USA > Alabama > Alabama history > Part 6
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6. General Wilkinson .- General Wilkinson was a prominent man in the early history of the Southwest. Assisted by Benjamin Hawkins and Andrew Pickens, of South Carolina, he made treatie's with the Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Creeks. He built Fort Adams and captured Mobile from the Spaniards. He was suspected of using his office under the United States in order to help his own business; he was accused of trying to separate Kentucky from the United States with the purpose of joining it to Spanish territory; he was thought to be connected with Burr's suspected plans* against both Spain and the United States. He was cleared of these charges before a court-martial, although evidence
*Aaron Burr, who had been Vice-President of the United States from 1801 to 1805, was suspected of forming a conspiracy to establish an independent government in the Southwest with him- sel:' as ruler. He was arrested in Alabama, tried in Virginia, and acquitted by the Federal courts.
Dec. 20, 1803
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of his guilt was furnished by Daniel Clark, his busi- ness agent at New Orleans. Wilkinson managed to hold high office and to stand high in public favor until his death. The historian Gayarre (giara') years afterward found proof of his guilt in letters which had passed between him and Spanish officials.
7. Judge Toulmin .- Washington county was set apart as the Tombigbee judicial district, and Presi- dent Jefferson appointed Harry Toulmin its first United States judge. He entered upon the discharge of his duties in 1804 at Wakefield, near MeIntosh's Bluff. He inspired his fellow-countrymen to love justice and the nobler arts of peace.
Mr. Toulmin was an English clergyman, who had been driven from home because he was too free in expressing opinions about politics. He settled in Kentucky, and became president of Transylvania University in Lexington. After four years in that position, he was elected secretary of State of Ken- tucky. Ilis appointment as judge brought him to Alabama. He represented Baldwin county in the constitutional convention of 1819, and compiled the first digest of the laws of Alabama. He died at Wakefield in December, 1824.
8. Marriages in Early Times .- For many years there were neither officers nor clergymen in the Tom- bigbee settlements to perform marriage ceremonies. Couples desiring to marry pledged themselves in the presence of friends and considered themselves mar- ried; they further agreed to have the marriage cere. mony performed by a preacher or by an officer should any ever come along.
1S04 1792
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9. Governor Williams .- On January 26, 1805, Robert Williams, of North Carolina, succeeded Gov- ernor Claiborne in office. In the same year a part of " the Tennessee Valley was acquired from the Chicka- saws and Cherokees, and from it was formed the county of Madison. By the Mount Dexter Treaty the Indians ceded a narrow strip of land in the south-
1805 to 1809
Huntsville Spring
ern part of the Mississippi Territory between the Natchez and Tombigbee settlements.
In 1809, Governor Williams, having been sus- pected of aiding Burr in his efforts to escape, was removed from office. Ile was succeeded by David Holmes, of Virginia.
10. Huntsville Settled .- John Hunt, an adven- turous pioneer from Tennessee, built his cabin on a bluff above a bold spring in north Alabama. With his trusty rifle he picked his choice of the deer that
1S08
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came to drink of the out-flowing stream. Distant friends and others learned of the beautiful region, with fertile soil, mellow elimate, and abundant game. Soon other cabins were built nearby. Such was the beginning of Huntsville, first named Twickenham (twick'en am), after the home of the poet Alexander Pope, some of whose relatives were among the set- tlers. The latter name, however, did not hold, and the beautiful city of Huntsville takes its name from that of its original settler.
1809 to 1817
11. Governor Holmes .- The events of Governor Holmes's term of office embrace troubles between the settlers and the Spaniards; the opening of a military road from the Chattahoo- chee river to Mims Ferry; the Creek War; the cap- ture of Mobile from the Spanish; the English at- tack on Fort Bowyer; and important Indian treaties.
Congress, on March 1, 1817, divided Mississippi Territory, and two days afterward organized Ala- bama Territory. It fixed David Holmes the seat of government at Fort St. Stephens, and gave the President the power to appoint a governor with authority to call together such members of the legislature of the late Missis- sippi Territory as lived within the limits of Alabama Territory.
March 1817
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12. Governor William Wyatt Bibb .- William Wyatt Bibb, of Georgia, was appointed governor of Alabama Territory by President Monroe. He was able and experienced. He called the first legislature to meet at St. Stephens. James Titus, of Madison, was the only member of the upper house, as he was the only senator of the Mississippi Territory who lived within the limits of the newly-created Alabama Territory. He attended to all the duties of the upper house with marked ceremony, calling the council to order, and passing upon all messages from the lower house just as a house full of senators would have donc. The lower house consisted of ten members, with Gabriel Moore, of Madison, as chairman.
The Spanish and English in Florida persuaded the Indians in 1818 to reclaim the lands sold to the United States. Outrages were committed, but Jack- son's conquests and court-martial in Florida quieted the Indians and stopped Spanish and English sub- jects from stirring the Indians to further violence.
The next session of the legislature met at St. Stephens. The people of Mississippi were begging Congress to let the Tombigbee and Mobile rivers and Mobile Bay form the eastern boundary of Missis- sippi Territory. Governor Bibb did not believe Con- gress ought to do this, and he stated the objections in his message to the legislature. In this message he recommended that laws ought to be favorable to education, to the opening of roads and ferries, and to the building of bridges.
13. Capital Site Selected .- C. C. Clay, Sr., Samuel Taylor, Samuel Dale, James Titus, and William L.
1817 to 1820
Jan. 19, 1818
1818
Nov. 2 to Nov. 21, 1818
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Adams were elected a committee to select the place for the capital of the State. They selected Cahawba, but they agreed that Huntsville was to be the capital until suitable buildings could be built at Cahawba.
14. Alabama Admitted Into the Union .- The "Enabling Act" of Congress was the act that gave permission to the people to prepare a State constitu- tion in order that the Territory might be admitted as a State into the Union. The State convention met in Huntsville and prepared a constitution which Dec. 14, Congress accepted. On December 14, 1819, Alabama 1819 was admitted into the union of States. The constitu- tion recognized negro slavery, and granted the privi- lege of voting to white men twenty-one years old and upward.
SUMMARY
The political life of Alabama from 1763 to 1819 embraces all the history of the French, Spanish, English, and American gov- ernment of the territory now called Alabama. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 marked the downfall of French rule, and the transfer of Louisiana east of the Mississippi, save New Orleans and the Isle of Orleans, to British control. In 1780, Galvez con- quered West Florida for Spain. The treaty of 1783 at Paris after the Revolutionary War gave north of 31º north latitude to the United States; but Spain claimed that the northern boundary line of West Florida was 32° 28', as was the line under the British. Fifty years after the downfall of French authority, General James Wilkinson captured Mobile and gave the United States possession to the Gulf.
In 1798, Mississippi Territory was formed. Its first governor was Winthrop Sargent. In 1817, Mississippi Territory was divided, the eastern part being organized as Alabama Territory. In 1819, Alabama was admitted as a State into the Union.
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QUESTIONS
1. Under what flags has the territory of what is now Alabama been governed? 2. Describe the changes from French to British, from British to Spanish, and from Spanish to United States con- trol. 3. Give an account of Spanish and American contention about the lines of separation between Spanish and American possession. 4. How did England fix the boundary lines of West Florida, and by what right did Spain claim to 32º 28' ? 5. How and when was the dispute about the boundary line settled? 6. When and by whom was the line surveyed? 7. What was the "Yazoo Sale"? 8. What were the boundaries of Mississippi Territory when it was formed? 9. Give a sketch of General Wilkinson; Judge Toulmin. 10. Describe a marriage ceremony in early days. 11. Give an account of the first settlement at Huntsville. 12. Give the history of Mississippi Territory under Governor Sargent; under Governor William C. C. Claiborne; under Governor Robert Williams; under Governor David Holmes; of Alabama Territory under Governor William Wyatt Bibb. 13. Name the temporary capitals of Alabama Territory, and also the place selected as a permanent capital. 14. When was Alabama admitted to the Union?
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Period II. First Forty Years of Statehood
William Rufus King
CHAPTER X
WILLIAM RUFUS KING (1786-1853)
1. Early Life .- The Atlantic States have given to Alabama some of her noblest citizens, but William R. King, the gift of North Carolina, reached a higher position of honor than any other. His native State elected him to the legislature when he was but twenty years of age, and gave him three successive terms. Apr. 7, He was born ten years after the Declaration of Inde- 1786 pendence, and was graduated at eighteen years of age from the University of North Carolina. He
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studied law under William Duffy, Esq., was admit- ted to the bar, and immediately became prominent in public affairs. In 1810, he was elected to repre- sent North Carolina in the Congress of the United States.
2. War With England Advocated by Mr. King .- England and France had long been at war. They would sometimes stop fighting for a few years and then go at it again. England was trying to get the other nations of Europe to combine and crush France. In the war between those two countries the United States would not take sides, and both nations tried to ruin the trade of America. They both took American seamen from American vessels and made them serve on their own ships. Napoleon made the French stop this outrage, but George III, the crazy king of England, insisted upon doing everything possible to show to the world that he would take our sailors when he pleased and insult us as it suited his convenience.
The American people were very angry because of the insults thus heaped upon their country. The kin people and friends of the seamen who had been taken from American vessels kept pleading with the officers of the United States government to do something to free the seamen. Mr. King joined with the patriots in Congress and voted the declaration of war against England. The War of 1812 followed.
During this war the city of Washington was entered by the British, and all buildings except the Patent Office were burned. Peace was declared before the battle of New Orleans was fought; but
1812 to 1815
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Jan. 8, 1815
that battle established us in the respect of nations and made the world recognize us as masters of the western continent.
3. Secretary of Foreign Legations .- Upon the return of peace, Mr. King resigned his place in the house of representatives and afterward became sec- retary of legation to the American embassy at Naples and then at St. Petersburg, under Minister William Pinkney. He served two years in this office and learned a great deal about the people and gov- ernments of Europe.
1818
4. Member of Constitutional Convention .- Mr. King returned to America in 1818 and made his home near Cahawba on the Alabama river. The next year he was elected a delegate to the convention which met in Huntsville to prepare the constitution for the admission of Alabama into the Union. Mr. King, Judge Henry Hitchcock, and Judge John M. Taylor were the sub-committee who put into form the original draft of the constitution of Alabama.
5. Elected United States Senator .- After the con- stitutional convention closed, Mr. King went back to his old home in North Carolina in order to settle up his business there and to bring to Alabama his negroes, stock, and such other property as could be moved. He started back to Alabama, and at Mil- ledgeville, Georgia, he received a letter from Gov- ernor Bibb telling him that the legislature had elected him and John W. Walker to the United States senate. He had fine business prospects, and he knew that he would lose unless he gave them his personal attention, but, sending his people and prop-
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erty on to Alabama, he turned and went to Wash- ington.
6. First Work in the Senate .- The United States once sold government lands on credit. A great many Alabamians bought lands on this credit plan at a very high price. The debt for these lands amounted , to nearly twelve million dolars. It was impossible for the farmers to pay this enormous sum, and unless Congress would give relief a large number of them would be financially ruined. Mr. King and Mr. Walker did their first work in the senate by getting Congress to change the way of selling government lands, and to allow those who had already bought to give up a part of their lands as payment on the other part. By this means the farmers managed to pay their debts and still hold to some of their land.
7. John W. Walker .- John W. Walker,* a native Virginian, was educated under Dr. Moses Waddell and in Princeton University. He entered upon the practice of law in Huntsville and was soon ranked among the best lawyers of the state. His wife was Matilda, the daughter of LeRoy Pope, a kinsman of Alexander Pope, the English poet. Mr. Pope moved from Georgia and settled at Huntsville.
Mr. Walker was a very popular man. Every- body loved to be with him and to hear him talk. He would entertain his friends and his family so delight-
*Mr. Walker's son, LeRoy Pope Walker, was the first secre- tary of war of the Confederate States; his grandson, Richard W. Walker, has been associate justice of the supreme court of Alabama. Others of his family have held high places of honor in this and other States.
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fully by his conversation that hours would pass before they knew it. He was a serious man who liked to talk about the high and holy things of life; yet he enjoyed humor and fun. He tried to make people happy and noble. He was modest and pa- triotic in spirit, graceful in manner, and strong in character. He loved the law because it dealt with the truths of justice. Such was the man who, though scarcely forty years of age, had declined the office of district judge of the Federal court of Alabama, offered to him by President Monroe during a visit to Huntsville; who had been president of the constitutional convention of 1819; who was one of the Apr. 23, two senators first to represent Alabama in Congress, 1823 and whose early death, Mr. Pickett says, left "behind him the memory of no fault and the enmity of no human being."
8. Mr. King as a Statesman .- Mr. King was not an orator and he did not startle the senate with great speeches, but he was a great statesman. Many troublesome questions came into politics during those days, and Mr. King was so wise and so patriotic that he had much to do with every great matter which the senate had to consider. Of course, he had to come into touch with a great many things in . which his people in Alabama were interested, and he sometimes had to act against the wishes of his friends; but they loved him and honored him and voted for him. He remained in the senate from the time of his first election until he resigned his seat in 1844 to accept the office of minister to France.
9. Minister to France .- England wanted France
1819
to 1844
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WILLIAM RUFUS KING
to join in a protest against the annexation of Texas to the United States. The majority of the people of Texas and of the United States wanted Texas to be annexed, but England thought the United States was already big enough and ought not to be allowed to take any more territory. Mr. King was a strong advocate of annexation. He was a Democrat, and President Tyler was a Whig. He did not like to accept office from his political opponent, but Presi- dent Tyler knew that he was the right man to deal with France, and he finally persuaded Mr. King to accept the mission.
Soon after reaching Paris, Mr. King arranged to meet with King Louis Philippe (fil lep'). He did not talk to him in a roundabout way, but at once reminded him of the friendly relations between France and the United States, and explained how it would hurt both countries to go to war, and how the interests of both would be helped if France would not join with England to prevent the annexation of Texas. He plainly informed him that Texas would be annexed no matter what protests might be made, and that war was sure to follow if any of the nations tried to prevent it.
King Louis replied that "he would do nothing hostile to the United States, or which could give to her just cause of offense." It gave Mr. King very great pleasure to report King Louis's reply to Mr. Calhoun, the secretary of State.
10. Defeated by Mr. Lewis .- When Mr. King resigned his seat in the United States senate to become minister to France, Governor Fitzpatrick
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1846
appointed Dixon H. Lewis to succeed him in office. Mr. Lewis had been serving eighteen years as a representative in Congress, and was one of the most popular men in the State. Mr. King returned from France in 1846 and wanted to get back his seat in the senate. Hle preferred to be United States senator from Alabama rather than to hold any other office that could be given to him. Mr. Lewis wanted to keep the seat, and so in the following election they both offered for it. Mr. King was beaten in the race, and this was the only time that defeat ever came to him. Mr. Lewis was an outspoken States rights* man. When the people of South Carolina refused to obey-"nullified" -- the tariff laws made by Con- gress and passed the "Ordinance of Nullification," he took sides with South Carolina, and published a pamphlet, The Nullifier, which was a very strong argument for States rights.
Mr. King was a States rights man, and he thought that the general goverment had no right to exercise any other power than that expressly given by the constitution; but he was very proud of the Union, and he did not wish to offer any reasons to make people believe the Union could ever be dissolved. While he firmly declared the right of the States to govern themselves, he thought it dangerous to bar the general government at all times and under all circumstances from the exercise of power not
*States rights is the doctrine that the State has all powers not expressly delegated to the general government by the con- stitution of the United States.
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WILLIAM RUFUS KING
implied in a strict construction of the constitution of the United States.
The people of the State agreed with Mr. Lewis, and the general assembly elected him instead of Mr. King.
11. President of the Senate .- Governor Chapman appointed Mr. King to the senate to fill out the term of Senator A. P. Bagby, whom President Polk had named as minister to Russia. In the following elec- tion he was chosen to succeed himself.
Mr. King had the honor of serving many terms as president of the senate. He knew how to manage the senators in their hot debates, and they were glad to have him preside because he was always just, polite, and firm. At the close of every session of Congress the senate would adopt a resolution thanking him for the fair and able way in which he had discharged his duties.
12. Vice-President of United States .- In 1852, Mr. King was elected Vice-President of the United States. His health was poor, and soon after his election he went to Cuba in a special vessel furnished by the United States government, hoping to regain his health. He took the oath of office while in Cuba. The United States government honored him by issuing a special order to its consul to allow Mr. King to take the oath before him.
His health grew worse in Cuba and he returned to his Dallas county home to die .* He reached his home
*Mr. King was never married. His nephew and namesake, Captain William R. King, whom he made his heir, was killed in the battle of Sharpsburg.
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Apr. 17, on the evening of April 17, 1853, and died the next 1853 day.
13. His Memory Honored .- Mr. King's remains, after resting for years in a vault on his plantation, have been removed to Live Oak Cemetery at Selma, which city was named by him. Alabamians to-day love his memory and feel proud because he served the country so well when the hot discussions of political parties were made to bring good by the wisdom of statesmen, and because there never was about him any suspicion of evil conduct in either his public or private life.
His long service in the senate with the foremost statesmen of America and the high honors given him show that he was a great man. No other man was ever president of the senate as long as he was, and none but a man of great powers could have con- trolled it in those stormy times.
It may be truly said that he "attained greatness in the midst of greatness."
SUMMARY
William R. King was a North Carolinian by birth. He had served in the legislature and in Congress before he came to Alabama. While in Congress he advocated the War of 1812. He was a member of a committee of three that drafted the con- stitution of Alabama in 1819. He was elected United States sen- ator and served in that office for nearly thirty years. During a part of this time John W. Walker was the other senator from Ala- bama. As minister to France Mr. King induced that country not to object to the annexation of Texas. On returning to this country he was defeated for the senate by Dixon H. Lewis. In 1848, he was appointed senator by Governor Chapman, and he was afterward elected senator to succeed himself. After serving several terms as president of the senate, he was elected
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Vice-President of the United. He attained greatness among men like Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Randolph, and others of that class.
QUESTIONS
1. Give a sketch of the life of William R King before he set- tled in Alabama Territory. 2. What was the cause and result of the War of 1812? 3. Of what legations was Mr. King secre- tary. 4. What work did he do in the constitutional convention ? 5. What was his first work in the United States senate? 6. Give a sketch of John W. Walker. 7. Describe Mr. King as a states- man. 8. To what country was he minister, and what did he accomplish? 9. What caused him to be defeated by Mr. Lewis? 10. Name two high offices that were held by Mr. King after his appointment as senator. 11. Tell of his search for health and his death. 12. Why should Alabamians honor him?
Alexander Beaufort Meek
CHAPTER XI
ALEXANDER BEAUFORT MEEK (1814-1865)
1. Early Life .- Judge A. B. Meek, the poet, orator, jurist, and statesman, is lovingly remembered by the people of Alabama.
July 17, 1814
He was born in Columbia, South Carolina, July 17, 1814. In his early youth his parents moved into Ala- bama and settled in Tuskaloosa. Here he grew to manhood in a newly-settled country and in a town which was the capital of the State and the site of the State University. The visits and speeches of legis- lators, and the social and business life and politics of the day made a deep impression on him.
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ALEXANDER BEAUFORT MEEK 109
2. Three Distinguished Meeks .- His father, Dr. Samuel M. Meek, took great pains in the education of his children, and was especially proud of them. Three sons were distinguished in literature and public life. One, Colonel Samuel M. Meek, resided for many years in Columbus, Mississippi, and stood among the first lawyers of that State.
Professor Benjamin F. Meek, another son, taught English literature in the University of Alabama for thirty years. His pure, classic English was the delight of every student who had the good fortune to study under him. He was a scholar who knew much about authors and their writings. He read so much and compared so often the works of one author with those of another that he learned how to teach the students whatever was best in books, and how it was best to express thought in language. Everybody respected him highly for his great learning.
Judge Alexander B. Meek was the most distin- guished of the three brothers. As a boy he was lovable and bright-minded, and he showed such devo- tion to books as to snatch every opportunity for study and reading.
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