Thomas Hill Watts

Thomas Hill Watts

Thomas Hill Watts (born January 3, 1819 in Greenville , Butler County , Alabama , † September 16, 1892 in Montgomery , Alabama) was an American politician , Attorney General of the Confederate States of America and Governor of Alabama .

Origin and career

Thomas Hill Watts was the son of prominent planter John Hughes and his wife Catherine Prudence (Hill) Watts. He attended the Mount Airy Academy in Dallas County and graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in law in 1839 with "summa cum laude". He was a Baptist and a secessionist Whig . His marriage on January 10, 1842 to Eliza Brown Allen gave birth to six children. After her death on August 31, 1873, he married Ellen C. Noyes on September 3, 1875. He became a successful lawyer and soon entered politics.

Political career

Watts represented Butler County in the Alabama House of Representatives in 1842, 1844, and 1845. In 1846 he moved his law firm to Montgomery; in 1847, 1849 and 1853 he represented Montgomery County in the Alabama Senate . After he was elected in 1848 as the electorate for Zachary Taylor , the presidential candidate of the Whigs, he became a member of the Know-Nothing Party and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1856. In 1860 he supported John Bell and advocated keeping Alabama in the Union, but after Lincoln's election he became a secessionist and in November 1861 he became a supporter of William Lowndes Yancey . As a delegate to the Alabama Secession Convention, he voted for secession. At the convention he was also chairman of the judicial committee.

Secession period

After losing the election of Alabama Governor to John Gill Shorter , he served as a Colonel in the 17th Alabama Infantry Regiment in the battles of Pensacola and Corinth.

From March 17, 1862 to October 1, 1863 he was Attorney General in the Davis cabinet . His job was to oversee legal proceedings and check accounts. He also wrote over 100 legal opinions for other cabinet members and members of Congress . He also campaigned unsuccessfully in Congress for the creation of a Supreme Court. Watts resigned as attorney general to be elected governor of Alabama. He was also elected and remained in that post until the end of the war.

As governor, he defended the rights of the state and stood up to the attacks on Richmond with all his might. At the end of the war he was interned in the north. Before the war he was a wealthy man, but federal troops destroyed his possessions and freed his 200 slaves, who, however, also lived on these properties and had to starve afterwards.

post war period

Upon his release, Watts returned to Montgomery to return to practice as a lawyer. In 1868 he joined the Democratic Party and became a staunch member. From 1880–1881 he represented Montgomery County in the Alabama House of Representatives and from 1889–1890 he was President of the Alabama Bar Association. He then worked primarily for the Baptist Church until his death on September 16, 1892. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery.

literature

• Henry M. McKiven Jr .: Thomas Hill Watts (1863-65) . In: Encyclopedia of Alabama . 2014.
• Malcolm C. McMillan: The Disintegration of a Confederate State: Three Governors and Alabama's Wartime Home Front, 1861-1865. Mercer University Press, Macon (Georgia) 1986.
• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 1, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.
• Jon L. Wakelyn: Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge ISBN 0-8071-0092-7 .

Web links

• Thomas Watts in the National Governors Association (English)
• Thomas Hill Watts in the database of Find a Grave (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Thomas Bragg	Minister of Justice of the Confederate 18 March 1862-1. October 1863	Wade Keyes