historical Quarterly" – via Google Books.
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