Who was John A. Hyman?

When U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance and colleagues set up a nonprofit organization in 1985, they chose to name it after a controversial figure — John A. Hyman, North Carolina’s first black congressman.

Ballance became the chairman of the John A. Hyman Memorial Youth Foundation, and the headquarters was established at Greenwood Baptist Church, which is situated a few hundred yards down the road from Ballance’s Warren County home. Ballance also serves as chairman of the church’s deacon board.

A state auditor’s report released Oct. 22 found that the foundation’s substance-abuse program was “riddled with conflicts of interest.” A lawyer representing Ballance said afterward that federal subpoenas have been issued for people affiliated with the program to appear before a grand jury, which is to meet this week.

The stated purpose of the foundation was “to engage in activities and promote programs designed for the physical, mental, and intellectual development of young people,” and to recognize the contributions of Hyman. The organization did little until 1993, when Ballance, then a state senator, secured state funds for a drug treatment program to be run by the foundation.

But what about the foundation’s namesake? The following information about Hyman was derived from the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, edited by noted state historian William S. Powell; and The County of Warren, a history book by Manly Wade Wellman.

John Adams Hyman (1840-1891) was born a slave near Warrenton. When Hyman was in his early 20s, his employer, a jeweler named King, taught him to read and write. Hyman was sold and went to Alabama after King was driven out of town by a secessionist mob at the beginning of the Civil War. Hyman returned in 1865, opened a store, and initiated political activity among the freed slaves.

In 1868 Hyman was elected as the Warren County delegate to the North Carolina constitutional convention. The same year he was elected as a Republican to the state Senate, and was re-elected in 1870 and 1872. During his time in the Senate he was a strong supporter of improving civil rights for blacks, but “his efforts were clouded by his involvement in frauds and payoffs of significant proportions,” according to Powell. In 1874 he announced a run for U.S. Congress, “though many of his fellow Republicans as well as his opponents thought him both vainglorious and dishonest.” He won and was the only Republican elected from North Carolina that year.

By 1876 Hyman’s popularity was on the decline. “Hyman had become odious for his flagrant dishonesty, and his own friends and supporters turned from him.” He was not re-nominated by the Republican Party.

In late 1878, members of the Warrenton Colored Methodist Church accused Hyman of embezzling Sunday school funds. On Jan. 5, 1879, he entered the Sunday morning church service and assaulted the minister. Members of the congregation threw him out of the church. The next day he met the preacher on the street and struck him again. Hyman was arrested and fined for assault.

When set free, he left the county and moved to Washington, D.C. and obtained a job with the U.S. Post Office Department and later the Agriculture Department. In 1891, he died of a stroke in Washington.

In 1985, Ballance led efforts to erect a North Carolina roadside historical marker honoring Hyman. A marker was installed in 1989 on South Main Street in Warrenton. Ballance spoke at the dedication ceremony.

Don Carrington is associate publisher of Carolina Journal.