Richard Harvey Cain was born to a black father and a Cherokee mother in Greenbrier County Virginia, which is now in West Virginia. He was raised in Gallipolis, Ohio, a free state where he was allowed to read and write. He attended Wilberforce University and attended divinity school in Hannibal, Missouri. The American Civil War broke out while he was at Wilberforce. He later claimed that he and 115 students from the mostly black University attempted to enlist in the Union …show more content…
The AME Church attracted tens of thousands of converts to its denomination very rapidly. Cain became active in politics, serving as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1868. He represented Charleston County in the South Carolina Senate from 1868 to 1872. He also edited the South Carolina Leader newspaper (later renamed the Missionary Record). As editor, he hired future congressmen Robert B. Elliott, and Alonzo Ransier. During his political experiences he received the nickname of "Daddy Cain", which was used in derision by the whites and in respect and admonition by the blacks. He was elected as a Republican to the Forty-third United States Congress in a newly created at-large district. He was on the Committee on Agriculture, but focused more on the civil rights bill which eventually passed in diluted form in 1875. He gave noted speeches on the bill in January 1873. He did not run for re-election in 1874 after redistricting, but ran for the 2nd district in 1876. He was elected to the Forty-fifth United States