Person
freed slave who was a minister and community representative during the Reconstruction Era in Georgia
Free account · your comment posts right after signup
Not who you're looking for? Others named William Gaines: American publisher, known for EC Comics and Mad Magazine · American journalist (1933-2016) · American football player, defensive lineman
William Gaines (1824–1865) was a freed slave, minister, and community representative in Savannah, Georgia. He was one of the 20 Black church leaders—alongside Garrison Frazier, Ulysses L. Houston, and James D. Lynch—who met with Major General William Tecumseh Sherman and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in Savannah on January 12, 1865 about 3 months before the end of the American Civil War. This meeting took place at the Green–Meldrim House, and their discussion directly led to Sherman's Special Field Orders No. 15, which included the famous Forty acres and a mule land allotment.
Read the full article →