Who was Prince Albert Hinton

(Father of S. D. L. Hinton. Grandfather of Albert L. Hinton Sr.) — Reverend Prince Albert Hinton was born on November 15, 1847. He married Mary Roach of Pasquotank County, North Carolina. He was one of thee colored men who served Pasquotank County in the State Legislature during Reconstruction days, being elected to the General Assembly in 1887 and serving one term. For several years after the Civil War ended and before the disfranchisement he was a recognized leader in the Republican Party. 244 He taught himself to read and Reverend Prince Albert Hinton was born on November 15, 1847. He married Mary Roach of Pasquotank County, North Carolina. He was one of thee colored men who served Pasquotank County in the State Legislature during Reconstruction days, being elected to the General Assembly in 1887 and serving one term. For several years after the Civil War ended and before the disfranchisement he was a recognized leader in the Republican Party. 244 He taught himself to read and write while serving his master and rose to serve the county of Pasquotank as its representative. Although he had other means of transportation, Rev. Hinton walked everywhere he went; even to the New Land School located on Mill Pond Road. He taught there for several years.245 `He would walk from Newland to the nearest store to get his wife sugar, then go back and open the school,” Like his 100 year old granddaughter, Ada Kee, he was known for turning down offers for rides. Ada Kee said that her grandfather, Rev. Prince Albert Hinton was part of the turn-of-the-century committee that proposed the all-black state normal school that later became Elizabeth City State University. The proposal had to go before the General Assembly in Raleigh, but the committee couldn’t afford the trip there and back. Therefore, Prince Albert Hinton left on foot, carrying train fare for his return, He walked all the way there. It took him a week.246

It is perhaps reasonable to assume that when former slave Prince Albert Hinton stood at the steps of the Camden County courthouse and purchased the freedom of his Mary and five children, he never once consider that one day his granddaughter would be campaigning for the first African American president. Ada Kee is that granddaughter. Her grandfather, a man she remembers well, had bought his freedom first, then his family’s second. His granddaughter, who turned 100 last Saturday, is elated that she has lived to see this historical turn of events. He was the father of nine children, twenty grandchildren. Two sons and a daughter, Mr. S. D. L. Hinton a letter carrier in Norfolk Post Office, Mr. Wellington Hinton and Mrs. Cleo Scott survived him. Rev. Hinton was a very industrious person. He reported to Benjamin F. Stafford, the 1900 census taker for the State of North Carolina, Pasquotank County, Township of Newland that he owned 181 acres of land in that county. Rev. Hinton died on April 17, 1922 as a result of being stricken with apoplexy. He was 75.

DR. LINWOOD MORINGS BOONE. D. MIN.. The Chronological History of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association and its Founders from 1866-1966 . AuthorHouse. Kindle Edition.