Thomas Morris Chester

Thomas Morris Chester (May 11, 1834 - September 30, 1892) was an African-American war correspondent, lawyer and soldier who took part in the American Civil War.

Early life and education
Chester was born at the corner of Third and Market Street in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on May 11, 1834, the fourth child of George and Jane Marie Chester. At the age of 16 Chester attended Akron College, an African-American academy in Pittsburgh. As a student in Pittsburgh, his classmates included Jeremiah A. Brown, Benjamin Tucker Tanner, and James T. Bradford.

Civil War
During the upcoming of the civil war Chester served as a recruiter of black troops and raised the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. Later, he led two Black regiments into battle for the famous Gettysburg Campaign in June-July 1863, the first time that Pennsylvania had issued weapons to African-Americans. From August 1864 to the end of the Civil War in May 1865, Chester worked as a war correspondent for the Philadelphia Press which was a major daily newspaper at that time.

London
When the civil war ended he moved to London, England to study law at Middle Temple in 1867 and became England's first African-American barrister when he was called to the bar on April 30, 1870.

Later life
He returned to the U.S. in the 1870s and settled in Louisiana, he was the brigadier-general of the militia and the superintendent of schools in 1875. He returned to his home town of Harrisburg due to illness where he died at the home of his mother at 305 Chestnut Street on September 30, 1892. Chester is buried in Lincoln Cemetery, Penbrook, Pennsylvania.