Julius Caesar Alford (May 10, 1799 – January 1, 1863) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

slave owner, politician, soldier and lawyer.

Biography

Born in

Greensboro, Georgia Greensboro is a town in and the county seat of Greene County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 3,648 as of the 2020 census. The city is located approximately halfway between Atlanta and Augusta on Interstate 20. History Greensboro was ...

, in 1799, Alford studied law, gained admission to the state bar in 1809, and began practicing law in Lagrange, Georgia. Alford served in the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. T ...

and was a company commander during the

Creek War The Creek War (1813–1814), also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Indigenous American Creek factions, European empires and the United States, taking place largely in modern-day Alabama ...

. He was elected as an

Anti-Jacksonian The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

from Georgia to the

24th United States Congress The 24th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1835 ...

to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of

George W. Towns George Washington Bonaparte Towns (May 4, 1801 – July 15, 1854) was a United States lawyer, legislator, and politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives on three occasions and was the 39th Governor of Georgia from 1847 ...

. Alford served the remainder of that term from January 2, 1837, to March 3, 1837, and lost his reelection bid in 1836 to the

25th Congress The 25th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 183 ...

. While serving in Congress in 1837, he called for a petition for the abolition of slavery in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

by 22 slaves to be burnt, leading to the Gag Rule on slavery petitions. He also supported the forced removal of Creek Native American tribes from their land. Alford successfully ran for a term in the

26th Congress The 26th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1839 ...

as a Whig and was re-elected to a second term for the 27th Congress. He resigned in the midst of that latter term and served from March 4, 1839, to October 1, 1841. After moving to

Tuskegee, Alabama Tuskegee () is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. It was founded and laid out in 1833 by General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, and made the county seat that year. It was incorporated in 1843. ...

, Alford next moved near

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

. He was a delegate to the Union convention at Montgomery in 1852 and returned to practicing law. He lost an 1855 campaign to represent Alabama in the 34th U.S. Congress. Alford was a member of the Alabama secession convention in 1861 which passed the

Ordinance of Secession An Ordinance of Secession was the name given to multiple resolutions drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861, at or near the beginning of the Civil War, by which each seceding Southern state or territory formally declared secession from the United ...

. He died on his

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

near Montgomery on January 1, 1863, and was buried there.

References

Retrieved on 2009-05-13 1799 births 1863 deaths People from Greensboro, Georgia National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) Members of the Georgia House of Representatives Alabama Secession Delegates of 1861 Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Politicians from Montgomery, Alabama People from LaGrange, Georgia Lawyers from Montgomery, Alabama Military personnel from Montgomery, Alabama People of the Creek War People of Alabama in the American Civil War Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves {{US-mil-bio-stub