Basic HTML Version
FIRST LICENSED BLACK ATTORNEY IN U.S.
352
●
(LAW.) ALLEN, MACON B.
Last Will and Testament of Andrew McDowall
Brown of South Carolina, prepared by Macon B.Allen.
Four pages, legal folio sheets,
written on three sides and docketed on the fourth; archival repair and de-acidification.
Charleston, SC 1878
[800/1,200]
FROM THE LAW OFFICES OF
,
AND PREPARED BY MACON B
.
ALLEN PROBABLY SIGNED
SECRETARIALLY
.
Macon B. Allen (1816-1894) lawyer and judge, was the first licensed
African-American attorney in the United States. Allen became a member of the Maine Bar
in 1844, but never practiced there. Instead he opened a law office in Boston, where he served
as a justice of the peace for some years. In the late 1860s, seeing the need during
Reconstruction,Allen joined Robert Brown Elliott andWilliamWhipper in opening a law firm
in Charleston, South Carolina that catered to clients of both races. The present will is for
Andrew McDowall Brown, a Charleston businessman, who among his other bequests, leaves
a house to his old servant, Elizabeth Middleton.
353
●
(LAW—SUPREME COURT.) MARSHALL,THURGOOD.
Group Portrait
of the entire Supreme Court.
Gelatin silver print, 9x13 inches; some fading from
exposure to sunlight, but still quite sharp; matted and framed.
SIGNED BY ALL NINE MEMBERS
OF THE
C
OURT
,
ON THE MATTE
.
Washington, DC circa 1967
[2,000/3,000]
Signed by: John M. Harlan* Thurgood Marshall* Alonzo Black* Warren Burger* Potter
Stewart* ByronWhite*William O. Douglas* Harry Blackmun*William J. Brennan Jr.
353