The First Black Man to Vote in an United States Election
Thomas Peterson also known as Thomas Mundy Peterson was born October 6, 1824 in Metuchen, NJ. His father, Thomas, worked for the Mundy family and his mother, Lucy Green, was a slave of Hugh Newell in Freehold Township, NJ until age 21 when she was freed per Newell’s will.
As an adult Thomas was a school janitor and local handyman in Perth Amboy. Shortly after the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870 Thomas became the first Black man to vote in an election. At age 46 he cast his vote in Perth Amboy’s local election held on March 31, 1870 to determine if the city’s charter should be revised or abandoned to form a township style of government. He voted as a member of the Republican Party in favor of revising the existing city charter. The election results were in favor of revising Perth Amboy’s charter and later Thomas was appointed as a member of the committee of seven to make amendments to that very charter. He also became the first Black man to serve on a jury in Perth Amboy.
In commemoration of his historic vote the citizens of Perth Amboy awarded him a gold medallion engraved with the profile of Abraham Lincloln. The medal is currently housed at Xavier University, a Historically Black University, in Louisiana. Peterson passed away at 79 on February 4, 1904. He is buried at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Perth Amboy, NJ. In 1989 the school where Peterson worked in Perth Amboy was named after him.
This year, 2020, marks the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment. The United States is at a crossroads in terms of deciding whether we will continue with the status quo or we will push forward new policies and agendas that make our systems just for Blacks and other people of color. In order to make the systems just we need everyone who is able to vote. Please exercise your right to vote just like Thomas Peterson did back in 1870.