Josiah Thomas Walls (1842-1905) was a United States Congressman and Union officer. Born into slavery and emancipated during the Civil War by Northern captors, Walls joined the Union Army as a member of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops. During Reconstruction, he was the first black person from Florida elected to the U.S. Congress – serving three terms between 1871 and 1876. Walls was also a lucrative commercial farmer. Unfortunately, in 1895, his farm failed after crops were lost to freezing weather. Afterwards, he directed the farm program at Florida Normal and Industrial College – present-day Florida A&M University.
