Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/768

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
716
CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY.

tinguished Confederate statesmen. His health failed in consequence of his imprisonment and he was released during the year. Returning to his State he resumed the practice of law. His death occurred at Marion, Ala., April 5, 1873. Governor Moore had at all times the respect of the people of his State. Manly in bearing, cordial in manner, honorable in all things, he was esteemed as a model public officer.

John Gill Shorter, second governor of Alabama during the Confederate period, was born in Jasper county, Georgia, in 1818, and was graduated at the university of that State in 1837. His father, Gen. Reuben C. Shorter, removed to Alabama and settled at Eufaula in 1836, where the son made his home and embarked in the practice of law after leaving college. He was admitted to the bar in 1838, and in 1842 was appointed solicitor of his judicial circuit. In 1844 he was elected to the State senate, and in 1851 to the house. He was appointed judge of the circuit court in 1851, elected to the same office in 1852, and re-elected; so that he served nine years on the bench. In 1861 he visited the secession convention of Georgia as a commissioner from Alabama. He was a member of the provisional congress, and in 1861 was elected governor. In this position he served until 1863. He died at Eufaula, May 29, 1872.

Henry M. Rector, first war governor of Arkansas, was born at St. Louis, Mo., in 1816. He became a citizen of Arkansas in 1835 and soon rose to prominence as an attorney and public man. He was United States marshal from 1843 to 1845, and judge of the Supreme court from 1859 to 1860. Through the bequest of his father, Maj. Elias Rector, he was interested, and finally successful as a claimant in the famous Hot Springs litigation. In June, 1860, the Democratic State convention nominated Richard H. Johnson for governor, and Rector resigned