WHEATON, JOHN FRANCIS (8 May 1866–15 January 1922), lawyer and orator who became the first African American to be elected to the Minnesota legislature. Wheaton served in Minnesota’s House of Representatives from 1899 to 1900.
Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, Wheaton’s lineage was steeped in civic engagement; his father, Jacob Francis Wheaton, is recognized as the first Black Marylander to cast a vote in 1879. Committed to political activism and academic excellence, Wheaton represented Maryland three times as a delegate at the Republican State Convention and ardently campaigned for presidential hopeful Benjamin Harrison in 1888, earning a spot as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago at the age of twenty-two.
Wheaton earned his teaching credential from Storer College in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, in 1882, and then studied at Howard University, graduating in 1892. Wheaton described his subsequent decision to study law in the Saint Paul Globe in 1899:
“Having determined to enter the law profession I cast about for a state in which to locate and settled on Minnesota, coming to Minneapolis in 1891. Here I went into the Nicollet Hotel as a waiter, and subsequently ran as a car porter between St. Paul and Boston to raise money enough to enter the law class of the Minnesota State University. I did it, too. In 1894 I graduated as class orator, the first colored man to graduate from any department of the university. Then I went into the law office of Judge [William A.] Kerr, then in the Minneapolis Municipal Court. On his elevation to the bench, and through his good offices, I was made clerk of the municipal court. This position I held until elected to the present house of representatives, resigning a few days before the holidays.”
Running for office in 1898 as a Republican candidate in Minneapolis’s Kenwood district, he overcame discrimination to become Minnesota’s inaugural Black legislator at a time when Kenwood was home to roughly nine thousand eligible voters, less than fifty of whom were Black. During his tenure Wheaton expanded protections against racial discrimination in business transactions through an amendment to the 1885 Civil Rights bill that passed with resounding support.
Wheaton opted not to seek reelection in 1900, and went to Chicago, where he played a pivotal role in founding the United Brotherhood, an insurance endeavor aimed at inclusivity. In 1902 he relocated to New York City, where he became a prominent figure in the Black community in Harlem, participating in various organizations and offering his legal services to prominent individuals.
In the autumn of 1921 Wheaton was left in financial ruin after posting $10,000 bail for accused murderer Luther Boddy, who then disappeared. Wheaton committed suicide in his home on January 15, 1922. His funeral, held at St. Benedict’s Roman Catholic Church in New York, was attended by over 20,000 people. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.