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Two obituaries, eleven days apart — and the "first colored man" line

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October 1881

The settlement's most quoted sentence belongs to one paper, and the record keeps the papers separate. Andrew Huggart's death drew two obituaries in two South Bend papers, and a reader who follows only one carrier will misattribute what each said. The South Bend Tribune of 1 October 1881, under the head "Death of Andrew J. Huggard," called him "one of the most industrious and conscientious men we ever met" and stated, as the Bureau's review quotes it, "he was, we believe, the first colored man to run for office in this county." What office it was, no carrier knows: the Bureau's review states that more research is required and that no other available source mentions it; Karst, whose own search failed the same way, judges he was almost certainly not a nominee for any county post and may merely have run for constable or some other township position in a township caucus — printed here as Karst's judgement, not as fact. The South Bend St. Joseph Valley Weekly Register of 12 October 1881, under the head "The Late Andrew Huggard," is the obituary Karst leads with and the one the Bureau's review uses for the fall-1848 arrival and the six-children account; its tribute runs, "beloved and respected by all his neighbors, and had many friends in this city." The South Bend Evening Register of 1 October 1881 also carried details of the death and funeral. Both obituaries spell the name "Huggard"; the family's gravestones read "Huggart" — the spelling record stands in its own article below.

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Source: Two obituaries, eleven days apart — and the "first colored man" line, Moosed History by Project Moosed, https://history.projectmoosed.com/usa/midwest/indiana/lakeville/black-history/two-obituaries-eleven-days-apart-and-the-first-colored/