24th Louisiana Governor. He was a politician in the Reconstruction Era after being an American Civil War Union Officer. Born the son of white slave owner, William Pinchback, and Eliza Stewart, a bi-racial woman, his mother was freed from being enslaved before his birth. He was born along the way in Georgia, while his father was relocating his family and slaves to a newly-purchased larger plantation in Mississippi. His mother had a total of ten children but all did not reach adulthood. His father sent him and his older brother to Cincinnati's Gilmore School for a short time. When his father died in 1848, his mother and siblings fled to Ohio, fearing his father's white family would attempt to re-enslave them. After Pinchback became a cabin boy at age 12 on a canal boat, he quickly reached the position of steward on the steamboats working along the Mississippi, Missouri, and Red Rivers. During this time, he used the name of Pinckney B. Stewart, which he continued until after the American Civil War. He learned much on the riverboats in the notorious dens of gambling. In 1860 at the age of 23, he married Nina Emily Hawthorne, a free bi-racial woman, and the couple had six children, with three sons and a daughter living to adulthood. In April of 1861, the American Civil War began, and he ran the Confederate blockade on the Mississippi River to reach Federal-held New Orleans. Although he was not a native of New Orleans, he raised by 1862 a company of Black volunteers for the Union Army called the Corps d'Afrique, which joined the Second Louisiana Native Guard and later, the 74th U.S. Colored Infantry. He reached the rank of captain. When he encountered racial discrimination in the military involving equal pay and other points such as mandatory written examinations and physical skills, he resigned his commission on September 10, 1863 at Fort Pike. He and his family lived in Alabama for a short time after war before returning to New Orleans. After being provoked, he was arrested for stabbing his brother-in-law and served two months in jail. Becoming political, Pinchback organized the Fourth Ward Republican Club and served as a delegate to the Louisiana Reconstruction Convention, which was establishing a new constitution for Louisiana, a condition for rejoining the Union. He also served as a member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1868 to 1871. Upon the death of Lieutenant Governor Oscar Dunn in 1871, he, as the president pro tempore of the senate, assumed the duties of the lieutenant governor's office under Governor Henry Clay Warmoth. Following the removal from office and pending impeachment proceedings against Governor Warmoth for his actions in the 1872 elections, he was the sworn Governor of Louisiana for 36 days, from December 9, 1872 to January 13, 1873. Before Dunn's death, Dunn had acted as governor for Warmoth while he was ill but returned to office after recuperating. Although not elected to the office of governor, Pinchback actually served, since Warmoth was not returning to the office, as the first African-American governor in the United States, according to the National Governor's Association. During his short tenure, several appointments were granted, and ten legislative bills were sanctioned during a very unstable time in the state's history. Pinchback left office after governor-elect John McEnery took the oath of office as governor. He ran as an at-large candidate for a United States Senate seat. In 1875 he was elected by the Legislature of Louisiana as United States Senator for a term of six years. The election results were contested for years before the 45th Congress, which had a Democratic majority and eventually, voted against Pinchback in 1878. Although he did not receive a seat in the United States Senate, he was compensated with $16,000 for his salary and other expenses. This would be $371,000 in 2023. He was offered a seat in the House of Representatives but wanted the Senate seat. This became known as the "Louisiana Case." In 1868 he became co-owner and publisher of the "Louisianian," a weekly newspaper, which ultimately, he would become the sole proprietor and primary editorial voice from 1870 until completely leaving in 1878. With an audience of both white and black readers, the paper's motto was "Republican at all times, and under all circumstances." He considered his role in nominating General Ulysses S. Grant as a candidate for United States President at the 1868 National Republican Convention as one of his proudest moments. In 1868 he was involved in the founding of Straight University, a historical Black college in New Orleans and served several years on the board of trustees. Later, he studied law at Straight University and in 1886, was admitted to the bar but did not open a practice. He held various offices including a seat on the State Board of Education and in 1878 as an Internal Revenue agent. In 1883 he was appointed surveyor of customs for the port of New Orleans by United States President Arthur. After acquiring some wealth, he moved his family to Washington D.C. in 1892, becoming part of the elite mostly Bi-racial society of the city. His housewarming reception was covered in the "Washington Post." Later in life, he did work for the U.S. Marshall office in New York before returning to Washington D.C., where he did remain in politics. After his death, his remains were returned to Louisiana and buried with his mother's. His oldest son became a pharmacist. Through his daughter, he was the grandfather of author and poet Jean Toomer.