BLANCHE K. BRUCE - DEED SIGNED 06/27/1890 - HFSID 181839

BLANCHE K. BRUCE
Washington D. C. deed signed by former slave and Senator Blanche K. Bruce as the city's Recorder of Deeds in 1890
Deed signed "B. K. Bruce" as Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia on cover docket panel. Black ink and lead pencil notations in unknown hand. 3 pages, 8½x13½, single-sided sheets, bound to cover with two staples. Washington, D. C., June 27, 1890. Deed from James D. Daly, Trustee, of Washington, D.C. to Elizabeth C. Jacobi of the City of Georgetown, D.C. for land in Georgetown at Prospect and Fayette Streets. Named Recorder of Deeds by President Harrison in 1889, Bruce (1841-1898) served until 1893. A former slave who became a prominent Mississippi planter and politician, Bruce was elected as U. S. Senator by the Mississippi state legislature in 1874. Serving from 1875 to1881, he was the first black man to serve a full term in the Senate and, in 1879, became the first black man to preside over the Senate, as well. He fought for more liberal land grants for black emigrants and appealed for the desegregation of U. S. Army units. His government service in Washington also included two tenures as Registrar of the U. S. Treasury (1881-1889 and 1895-1898). Lightly toned, soiled, foxed and creased. Folded thrice and unfolded. Docket sheet shaded at folds and lightly creased with separations along fold at top and bottom left corner. Otherwise in fine condition.