Henry Cardozo


Henry Cardozo was a carpenter, shipbuilder, county auditor, and state senator in South Carolina.

Early life

Cardozo's mother was African American and Native American, a former slave. His father was Sephardic jewish. He had two sisters, Lydia and Eslander. His brothers Thomas W. Cardozo and Francis Lewis Cardozo, were educators and became politicians during the Reconstruction era. Their father was Isaac Cardozo who died in 1855. Henry was working as a shoemaker by age 14. He also worked as a carpenter and shipbuilder. He apprenticed with a manufacturer of threshing machines.
In 1858, he, his mother, and sisters left Charleston, South Carolina and moved to New York City where he finished his education, married, and became a teacher. According to the US census in 1860, his mother and sisters were living together in Cleveland, Ohio, and Henry was also living there with his wife.

Political career

After the US Civil War ended 1865, he moved back to South Carolina. He served as County Auditor of Charleston County and was elected to the state senate from Kershaw County, serving 1870 to 1874. He also became a Methodist preacher and was later pastor of the Old Bethel United Methodist Church. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and died in 1886.
He is buried in Randolph Cemetery with eight other reconstruction era legislators.