George Poindexter | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| In office June 28, 1834 – November 30, 1834 | |
| Preceded by | Hugh Lawson White |
| Succeeded by | John Tyler |
| United States Senator fromMississippi | |
| In office October 15, 1830 – March 3, 1835 | |
| Preceded by | Robert H. Adams |
| Succeeded by | Robert J. Walker |
| 2ndGovernor of Mississippi | |
| In office January 5, 1820 – January 7, 1822 | |
| Preceded by | David Holmes |
| Succeeded by | Walter Leake |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMississippi'sat-large district | |
| In office December 10, 1817 – March 3, 1819 | |
| Preceded by | Cowles Mead (Delegate-elect) |
| Succeeded by | Christopher Rankin |
| Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives fromMississippi Territory'sat-large district | |
| In office March 4, 1807 – March 3, 1813 | |
| Preceded by | William Lattimore |
| Succeeded by | William Lattimore |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1779 Louisa County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | September 5, 1853(1853-09-05) (aged 74) Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican (Before 1825) Jacksonian (1825–1832) National Republican (1832–1834) Democratic (1834–1853) |
| Spouse(s) | Lydia Carter Agatha Chinn Ann Hewes |
George Poindexter (1779 – September 5, 1853) was an American politician, lawyer, and judge fromMississippi. Born in Virginia, he moved to the Mississippi Territory in 1802. He served as United States Representative from the newly admitted state, was elected as Governor (1820–1822), and served as aUnited States senator.
Poindexter was born inLouisa County, Virginia in 1779.[1] He was the son of Thomas Poindexter and Lucy (Jones) Poindexter;[1] the Poindexters were a large Virginia family of FrenchHuguenot and English ancestry.[2] Poindexter received a sporadic education,[2] primarily from studying under the tutelage of two of his brothers.[3] He was orphaned after his father died when Poindexter was 17; Poindexter inherited two enslaved people and a share of his father's land, residing with an older brother until he came of age.[4] The Poindexter family of Virginia frequently used the names George, Thomas, and John; as a result, their genealogy is difficult to trace.[1] He may have been the uncle of Ohio abolitionist preacherJames Preston Poindexter, whose father was Joseph Poindexter, a journalist at theRichmond Enquirer.[5]
The exact details of Poindexter's legal studies are not known, but according to family tradition, Poindexterstudied under practicing attorneys, first inKentucky, and later inRichmond.[6] He wasadmitted to the bar in 1800 and began to practice in Milton, anAlbemarle County town along theRivanna River which no longer exists.[7]
After moving to theMississippi Territory in 1802, Poindexter set up his law practice inNatchez.[8] He soon became a friend of GovernorWilliam C. C. Claiborne, and a leader in the localDemocratic-Republican Party.[9] As a result, in 1803, he was appointedAttorney General of the Territory;[9] he served until 1807,[10] when he took up his duties as a member of theTerritorial House of Representatives, to which he had been elected in 1806.[11] (He had been an unsuccessful candidate for the legislature in 1804.)[12]
During Mississippi's early years, nearby areas were under Spanish control.[13] When tensions rose over Mississippi's expansion, and the Spanish threatened an attack, residents ofAdams County formed a militia;[13] Poindexter was one of the main organizers of a company in Natchez, the Mississippi Blues; he was elected commander with the rank ofcaptain.[13] No attack from Spain materialized, and the militia soon disbanded.[13]
When formerU.S. Vice PresidentAaron Burr appeared in Mississippi while traveling south as part of theBurr conspiracy in 1807, acting GovernorCowles Mead declared martial law, appointed Poindexter andWilliam B. Shields asaides-de-camp on his military staff, and sent them to interview Burr and determine his intentions.[14] When Burr was arrested, Poindexter conducted the prosecution until Burr escaped from custody.[14] Poindexter initially "refused to bring charges, on the ground that Burr had committed no crime within the jurisdiction."[15] After Burr escaped, GovernorRobert Williams returned from vacation at his home in North Carolina to personally take control of the situation;[16] he criticized Mead and fired the militia officers Mead had appointed, including Poindexter.[16]
Poindexter was elected as a delegate to theUnited States House of Representatives from the Mississippi Territory; he served in the10th,11th and12th Congresses (1807 to 1813).[17] As a delegate, Poindexter concentrated his efforts largely on questions germane to Mississippi, such as federal patronage, as well as advocating for Mississippi's admission to the United States.[17] Poindexter also worked to resolve and standardize land titles in Mississippi, where residents possessed deeds and grants from Spain, France, England, and the United States, due to the number of times the area had changed hands.[18] He also opposed those who claimed theYazoo lands, but in 1810 theUnited States Supreme Court's ruling inFletcher v. Peck, resolved the claims in their favor.[19]
Before leaving forWashington, DC to begin his duties, Mead informed Poindexter of disparaging comments Williams had made to Mead about Poindexter following Burr's escape.[20] Poindexter responded by challenging Williams to a duel;[21] Williams replied that he would admit to any comment Mead attributed to him, but that he would not "involve either his public or private character with such a man."[21] Poindexter responded by writing letters to the editor that made it appear that he had been wronged by Williams and was unable to obtain satisfaction, which had the effect of making Williams appear cowardly in the eyes of his constituents.[21]
Poindexter was in Richmond in October 1807 to testify at Burr's treason trial;[22] his testimony suggested that Burr's arrest had been based on flimsy evidence, which probably played a part in Burr's acquittal.[22]
In 1811, Poindexter's outspoken opposition to theFederalist Party resulted in aduel with wealthy merchant and planterAbijah Hunt.[23] Poindexter killed Hunt, but afterward, Poindexter's political opponents alleged that he had broken thecode duello by firing at Hunt prematurely.[2]
Poindexter did not run for reelection in 1812; after his final term in Congress ended, he was appointed federal Judge for the Mississippi Territory and served from 1813 to 1817.[2] Poindexter also served as a volunteer aide toWilliam Carroll as Carroll commanded a division of Tennessee militia at theWar of 1812's decisive 1814Battle of New Orleans.[24]
After the Battle of New Orleans, a Poindexter letter dated January 20, 1815, was published in theMississippi Republican, which claimed that Pakenham's troops had used "Beauty and Booty" as awatchword.[25] This claim was republished inNiles' Weekly Register,[26] theNational Intelligencer, and other newspapers.[27] Political opponents and the editor of theMississippi Republican challenged Poindexter's account based on Poindexter's supposed dereliction of duty on the day of the battle.[28] In March 1815, Poindexter confronted the editor and was subsequently arrested for assault.[28] The "beauty or booty" story had a profound effect on how the war was perceived and became central to contemporary accounts of Jackson's victory because it made the British appear to be degenerates bent on rape and plunder, while the Americans were depicted as benevolent and morally superior for the charity and medical aid they rendered to British troops after the fighting.[25][29]
Poindexter was chair of the committee appointed to draft a constitution for the new state of Mississippi. After its admission in 1817, he was elected to be the state's first representative in Congress.[2] He served in the15th Congress from 1817 to 1819, when he chaired theCommittee on Public Lands. During the course of the1819 Congressional investigation into Andrew Jackson'sseizure of Florida, Poindexter defended Jackson against Henry Clay's charges that Jackson's lawlessness was like the nascent despotism of Julius Caesar in Gaul, suggesting other, more favorable, comparisons instead: "Greece had her Miltiades, Rome her Bellisarius [sic], Carthage her Hannibal, and may we...profit by the example!"[30]
After that, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1820 to the17th Congress and in 1822 to the18th Congress.
In 1819 Poindexter was elected the secondGovernor of Mississippi by a large margin, winning over 60% of the votein the general election.[31] He served from 1820 to 1822.[32] During his time in office he oversaw a reorganization of the militia, the state created its first free public schools, state courts were reorganized, andJackson was selected as the site for the state capital.[32]
Poindexter was appointed to theUnited States Senate in 1830 to fill the vacancy caused by the death ofRobert H. Adams and served from 1830 to 1835. Soon after his appointment, he learned of the financial distress ofMartha Jefferson Randolph, whose fatherThomas Jefferson had left an estate heavily encumbered by debt. Poindexter introduced a bill to grant Randolph 50,000 acres in Virginia, with the idea she could sell the land to raise money to live on. The bill failed to pass the Senate and was rejected by the two Virginia senators in 1831.[33]
Poindexter served as chairman of theCommittee on Private Land Claims in the22nd Congress from 1831 to 1833, of theCommittee on Public Lands in the23rd Congress from 1833 to 1835 and wasPresident pro tempore of the Senate from June to November 1834.
Poindexter's tenure as chair of the Committee on Private Land Claims had been then considered moderately controversial. He had espoused some views that could be regarded associalist regarding government repossession of land. Poindexter was thought to have made these claims to support PresidentAndrew Jackson's fight with theSecond Bank of the United States. He was a supporter of President Jackson and had defended him against calls forcensure stemming from Jackson's1818 invasion of Florida (including theArbuthnot and Ambrister incident), but had slowly become less happy with the President's policies.[2] Poindexter accused Jackson of relying too heavily on the personal friends who became known as the Kitchen Cabinet as well as favoring personal friends and relations for government jobs, such as Jackson's planned appointment of his nephewStockley D. Hays to a land office job in Mississippi.[34]
Poindexter was selected to be President pro temp of the Senate in 1834, but Jacksonians objected with one newspaper bringing up Poindexter's alleged drinking problem: "One editor said: 'This man...yet rank with the fumes of a low debauch, his step yet tottering, and his eyes rolling with a drunken leer, this man, all filth and vermon [sic], called, probably, from a brothel or a gin cellar, to the Senate Chamber, this man, they chose...to preside over the Senate of the United States.'"[35]
In 1834 Poindexter had his home inWashington, D.C. painted byRichard Lawrence. A deranged man, Lawrence came to believe that he was the ruler of England and the United States and that Jackson was a usurper. In January 1835, Lawrence attempted to shoot at Jackson using two pistols, which misfired. The assassination attempt occurred as Jackson attended a memorial service for a Congressman at the U.S. capitol and the first attempt to assassinate a president. Jackson accused various political enemies of being behind Lawrence's actions, including Poindexter, who denied any connection. Poindexter also took issue with Vice PresidentMartin Van Buren's support of Jackson during the debate over the Bank and made explicit threats that caused Van Buren to carry pistols for self-defense when presiding over the Senate. The accusations about Lawrence followed Poindexter back to Mississippi, and he was unsuccessful in running for a second term. Poindexter returned to Mississippi, embittered by these issues.[2]
In 1835, Poindexter moved toKentucky, where he continued practicing law inLexington. He later moved back toJackson, Mississippi and resumed his law practice until his death there on September 5, 1853. He was a gambler and analcoholic, with alcohol dependence being a significant contributing factor to his death.[36] He was interred inGreenwood Cemetery in Jackson.
In 1804 Poindexter married Lydia Carter (1789–1824),[37][38] the daughter of a prominent Natchez businessman and plantation owner.[39] They had two sons, George Littleton (or Lytleton) and Albert Gallatin.[40] They divorced after Poindexter publicly accused his wife of infidelity and claimed that their second child, whom he disavowed, was the product of an extramarital affair between his wife and their neighbor.[41] In 1820 Lydia Carter Poindexter married Reverend Lewis Williams and moved toBrimfield, Massachusetts.[39] Her sons remained with her;[42] Poindexter provided for the support of George, but disavowed Albert and refused to provide for him.[42]
In 1816 Poindexter married Agatha Ball Chinn (1794–1822). They had one son who died of yellow fever as a child while Poindexter was Governor, and Agatha Poindexter died soon afterward.
He was said to have a serious, potentially non-consensual liaison with an enslaved woman.
When several years before, RepresentativeRichard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky was criticized for his common-law marriage with Julia Chinn, an enslaved woman; he said, "UnlikeJefferson, Clay, Poindexter and others, I married my wife under the eyes of God, and apparently He has found no objections."[43]
Historian Burke has written,
During slavery times, there was no particular stigma attached to the fact that many southern plantation owners, along with their whiteoverseers, often fatheredmulatto children born of black slave women. As long as the white father denied the facts, the customs that createdmiscegenation were usually overlooked by Southern society.[43]
Johnson violated the norms by acknowledging Chinn as his wife and their daughters as his, plus trying to introduce his daughters to "polite society".[43]
Poindexter reportedly had a strong physical resemblance toHenry Clay.[44]: 53 He married his third wife, Ann Hewes of Boston, in 1832.[44]: 54
AccordingCharles S. Sydnor, arguably the dean of early 20th-century Mississippi historians, the historical works ofJ. F. H. Claiborne are essential references for the history of the state but are also riddled with bias against historic enemies of his powerful family and against virtually every notable Mississippi Whig politician. Per Sydnor, Claiborne "was generous in the number of pages allotted to George Poindexter, [but] his treatment of him was harsh and at times grossly unfair."[45]: 58–59
Beauty and Booty. Comment is unnecessary on these significant allusions held out to a licentious soldiery.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)This document present evidence against the judge and in protesting Poindexter's animosity against the author, Samuel Brown, as well as supporting the list on the judge's behavior. (Digitized from a microfilm copy of titles originally held by the University of North Carolina Library).
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Delegate to theU.S. House of Representatives from theMississippi Territory's at-large congressional district 1807–1813 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Cowles Mead as U.S. DelegateElect | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMississippi's at-large congressional district 1817–1819 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Public Lands Committee 1818–1819 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic-Republican nominee forGovernor of Mississippi 1819 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Mississippi 1820–1822 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President pro tempore of the United States Senate 1834 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Mississippi 1830–1835 Served alongside:Powhatan Ellis,John Black | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Public Lands Committee 1833–1835 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 2 | ||
| Public Lands (1816–1921) | | |
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| Public Lands and Surveys (1921–1947) | ||
| Interior and Insular Affairs (1947–1977) | ||
| Energy and Natural Resources (1977–) | ||
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| International | |
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| People | |
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