Eli Barnes

Eli Barnes was an American politician. He was a representative in the Georgia Assembly as a Republican during the Reconstruction Era. A former slave who worked as a mechanic, he was African American.^[1] He was elected in 1868 and represented Hancock County, Georgia in the 80th Georgia General Assembly.^[2] He was appointed to the Committee on Manufactures. He only served one term.

He asked for military units to protect a black school in 1869. As a result, he received threats and intimidation from members of the Ku Klux Klan.^[3][4]

Barnes was one of those who testified to a select committee of congress about widespread intimidation and horrific attacks in African Americans in the Southern States.^[5][6] He told the congressional investigating committee, "It has got to be quite a common thing. . . to hear a man say, 'They rode around my house last night, and they played the mischief there; my wife was molested, my daughter badly treated, and they played the wild generally with my family.'"^[6]