Richmond County

Thomas Beard represented Richmond County, home to Augusta, Georgia, in the 1868 Georgia Assembly. Along with Henry M. Turner, Tunis Campbell Sr., and John T. Costin, Beard formed the Black Republican Party of Georgia around 1865. Education of newly freed Black Americans was a key mission of the organization. It stated that “Free Schools and churches are the guardians of civil and religious liberty.” Through their political party and other political work and activism, Beard and his colleagues campaigned for universal public education for all Georgians in the Georgia Assembly. After being reinstated to the Georgia Assembly in 1870, Beard and representative Edwin Belcher demanded the word “color” be removed from a public education bill, which could have paved the way to integrated schools in Georgia. The measure passed, however, with a separate but equal clause.

Beard married Caroline Jane Snowden of Charleston, SC. They had one son, James Randolph Beard. In the 1870 census, Thomas and Caroline are both listed as “mulatto,” an outdated and offensive racial classification for people with mixed African and European ancestry. (See here. ) In the census, Thomas is listed as working as a “Clerk In Revine Dept.” with his wife Caroline (27) and their 3 children, James Randolph, Celeste and and Eliza.Thomas Beard died in Augusta, Georgia, in 1918 at the age of 80. He and Caroline are buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Augusta, Georgia.

Their son, James Randolph Beard, is pictured below.