Benjamin Fitzpatrick (June 30, 1802 – November 21, 1869) was an American politician who served as the 11th Governor of Alabama and as a

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from that state. He was a Democrat.

Early life

Born in Greene County, Georgia, Fitzpatrick was orphaned at the age of seven and was taken by his sister (Celia Fitzpatrick Baldwin) to

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in 1815. Fitzpatrick helped his brothers manage the land they owned on the

Alabama River The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa River, Tallapoosa and Coosa River, Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka, Alabama, Wetumpka. Over a co ...

and served as deputy under the first sheriff of Autauga County. He worked in the law office of Nimrod E. Benson before he was admitted to the bar. Fitzpatrick studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1821, commencing practice in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. Fitzpatrick served as solicitor of the Montgomery circuit from 1822 to 1823 but moved to his plantation in Autauga County in 1829. He engaged in

planting Sowing is the process of planting seeds. An area that has had seeds planted in it will be described as a sowed or sown area. Plants which are usually sown Among the major field crops, oats, wheat, and rye are sown, grasses and legumes are ...

Governor of Alabama and Senator for Alabama

Fitzpatrick became Governor of Alabama in 1841 and served until 1845. Later, he was appointed as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dixon H. Lewis and served from November 25, 1848, to November 30, 1849, when a successor was elected. He was again appointed on January 14, 1853, and elected on December 12, 1853, to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William R. King, who had been elected

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

, and served from January 14, 1853, to March 3, 1855. He served in that Congress as Chairman of the Committee on Printing and the Committee on Engrossed Bills. He was elected to the Senate again to fill the vacancy caused by the failure of the legislature to elect his successor on November 26, 1855. In that role, he served several times as President pro tempore of the Senate.

Failure of state banks

The country was plagued by economic depression due to the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression (economics), depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pes ...

. Fitzpatrick's predecessor as Governor, Arthur P. Bagby, introduced measures to assist the state banks, but the state legislature rejected most of the measures. All of the state banks were closed by Fitzpatrick.

Vice presidential nomination

In 1860, Fitzpatrick was nominated for Vice President of the United States by the wing of the Democratic Party that had nominated

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (né Douglass; April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. As a United States Senate, U.S. senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party (United States) ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

for president. However, he refused the nomination, and

Herschel V. Johnson Herschel Vespasian Johnson (September 18, 1812August 16, 1880) was an American politician. He was the List of governors of Georgia, 41st Governor of Georgia from 1853 to 1857 and the vice presidential nominee of the Stephen A. Douglas, Douglas w ...

of Georgia was ultimately nominated. Fitzpatrick withdrew from the Senate on January 21, 1861, following the

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

of his home state.

Confederacy

Fitzpatrick did not take a particularly active role in the politics of the Confederacy, although he served as president of the constitutional convention of Alabama in 1865.

Family

In 1827, Fitzpatrick married Sarah Terry Elmore, daughter of John Elmore. Their marriage resulted in multiple children, Elmore J., Morris, Phillips, James M., and John A., with Sarah dying in 1839. Fitzpatrick married his second wife, Aurelia Blassingame, in 1846. Only one child of theirs, Benjamin Jr., survived to adulthood.https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/03291/#:~:text=Benjamin%20Fitzpatrick%20had%20several%20children,child%20was%20Benjamin%20Fitzpatrick%20Jr. Retrieved 2024-03-23

Death

He died on his Oak Grove Plantation near Wetumpka, Alabama, on November 21, 1869, aged 67.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, Benjamin 1802 births 1869 deaths Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Democratic Party governors of Alabama Democratic Party United States senators from Alabama People from Greene County, Georgia Politicians from Montgomery, Alabama Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate 1860 United States vice-presidential candidates 19th-century United States senators