July 3, 1844 | Macon Bolling Allen Licensed To Practice Law

Macon Bolling Allen

On July 3, 1844 Macon Bolling Allen who was born (Allen Macon Bolling) is considered to be the first African American licensed to practice law in the United States.  He was licensed in the state of Maine and became America’s first African American lawyer.  Allen later became a Justice of the Peace in Middlesex, County, Massachusetts, thereby becoming the first African American judicial official in the country.  Allen also  served as a lawyer and probate court judge in South Carolina.  He was born on August 4, 1816 in Indiana and died on June 11, 1894 in Washington, DC at age 77.