Lawrence Cain

{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = | image = | birth_name = | office = South Carolina House of Representatives | term_start = 1868 | term_end = 1872 | office1 = South Carolina Senate | term_start1 = 1872 | term_end1 = 1876 | successor1 = Martin Witherspoon Gary | birth_date = c. 1844 | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1884|||1844||}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | known_for = | education = University of South Carolina | employer = | occupation = | title = | salary = | networth = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = Republican | boards = | spouse = | children = | parents = | relatives = | footnotes = | allegiance = {{flag|Confederate States of America}} | branch = {{army|CSA}} | service_years = | rank = | unit = | battles = Civil War }}

'''Lawrence Cain''' (c. 1844–1884) was a lawyer, state representative, state senator, and public official in various offices during the Reconstruction era.

Owned as a slave by Zachariah W. Carwile during his youth,<ref name="Cherry">{{cite book|last=Cherry, Sr.|first=Kevin M. |title=Virtue of Cain: From Slave to Senator - Biography of Lawrence Cain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H02jxgEACAAJ|date=20 July 2019|publisher=Rocky Pond Press|isbn=978-0-9992406-5-6}}</ref> he served as a body servant of Confederate Army officer Thomas W. Carwile during the American Civil War.<ref name=cw>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aikenstandard.com/news/edgefield-county-historical-society-spring-meeting-scheduled-for-sunday/article_19abccd6-3f54-11e9-a4e7-074d89acf7eb.html|title=Edgefield County Historical Society spring meeting scheduled for Sunday|website=Aiken Standard}}</ref> He was emancipated after the American Civil War.<ref name="edge">{{Cite web|url=http://www.edgefieldadvertiser.com/2019/08/a-biography-of-senator-lawrence-cain/|title=A Biography of Senator Lawrence Cain – The Edgefield Advertiser}}</ref>

He was elected to the South Carolina House in 1868 and the state senate in 1872. In 1876, he lost his re-election campaign to Martin Witherspoon Gary, who served as a general in the Confederate Army<ref name=cw/> and became a leader among the Red Shirts, which reduced African American voter participation through intimidation and assaults.

Cain was in the first graduating class of African American lawyers from the University of South Carolina. It was resegregated along with other educational institutions as the Reconstruction era in South Carolina ended and it was closed off for African Americans.

One of Cain's descendants wrote a biography about him: ''Virtue of Cain: From Slave to Senator''.<ref name="edge"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uFiTxgEACAAJ|title=Virtue of Cain: Biography of Lawrence Cain|first=Kevin M.|last=Cherry (Sr.)|date=July 9, 2019|publisher=Rocky Pond Press|isbn=9780999240632|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{commons category}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cain, Lawrence}} Category:Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Category:South Carolina state senators Category:Joseph F. Rice School of Law alumni Category:South Carolina lawyers Category:1840s births Category:1884 deaths Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:19th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly Category:African-American politicians of the Reconstruction era