aker of the House of Representatives was the Hon. I.C.
Fowler, and the President protem (the Lieutenant Governor, John
F. Lewis, being President) of the Senate was the Hon. H.C. Wood.
The Governor of the State at that time was the Hon. William E.
Cameron, from my home town, Petersburg. It was quite a memorable
session, and I could almost write a book, with respect to matters
as they pertained to the Negro. The Hon. William Mahone was
United States Senator, and although a boy, I was much trusted by
Senator Mahone; and in many important conferences held in the old
"Whig" building, I was quite active in helping to prevent none
but "the faithful" from entering.

Upon the assembling of the Legislature, I was appointed one of
the six pages in the House. The other five were white boys. Very
soon afterwards, I was promoted to the postmastership of the
House. On the Senate side, there were two colored boys as pages,
a son of ex-Senator Moseley of Goochland Co., and a son of the
late R.G.L. Paige, representative from Norfolk county.

There were three colored men in the Senate Chamber, and two of
them were really able and scholarly men, and were among the
leading debaters in that chamber. One was Dr. Dan Norton, from
the Yorktown District, another was Senator William N. Stevens,
representing the senatorial district of Sussex and Greensville
counties. Senator Stevens was a speaker of much elegance and
grace, and was always listened to with respect and admiration.
Then there was Senator J. Richard Jones, representing Charlotte
and Mecklenburg counties.

In the Lower House, there were thirteen colored representatives;
the names of two I can not just recall, but the others I will
mention.

Norfolk county, R.G.L. Paige.
Princess Anne county, Littleton Owens.
York county, Robert Norton.
City of Petersburg, Armstead Green.
Dinwiddie county, Alfred W. Harris.
Powhatan county, Neverson Lewis.
Brunswick county, Guy Powell.
Cumberland county, Shed Dungee.
Prince Edward county, Batt Greggs.
Amelia and Nottoway, Archie Scott.
Mecklenburg county, Ross Hamilton.

Paige and Harris were thoroughly educated men, while Ross
Hamilton possessing only limited literary qualifications, was