Mr. Rainey is a native of South Carolina, and was born at Georgetown. His parents purchased their freedom, and gave the son a good education, although it was against the law to do such an act. His father was a barber, and he followed that occupation at Charleston till 1862, when, having been forced to work on the fortifications of the Confederates, he escaped to the West Indies, where he remained until the close of the war, when he returned to his native town. He was elected a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1868, and was a member of the State Senate of South Carolina in 1870, resigning when elected to the Forty-first Congress as a Republican to fill the vacancy caused by the non-reception of B. F. Whittemore, and was re-elected to the Forty-second Congress as a Republican.
Mr. Rainey is below the medium size, of a dark olive complexion, straight, black hair, finely chiseled features, modest in manners, and dignified in his deportment. Although not what the world would call an orator, he is, nevertheless, an able debater, and in his reply to “Sunset” Cox, in the House of Representatives, showed talents superior to the New Yorker.
FANNY M. JACKSON.
Miss Jackson was born, we believe, in the District of Columbia, about the year 1837, and was left an orphan while yet a child. She was brought up by her aunt, Mrs. Sarah Clark. She had but limited opportunities for education in Washington, in those days. In charge of Mrs. Orr, she removed to New Bedford when in her sixteenth year. After remaining here a while, she took up her residence in the family of Mayor Caldwell, at Newport, Rhode Island. It was at this time that Miss Jackson evinced those high attributes of mind which have since culminated in the ripe scholar.
Her rare genius attracted the attention of Mr. Caldwell, and by his aid, in connection with Mrs. Clark, she was able to enter school at Bristol, Rhode Island, and begin the studies of the higher branches. After due preparation here, Miss Jackson went to Oberlin College, where she soon took rank with the most industrious and progressive students. To enable her to assist in paying her increased expenses, she taught music in families in the village, and thereby aided others while she was helping herself. Her intellectual aspirations and moral endowments gained the undivided respect and sympathy of her Oberlin teachers.
Graduating with honors, Miss Jackson at once took a position as teacher in the high school for colored youths in Philadelphia, where she is at present the principal. Her ability in governing an institution of learning has given her more than a local fame. She believes in progress, and is still the student. She has written some good articles for the press, which evince culture of no mean order. As a writer, she is a cogent reasoner, a deep thinker, taking hold of live issues, and dealing with them in a masterly manner.
Miss Jackson has appeared on the platform, and with telling effect. In her addresses, which are always written, she is more fluent than eloquent, more solid than brilliant, more inclined to labored arguments than to rounded periods and polished sentences, and yet no period or sentence lacks finish. Wit, humor, pathos, irony,—flow from her lips as freely as water from an unfailing fountain.
Looking back at her struggles for education and the high position she has attained as a teacher and a lady of letters, Miss Jackson is altogether one of the most remarkable women of our time.
In person, she is of medium size; in complexion, a mulatto; features, well-defined, with an intelligent cast of countenance. The organ of benevolence is prominently developed, as are the organs of causality, comparison, ideality, and sublimity. This accounts for the elegance of her diction, the dazzle of her rhetoric, and the native grace of her fascinating powers. Irreproachable in her reputation, with her rare gifts and moral aspirations, Miss Jackson cannot fail to be of untold benefit to her race.