In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

William Wyatt Bibb, 1819–1820, and Thomas Bibb, 1820–1821 dAniel s. duPre like thousands of other restless migrants in the early nineteenth century,Alabama ’s first two governors came to the frontier seeking new opportunities for personal advancement. The successes of William Wyatt bibb (1781–1820) and Thomas bibb (1784–1838), however, depended heavily on connections they forged in the more stable and advanced environment of Georgia. The impulse to resettle may have been instilled in the brothers early in life when the bibb family left Amelia County, virginia,where bibb was born on october 2, 1781, to start anew in elbert County, Georgia. Their father, CaptainWilliam bibb,was an officer in the revolutionary army and a member of the virginia legislature. Captain bibb and his family probably migrated to Georgia in 1784 with a large number of virginians who followed General George mathews,hero of the battle of brandywine.most of the general’s followers were families of veterans like himself who took advantage of the new nation’s offer of land bounties to former soldiers. They established tobacco farms on the rich lands around the confluence of the broad and savannah rivers in northeastern Georgia.The bibbs are recorded as one of the earliest pioneer families in elbert County. Captain bibb died in 1796, leaving his widow to care for eight children. The family was not left destitute,and bothWilliam,the oldest,and his younger brother Thomas were able to receive educations. After attending William and mary College for two years and then receiving his medical degree from W.W. bibb, 1819–20, and T. bibb, 1820–21 / 15 the University of Pennsylvania in 1801,William returned to Petersburg,the bustling commercial center of elbert County,Georgia,to practice medicine. Politics, not doctoring, captured William bibb’s attention, and his ambition extended beyond Petersburg. in 1802 at the age of twenty-one, he was elected to the Georgia state legislature,where he served four years.The voters of the broad river region of Georgia rewarded that service by electing him to Congress in 1806, though he barely met the age requirement.After a stint of six years in the house of representatives, where he proved a consistent supporter of President James madison, bibb joined his Petersburg neighbor, Charles Tait,in the United states senate.bibb was only thirty-two years old. What accounts for bibb’s rapid rise to power? one nineteenth-century historian noted William bibb’s “dignified but easy bearing” and suggested that “his uniform courtesy and kindness ...won the respect of all classes.” he was a skillful politician,able to maintain both an aura of statesmanship and a relaxed rapport with the voters. still, the alliances he forged with prominent Georgians such as Tait and senator William h. Crawford certainly helped bibb’s political career. he was popular enough for a Georgia county to be named for him.That popularity evaporated in the spring of 1816 when bibb joined a majority of his fellow congressmen in passing the salary Act, which effectively doubled congressional pay.This unpopular action caused bibb to lose his bid for reelection that fall to George m.Troup. he resigned his senate seat in humiliation in the fall of 1816. With his political future in Georgia looking dim, bibb turned his attention westward. his brother Thomas had already migrated to north Alabama in 1811,andWilliam’s Georgia connections allowed him to follow.When the Alabama Territory was separated from mississippi in 1817, President James monroe, on the advice of secretary of the Treasury William Crawford, appointedWilliam bibb territorial governor.That April,William and his wife, mary Freeman, joined thousands of others who were struck by “Alabama land fever.” The bibbs traveled to Alabama to settle briefly at the territorial capital of st. stephens on the Tombigbee river. Governor bibb’s Georgia roots not only linked him to powerful friends in the federal government but also provided an extensive political base in Alabama itself. Former Petersburg neighbors, including his brother Thomas, were prospering in the Tennessee valley through land speculation, planting, commerce,and their creation of the Planters and merchants bank of huntsville . less well-to-do settlers in north Alabama designated that broad river group the “royal Party.”A second migratory stream led more Georgians into the black belt regions of central Alabama. The alliance between those two groups of Georgia settlers, working in concert with William Crawford and [3.21.100.34] Project MUSE (2024-04-19 22:31...

Share