Thomas F. Cassels, ca. 1843 – 3 April 1906
Thomas F. Cassels
from composite photograph of
Tennessee House of Representatives,
42nd General Assembly, 1881-1882,
TSLA Collection.
A Republican attorney, he was elected to represent Shelby County in the 42nd Tennessee General Assembly, 1881-1882.
Thomas Frank Cassels was born in Ohio about 1849 to “free persons of color,” according to the Biographical Directory of the Tennessee General Assembly. After attending Oberlin College in Ohio, he returned to practice law in Memphis. On February 1, 1868, the Knoxville Messenger reported that Cassels had been admitted to the bar in Memphis and was the first African American to be so honored. He was the first black lawyer to plead before the Supreme Court of West Tennessee and was appointed assistant attorney general of Memphis in 1878. A Republican, he was elected to represent Shelby County in the 42nd General Assembly, serving in the legislature from 1881-1883.
Cassels was the first legislator to introduce a bill prohibiting “the
unlawful carnal intercourse of white persons with negroes, mulatoes
[sic] and person of mixed blood descended from the negro
race, and to prescribe the punishment for violation thereof.” It
was the first attempt to enact a law against the practice, common
since the days of slavery, of rape committed by white men against
black w
omen. The bill received considerable discussion,
but failed. A similar bill was presented by Leon Howard in
the 43rd General Assembly, but it, too, was unsuccessful.
In 1884 school teacher and activist Ida B. Wells was thrown off a train when, having purchased a first-class ticket, she refused to leave the ladies’ car (reserved for whites only) and move to the smoking car. Wells filed suit against the Chesapeake & Ohio & Southwestern Railroad Company, and hired Thomas F. Cassels as her attorney, but the railroad company convinced him to drop the suit. Another attorney took up the case and won it in circuit court, saying that the company had violated two Tennessee statutes: the first prohibited railroads from charging blacks first-class fare and then seating them in second class cars; the second required “separate but equal” accommodations for blacks and whites. Wells was awarded $500. However, the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision three years later, finding for the railroad company instead.
Cassels served as a Republican Presidential elector in 1888. He was married twice, to Emma F. and Sallie (maiden names unknown) and was the father of three children: Francis DeWitt, Hattie, and Ella Cassels. He was a member of the Congregational Church. According to his burial permit, he died of tuberculosis at 861 Lauderdale, Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3, 1906, having been ill for about a year. He was married at the time of his death, and his occupation is listed as “Attorney at Law.”