Reuben H. Tomlinson was a lawyer, Freedmen Bureau official, and politician in South Carolina during the Reconstruction era.
[1] He was appointed superintendent of education by the Freedmen Bureau in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1865.
[3] In October 1865 he toured Saxton School with Oliver Otis Howard and other Freedmen Bureau officials as well as dignitaries.
[5] He was a candidate in the 1872 South Carolina gubernatorial election, running as an Independent Democrat.
[7] Tomlinson is also credited as a contributor in the introduction and table of contents of Slave Songs of the United States, published in 1867 and known as the first book-length collection of African-American spirituals.