Macon Allen, the first African-American Lawyer


Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Macon Allen, born in Indiana, August 4th 1816. The ambitious schoolteacher relocated to Maine and studied law under tutelage of an abolitionist who later co-founded the state GOP. Passing the bar in July 1844 made him the nation’s first African-American lawyer. He later became a justice of the peace in Boston.


Allen moved to South Carolina after the Civil War, and with two others opened the first Black-owned law firm. Republicans nominated him for secretary of state. February 1873, the GOP-controlled legislature elected him to a judicial vacancy. After two years with the Grant administration Treasury Department, he was elected probate judge.

Allen settled in Washington, DC to practice law for a real estate company. He "left a legacy as a pioneer in African American legal history that transcended time, space, and the tenor of the nation and placed him in the forefront of the black struggle. His accomplishments in New England and South Carolina paved the way for the generations of black activists who followed."

Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know about the history of our party, the more Democrats will worry about the future of theirs. For more information, see www.grandoldpartisan.com. 

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Here is my Substack about this article.

Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, a history of GOP civil rights achievement.


Each day, his YouTube videos and TikTok videos and Rumble videos and Grand Old Partisan blog celebrate more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. And, see Speech Raves for audience feedback from his presentations in thirty-one states.

Clarence Thomas cited Back to Basics for the Republican Party in a Supreme Court decision.

"This is the most amazing book about politics that I have ever read. The Overview should be required reading for anyone with even a minor interest in government. The remainder is an enthralling history lesson that I will never forget. For years, we have all been misled about the true nature of the GOP. This is the real deal! Read it and be proud!"

"Your book is a national treasure. I'm always recommending it."

"Michael Zak wrote the definitive history of the GOP."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is the most significant contribution to the Republican Party in the last twenty years apart from Ronald Reagan."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is more important to our party now than ever before."

and

"one of the best books I ever read"

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