John J. Pettus
| John J. Pettus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 23rd Governor of Mississippi | |
|
In office November 21, 1859 – November 16, 1863 | |
| Preceded by | William McWillie |
| Succeeded by | Charles Clark |
| 20th Governor of Mississippi | |
|
In office January 5, 1854 – January 10, 1854 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Foote |
| Succeeded by | John McRae |
| Member of the Mississippi Senate | |
|
In office 1846-1848 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Jones Pettus October 9, 1813 Wilson County, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died |
January 28, 1867 (aged 53) Pulaski County (present-day Lonoke County), Arkansas, U.S. |
| Resting place |
Flat Bayou Cemetery, Jefferson County, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Permelia Winston |
| Relations | Edmund Pettus (brother) |
| Occupation | Farmer |
John Jones Pettus (October 9, 1813 – January 28, 1867) was an American politician from Tennessee. He served as the 20th and 23rd Governor of Mississippi.[1]
Early life
John Jones Pettus was born on October 9, 1813, in Wilson County, Tennessee, but came to Kemper County, Mississippi, when a young man. His brother, Edmund Pettus (1821–1907), would become a United States senator from Alabama. On April 4, 1837, John married his cousin, Permelia Winston, in Tuscumbia, Alabama.[1]
Political career
In 1846, Pettus represented Kemper County in the Mississippi House of Representatives. In 1848, he was elected to the Mississippi State Senate.[1] In 1853, while Governor Henry Foote was waiting for the January 11 inauguration of John McRae, Foote grew bitter and angry, addressing the legislative session by announcing that he had considered resigning in protest once the election results came in.[2] At noon at January 5, 1854, Foote's resignation was received by the state senate.[2]
The Mississippi Constitution of 1832 had abolished the office of lieutenant governor. Pettus, as President of the State Senate, was next in seniority and was sworn at noon on January 7, 1854.[2] He held the governorship until McRae was sworn in on January 10, 1854.[3] His only record act during these 120 hours was to order a special session in Noxubee County to fill the office of a deceased state representative, Francis Irby.[2] On January 11, McRae was inaugurated as Governor and Pettus returned as senate president.[2] During the 1850s, he became identified as "the Mississippi Fire-eater," a term referring to southerns supporting secession.[1]
In 1859, he was elected Governor. In his inaugural address, he said that the south's only way to maintain slavery was secession and called for the establishment of a southern confederacy.[1] Following President Abraham Lincoln's election, on November 26, 1860, Pettus called for a Special Session of the Legislature and urges the Legislature to call for a convention to withdraw Mississippi from the Union.[4] The Legislature called for a Secession Convention which convened in Jackson on January 7, 1861.[5] They voted succession and on January 9, 1861, Mississippi seceded from the Union. On February 4, 1861, along with five other slave states, the Confederate States of America was established at Montgomery, Alabama.[1] Pettus was re-elected in the fall of 1861.[3] Pettus was succeeded by Charles Clark.[5]
Later life
When his second term expired in October 1863, Pettus joined the Confederate Army.[1][3] Although General Robert E. Lee had surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox, Pettus refused to surrender and became a fugitive.[1] His family later claimed he was planning to go to flee to Mexico with Jefferson Davis but Davis was captured before they could meet.[6] The manhunt for him continued until his death in Pulaski County (present-day Lonoke County), Arkansas, on January 28, 1867.[1] He was originally interned in a private or family graveyard (on the property of a cousin, John Jones), but his body was later removed to Flat Bayou Cemetery in Jefferson County, Arkansas.[7]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sansing, David G. (December 2003). "John Jones Pettus: Twentieth and Twenty-third Governor of Mississippi: January 5, 1854 to January 10, 1854; 1859-1863". Mississippi Historical Society. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Dubay, Robert W. (1975). John Jones Pettus, Mississippi fire-eater. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 16. ISBN 9781617033537.
- 1 2 3 John J. Pettus at the National Governors Association
- ↑ Mississippi. Dept. of Archives and History (1904). The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi. p. 128. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- 1 2 Lowry, Robert; McCardle, William H. (1891). A History of Mississippi: From the Discovery of the Great River by Hernando DeSoto, Including the Earliest Settlement Made by the French Under Iberville, to the Death of Jefferson Davis [1541-1889]. Mississippi: R.H. Henry & Company. p. 341. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ↑ Smith, Timothy B. (2010). Mississippi in the Civil War: The Home Front (Volume 4 of Heritage of Mississippi ed.). Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 49. ISBN 1604734302. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ↑ John J. Pettus at Find a Grave
Further reading
- Message of Gov. John J. Pettus, to the Legislature of Mississippi, Delivered on the Fifth Day of November, 1861 (Speech). Jackson, Mississippi.
External links
John J. Pettus at Find a Grave
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