Albert G. Brown

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Albert Gallatin Brown
Albert G. Brown

In office
January 7, 1854January 12, 1861
Preceded by Walker Brooke
Succeeded by Hiram R. Revels

Born May 31, 1813(1813-05-31)
Chester County, South Carolina, U.S.
Died June 12, 1880 (aged 67)
Terry, Mississippi, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Profession Politician, Lawyer

Albert Gallatin Brown (May 31, 1813June 12, 1880) was Governor of Mississippi from 1844 to 1848 and a United States Senator from Mississippi from 1854 through 1861. Brown attended Mississippi College. He was a Democrat.

Albert was one of the most popular and influential man in the state of Mississippi his time. He is considered the father of the public school system and the University of Mississippi. His rhetorical attacks on illiteracy will live forever as classic contributions to the cause of Education in Mississippi.

"Albert Gallatin Brown possessed a magnetic personality. With an open, handsome continence, surrounded by a luxuriant, flowing beard and dark-curly hair, in every sense he looked distinguished. Courageous, he was void of vanity; animated, he was persuasive.” In his speech, Reuben Davis, who knew him well, states in his book, Reminiscences on Mississippi and Mississippians, that Brown "was the best balanced man I ever knew...In politics he had strategy with-out corruption, and handled all his opponents with skill but never descended to intrigue." During a lifetime most of which was spent in an epoch of bitter controversy, his most intimate friends never heard him speak ill of others.

Overcome by a stroke of apoplexy, he fell face down in a shallow pond at his home near Terry, in 1880, and his last remains rest in Greenwood Cemetery at Jackson. For thirty years, he produced a record in public service that illuminates the pages of history.

Albert was three terms in the State Legislature, four in the national Congress, once on the circuit bench, twice elected United States senator, serving two administrations as Governor and chosen senator in the Confederate Congress, the political career of Albert Gallatin Brown provides one of the most amazing chapters in Mississippi history." ("Mississippi State Builders" by Clayton Rand).

Albert's first wife was Elizabeth Frances Thornton Taliaferro (1817-1836) of Virginia, who died about five months after the marriage. Elizabeth was the daughter of Richard Henry Taliaferro, Sr. (1783-1830) and Frances Walker Gilmer (ca. 1784-1826)

Albert married as his second wife, Roberta Eugenia Young (1813-1886), daughter of Brig. Gen. Robert Young (1768-1824) and Elizabeth Mary Conrad (1772-1810).

Roberta's older sister was Elizabeth Mary Young (1804-1859), who was the wife of Philip Richard Fendall II (1794-1867), the District Attorney of the District of Columbia.

[edit] See also

Places named for Albert Brown
Preceded by
Tilghman Tucker
Governor of Mississippi
1844 – 1848
Succeeded by
Joseph W. Matthews
Preceded by
Walker Brooke
United States Senator (Class 2) from Mississippi
January 7, 1854January 12, 1861
Served alongside: Stephen Adams and Jefferson Davis
Succeeded by
Hiram R. Revels(1)
Preceded by
(none)
Confederate States Senator from Mississippi
February 18, 1862May 10, 1865
Succeeded by
(none)
Notes and references
1. Because of Mississippi's secession, the Senate seat was vacant for nine years before Revels succeeded Brown.