- David Holmes (politician)
-
David Holmes United States Senator
from MississippiIn office
August 30, 1820 – September 25, 1825Preceded by Walter Leake Succeeded by Powhatan Ellis Personal details Born March 10, 1769
Hanover, PennsylvaniaDied August 20, 1832 (aged 63)
Winchester, VirginiaPolitical party Democratic-Republican Alma mater College of William and Mary David Holmes (March 10, 1769 – August 20, 1832) was the last governor of the Mississippi Territory and the first governor of the State of Mississippi.
Contents
Career
Born in York County, Pennsylvania, Holmes and his family moved to Virginia when he was a child. He served as U.S. Representative from Virginia from 1797 until 1808.
Mississippi territory
President Thomas Jefferson appointed him fourth governor of Mississippi Territory. Holmes was very popular and his appointment marked the end of a long period of factionalism within the territory. He was the last governor of the Mississippi Territory, serving 1809-17. Holmes was generally successful in dealing with a variety of matters, including expansion, land policy, Indians, the War of 1812, and the constitutional convention of 1817 (of which he was elected president). Often concerned with problems regarding West Florida, he had a major role in 1810 in negotiations which led to the peaceful occupation of part of that territory. McCain (1967) concludes that Holmes' success was not based on brilliance, but upon kindness, unselfishness, persuasiveness, courage, honesty, diplomacy, and intelligence.[1]
Statehood
In 1817, Mississippi joined the Union as the 20th state and Holmes won the election to be the first governor of the State of Mississippi. Holmes took the oath of office in October 1817, though Mississippi did not officially become a state until December of that year. During his term, he established the state judicial system and the state militia and organized the land east of the Pearl River that the Choctaw Indians ceded. He served a complete term of two years, but Governor Holmes decided not to run for re-election in 1819.
In 1820, the state legislature elected Holmes to be one of Mississippi's Senators in the U.S. Congress, and he served from 1821 until late 1825, when his election to another term as governor of Mississippi forced him to resign. Because Holmes's declining health forced him to resign, he served only six months (January 1826 - July 1826) as Mississippi's sixth governor.
Holmes returned to his native Virginia where his health continued to fail before his death in 1832 at Jordan's Sulphur Springs, near Winchester, Virginia, where he still lies in the Mt. Hebron Cemetery.
Legacy
Holmes County, Mississippi is named in honor of him.
References
Bibliography
- Conrad, D.H. (1921), "PMHS", David Holmes: First Governor of Mississippi (Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society) vol.4: pp. 234–257
- Hildreth, Howard P. (Spring 1967), "VC", David Holmes (Virginia Cavalcade) vol.16 (no.4): pp. 38–40, http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/cavalcade/volumes/v11_20/spr67.htm
- McCain, William D. (1967), "JMH", The Administrations of David Holmes, Governor of the Mississippi Territory, 1809-1817 (Journal of Mississippi History) vol.29 (no.3): pp. 328–347
- Dictionary of American Biography
- McCormick Quatannens, Jo Anne; Boyle, Diane B., eds. (Spring 1995), Senators of the United States: A Historical Bibliography, Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, p. 136, http://books.google.hr/books?id=X21aNNNE4T0C
External links
Political offices Preceded by
Robert WilliamsGovernor of Mississippi Territory
1809–1817Succeeded by
Office becomes Governor of MississippiPreceded by
Formerly Governor of Mississippi TerritoryGovernor of Mississippi
1817–1820Succeeded by
George PoindexterPreceded by
Gerard BrandonGovernor of Mississippi
1826Succeeded by
Gerard BrandonUnited States Senate Preceded by
Walter LeakeUnited States Senator (Class 1) from Mississippi
1820–1825
Served alongside: Thomas H. WilliamsSucceeded by
Powhatan EllisUnited States Senators from Mississippi Class 1 Class 2 Categories:- 1769 births
- 1832 deaths
- People from York County, Pennsylvania
- American Presbyterians
- Mississippi Democratic-Republicans
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
- Governors of Mississippi
- Governors of Mississippi Territory
- People from Adams County, Mississippi
- People from Winchester, Virginia
- United States Senators from Mississippi
- The College of William & Mary alumni
- Virginia Democratic-Republicans
- Mississippi Jacksonians
- Democratic-Republican Party United States Senators
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