Alexander McKinstry

Alexander McKinstry (born March 7, 1822 in Augusta , Georgia , † October 9, 1879 in Mobile , Alabama ) was an American politician and lieutenant governor of Alabama.

McKinstry was born in 1822 to Alexander and Elizabeth McKinstry. After his parents' early death, fourteen-year-old McKinstry moved to Mobile, where his closest relatives lived. In Mobile he worked in a pharmacy for several years .

When he worked for John Archibald Campbell , a future Supreme Court Justice of the United States and received legal training ( reading law ), his talent in this direction quickly showed. In 1845 he was admitted to the legal profession and worked with his colleague William G. Jones together . In the early years of his career, he also served as the City Councilor, Notary Public, and Treasurer of Mobile County .

In 1847 he became a colonel in the 48th Alabama Infantry Regiment , but retired from active service in 1850 and became a judge in Mobile that same year. McKinstry was confirmed in office in 1856. In 1860 he finally resigned and began practicing law again with his colleague Daniel Chandler.

Although McKinstry was an opponent of the secessionist movement, he bowed to the will of the majority. During the Civil War he served in the Confederate Army from April 29, 1862 when he was appointed colonel of the 32nd Alabama Infantry Regiment . On September 21, 1862 McKinstry was entrusted with the command of the post of Chattanooga and the troops between Hiawassa and Bridgeport.

After the war was over, McKinstry was able to devote himself to his political and legal careers again. In the year of the surrender of the southern states, he was elected to the Alabama parliament. In 1869 he was re-elected. Three years later he was elected lieutenant governor of Alabama. He held this office until 1874. McKinstry was Alabama's last Republican lieutenant governor until Steve Windom took office in 1999.

McKinstry had been married since 1845 and had eleven children, six of whom died in infancy.

Web links

• Alexander McKinstry in the Alabama Department of Archives and History