The Pen Makes a Good Sword: John Forsyth of the Mobile Register

3 “We Are in a Fit of Disquiet”

In the late spring of 1841, John Forsyth Sr. paid his ¤rst visit to Mobile . To honor such a distinguished guest, a committee of prominent Mobilians extended an invitation to the now ex-secretary of state to a public dinner to be held to recognize his many accomplishments. The offer (printed in the Register), noted that the occasion would be a “slight manifestation of the estimation in which we hold your eminent services as a republican statesman and the regard we entertain for your character as a citizen and a man.” The committee also wanted the elder statesman to bring a partisan address “in regard to the startling measures which the party in power are essaying to ¤x upon the country.” Diplomatically declining the invitation, Mr. Forsyth confessed that he had no ideas as to the action of the new administration. He, however, had no plan to go into retirement or seclusion. As a private citizen, the old Jacksonian would be vigilant to “enlighten the public mind, should unwise, unprincipled, or dangerous propositions be made by those into whose hands the power of the federal government has been recently dropped.”1 A local Whig editor’s reaction to this simple exchange shows, in microcosm, the political relationship between John Forsyth Jr. and his father. The Mobile Advertiser contained a column entitled, “The Father Against the Son.” In this piece, the writer compared the Forsyths’ evaluations of the new administration. While the father spoke of measures not yet taken and “ominous” indications, the son was complaining about promises and pledges already broken.2 While this certainly was a minor distinction, it serves to illustrate the no-win political situation in which the younger Forsyth found himself. His journalistic rivals and political opponents (often one and the same) attributed any noteworthy achievement to the in®uence of his famous parent. Likewise, critics magni¤ed any personal or political stumble and contrasted such with the sterling career of the senior. Neither the father nor son realized this visit would be their last together. 3 “We Are in a Fit of Disquiet” Forsyth Sr. returned to his home in the nation’s capital to ponder his own political future. Out of political of¤ce for the ¤rst time in over three decades, he indeed had important decisions to make. His hometown newspaper noted, “His friends and political admirers anticipated for himself higher honors and a more extended ¤eld of usefulness.” Many were pushing him to make another bid for the United States Senate. In the fall, he came down with what was identi¤ed as “congestive fever.” He died at his Washington residence on 21 October . His funeral, which took place two days later, was attended by the diplomatic corps, the heads of the executive departments (minus the president), the General-in-Chief of the army, and many other dignitaries. Partisan newspapers across the nation printed ®owery tributes. One Georgia editor best summed his long career with these words: “Few men have lived in our day who united, in a more remarkable degree, the accomplishments both of mind and person.”3 As the oldest son, John Forsyth Jr. faced the responsibility of settling his father’s estate. With little explanation, the Register, in December, announced the return of the paper to Thaddeus Sanford and S. F. Wilson. Since Forsyth, in the four years he owned the Register, had not paid off his own debt to Sanford and Wilson, the paper was transferred back to settle their accounts. The Georgia native uprooted his family—now having two sons, given the birth of Charles in 1837—and returned to Columbus to manage the family lands.4 While this period can be viewed as the longest interruption in Forsyth’s long career with the Mobile Register, the next decade was a crucial stage in his personal and political development. Columbus, Georgia, in 1841 was only thirteen years old, not far removed from a frontier outpost. In returning to his homeland, the young editor certainly could not escape his father’s fame. On the contrary, it became even more evident. In 1825, then-Governor Forsyth had pushed a bill through the legislature establishing the village of Columbus at the site of Coweta Falls on the Chattahoochee River. Edward Lloyd Thomas surveyed and mapped out a new city. When the younger Forsyth arrived back in town, he could travel down two major avenues that bore the Forsyth name. As the heirs of Thomas Jefferson had discovered ¤fteen years prior...