John Jones Pettus (October 9, 1813January 25, 1867) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the
23rd Governor of Mississippi, from 1859 to 1863. Before being elected in his own right to full gubernatorial terms in 1859 and 1861, he served as
acting
Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode.
Acting involves a broad r ...
governor from January 5 to 10, 1854, following the resignation of
Henry S. Foote
Henry Stuart Foote (February 28, 1804May 19, 1880) was a United States Senator from Mississippi and the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1847 to 1852. He was a Unionist Governor of Mississippi from 1852 to ...
. A member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
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*Botswana Democratic Party
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, Pettus had previously been a
Mississippi state representative, a member and president of the
Mississippi State Senate
The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol ...
. He strongly supported
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
's
declared secession from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1861 and sought cooperation with the
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
.
Early life
John Jones Pettus was born on October 9, 1813, in
Wilson County, Tennessee
Wilson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is in Middle Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 147,737. Its county seat is Lebanon. The largest city is Mt. Juliet. Wilson County is part of the Nashville-Davidson ...
, to John Jones, a farmer, and his wife Alice Taylor (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Winston) Pettus. He was the brother of
Edmund Pettus
Edmund Winston Pettus (July 6, 1821 – July 27, 1907) was a lawyer and politician who represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1897 to 1907. He served as a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the Confederate States Army, ...
. He was raised in
Limestone County, Alabama, after his father moved the family from Tennessee. Only nine when his father died, Pettus helped with chores and was educated at home by his mother. Pettus settled in Mississippi in 1835. After a brief stay in
Sumter County, Alabama, where he studied law, he opened a law practice in
Scooba, Mississippi. In the 1840s, he married a cousin, Permelia Winston. He became a farmer and by 1850 owned and enslaved twenty-four people.
Political career
In 1844, Pettus represented
Kemper County
Kemper County is a county located on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,456. Its county seat is De Kalb. The county is named in honor of Reuben Kemper.
The county is part ...
in the Mississippi House of Representatives. In 1848, he was elected to the Mississippi Senate.
[ In 1853, while Governor Henry S. Foote was waiting for the January 11 inauguration of ]John J. McRae
John Jones McRae (January 10, 1815May 31, 1868) was an American politician in Mississippi. A United States Democratic Party, Democrat, He also represented Mississippi in the United States Senate in 1851 and 1852, in the U.S. Congress in the 35th ...
, Foote grew bitter and angry, addressing the legislative session by announcing that he had considered resigning in protest once the election results came in. At noon on January 5, 1854, Foote's resignation was received by the state senate.[
The ]Mississippi Constitution of 1832
The Constitution of Mississippi is the Constitution, primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Mississippi delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the Government of Mississippi, state government. Mississippi's original c ...
had abolished the office of lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
. As President of the Mississippi Senate, Pettus was next in seniority and sworn in at noon on January 7, 1854.[ He held the governorship until McRae was sworn in on January 10, 1854.][John J. Pettus]
at the '' National Governors Association'' His only recorded 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.[ On January 11, McRae was inaugurated as governor, and Pettus returned as senate president.][ During the 1850s, he became identified as "the Mississippi Fire-eater," a term referring to Southerners supporting secession.]
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 a southern confederacy.[ Following President Abraham Lincoln's election, on November 26, 1860, Pettus called for a Special Session of the Legislature and urged the legislature to call for a convention to withdraw Mississippi from the United States. The Legislature called for a Secession Convention which convened in Jackson on January 7, 1861.] Two days later, Mississippi officially declared secession from the United States. On February 4, 1861, along with five other slave states, the Confederate States of America was established at Montgomery, Alabama, precipitating the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
.[ Pettus was re-elected in the fall of 1861.][ Pettus was succeeded by Charles Clark.]
Later life
Ineligible under the Mississippi Constitution to run for a third term, Pettus became a colonel in the state militia. In September 1865, he took the oath of allegiance to the United States but failed on three separate occasions to receive a presidential pardon. After the war, he relocated to Pulaski County (present-day Lonoke County, Arkansas. Pettus died on January 25, 1867, of pneumonia and is buried in the Flat Bayou Cemetery, Jefferson County, Arkansas.
See also
* List of governors of Mississippi
The governor of Mississippi is the head of state and head of government of Mississippi and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed b ...
* List of lieutenant governors of Mississippi
The lieutenant governor of Mississippi is the second-highest ranking executive officer in Mississippi, below the governor of Mississippi. The office of lieutenant governor was established when Mississippi became a state, abolished for a few decade ...
* List of people from Tennessee
The following is a list of prominent people who were born in the U.S. state of Tennessee, live (or lived) in Tennessee, or for whom Tennessee is significant part of their identity:
A
* Roy Acuff (1903–1992), musician; born in Maynard ...
* List of pneumonia deaths
In alphabetical order, this is a list of famous people who died of pneumonia.
Notes
External linksWorld Pneumonia Day
{{Authority control
*
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting th ...
* List of slave owners
References
Further reading
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External links
*
John J. Pettus
at the National Governors Association
John J. Pettus
at The Political Graveyard
The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettus, John Jones
1813 births
1867 deaths
19th-century American lawyers
19th-century American politicians
American Fire-Eaters
American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law
American slave owners
Burials at Flat Bayou Cemetery
Confederate States of America state governors
Deaths in Arkansas
Deaths from pneumonia in Arkansas
Democratic Party governors of Mississippi
Farmers from Mississippi
Lieutenant Governors of Mississippi
Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives
Military personnel from Mississippi
Mississippi lawyers
Democratic Party Mississippi state senators
People from Kemper County, Mississippi
People from Wilson County, Tennessee
People of Mississippi in the American Civil War
Politicians from Jackson, Mississippi
Pettus family
Stateless people