Edward McCabe

Edward McCabe was one of the early settlers in Nicodemus. Born in 1850 in New York, McCabe began his political career as clerk of Graham County in 1880, making him one of the first African American officials to be appointed in Kansas. Two years later McCabe became the Kansas state auditor on the Republican ticket, which gave him the distinction of being the first black to hold a statewide office in a northern state. McCabe held this office for two terms. However, by 1888 opportunities for blacks in Kansas were decreasing, and McCabe was not renominated. McCabe soon focused his efforts on creating a state for blacks in Oklahoma Territory, a dream that never materialized. McCabe did, however, keep his hand in politics, serving as deputy auditor of Oklahoma Territory from 1897 to 1907. He also founded the city of Langston, Oklahoma. McCabe died in 1923 in Chicago, Illinois.