Benjamin FITZPATRICK, Congress, AL (1802-1869)

FITZPATRICK, Benjamin, a Senator from Alabama; born in Greene County, Ga., June 30, 1802; orphaned, he was taken by his brother to Alabama in 1815; attended the public schools; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1821 and commenced practice in Montgomery, Ala.; solicitor of the Montgomery circuit 1822-1823; moved to his plantation in Autauga County in 1829 and engaged in planting; Governor of Alabama 1841-1845; appointed as a Democrat to the United States 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; again appointed and subsequently elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William R. King and served from January 14, 1853, to March 3, 1855; chairman, Committee on Printing (Thirty-third Congress), Committee on Engrossed Bills (Thirty-third Congress); elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat to fill the vacancy in the term commencing March 4, 1855, caused by the failure of the legislature to elect and served from November 26, 1855, until February 4, 1861, when he withdrew; served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses; nominated for Vice President of the United States on the Democratic ticket with Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, but declined; president of the constitutional convention of Alabama in 1865; died on his plantation near Wetumpka, Ala., November 21, 1869; interment in Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery, Ala.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Roberts, Shepherd H. ”Benjamin Fitzpatrick and the Vice-Presidency.” In Studies in Southern and Alabama History, edited by George Patrie, pp. 46-53. Montgomery: Alabama Polytechnic Institute, 1904; Watson, Elbert L. “Benjamin Fitzpatrick.” In Alabama United States Senators, pp. 49-51. Huntsville, AL: Strode Publishers, 1982.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present