Alabama Governors: A Political History of the State

Henry W. Collier / Leah Rawls Atkins

Henry W. Collier, 1849–1853 leAH rAWls AtKins in the aftermath of the U.s. war with mexico (1845–48), sectional politics raged not only in Washington but also in Alabama, where the state Democratic Party was divided between the states’ rights (Chivalry) and Unionist (hunker) factions.incumbent governor reuben Chapman erred badly when he ignored public sentiment and tradition by appointing south Alabamians to finish the unexpired terms of Alabama ’s two U.s. senators. opposition to Chapman’s renomination was vigorous in north Alabama,where Unionist sentiment was strongest, especially because one of his appointees was the pro-secessionist ex-governor benjamin Fitzpatrick.TheDemocraticPartyneeded a compromise candidate, and henry Collier was its choice. henry Watkins Collier, the son of James Collier and elizabeth bouldin, was born on the family plantation in lunenburg County,virginia, on January 17,1801.his father moved the family to the Abbeville district of south Carolina when Collier was a baby, and as a boy he was regularly taken to the methodist Church and educated in the classical tradition at the log-cabin academy of Dr. moses Waddel. Collier traveled with his parents to the Alabama Territory in 1818, settled in huntsville, and read law with Judge John haywood of the Tennessee supreme Court in nashville. he began practicing law in huntsville but soon moved to Tuscaloosa , where he established a law practice with simon (sion) l. Perry. henry W. Collier 1849–1853 / 69 in 1826 Collier—a handsome man with a dignified bearing,gray wide-set eyes,and a high forehead—married mary Ann battle,a descendant of wealthy and influential north Carolina families. The marriage produced four children who lived to adulthood. For several years mrs. Collier’s niece,virginia Tunstall, lived with the family following her mother’s death in north Carolina . on February 1, 1843, at the Collier home, eighteen-year-old virginia married a young legislator, Clement Comer Clay Jr., son of former governor Clay.The alliance of these two families strengthened the political careers of both Collier and the younger Clay. in 1827, after Tuscaloosa became the capital of Alabama, Collier ran for the legislature, advocating the construction of a new capitol in Tuscaloosa. he served one term in the state house of representatives, where he built a reputation for fairness, hard work, an astute understanding of the law, and a judicious disposition. The legislature elected him a judge of the Third Circuit Court, which had the effect of making Collier a member of the ad hoc Alabama supreme Court. When the legislature constituted a separate and distinct supreme court in 1836, Collier was elevated to that court and made its chief justice, a position he held for twelve years. During his tenure on the courts, he wrote some 1,165 thoughtful, well-reasoned opinions, which causedWilliam Garrett to note in his 1872 reminiscences that Collier’s opinions “form his most enduring monument.” in June 1849 the Democratic Party,with the states’ rights group in control, met in montgomery. Although many delegates expected they would nominate Governor Chapman for a second term, the party ultimately decided to support Collier as a compromise candidate to ensure victory in the August elections. Two diverse factions supported Collier: those who followed Clay, the leader of the north Alabama states’ rights group, and those who listened to south Alabama Unionist (at that time) William rufus King, whose nephew and adopted son was to marry Collier’s daughter in 1856.TheWhigs, satisfied that Collier agreed with their attitude that government should be used to stimulate economic growth,did not nominate a candidate.Although there were scattered votes for other candidates, Collier won the governorship with 37,221 votes, and his opponents jointly mustered only 704. historian mills Thornton noted that Whig faith in Collier was justified when Collier adopted and endorsed that party’s policies on private banking. During the 1850s this Democratic governor created the statewide system of private banks about which the Whigs had long dreamed. Three years earlier, in 1846, the legislature had moved the seat of government to montgomery, where a new capitol was constructed on Goat hill. 70 / henry W. Collier 1849–1853 There the legislature certified Collier’s election on november 16, 1849. on December 14,three days before his inauguration,the capitol burned,and Collier took his oath of office at the montgomery methodist Church. During his tenure as governor, Collier promoted educational reform...