John J. Pettus

John Jones Pettus (October 9, 1813 - January 28, 1867) was a United States politician. Born in Wilson County, Tennessee, he was the governor of the state of Mississippi from January 5, 1854 to January 10, 1854, the shortest term of governor in the state’s history. Pettus was later elected to a full term and served from 21 November 1859 - 16 November 1863 during which time he took Mississippi out of the Union. Pettus was a member of the Democratic party.

Personal life
While born in Tennessee, Pettus moved to Kemper County, Mississippi as a small boy. His brother, Edmund Winston Pettus (1821–1907), would become a United States senator from Alabama and for whom the Pettus Memorial Bridge was named in Selma, Alabama. On April 4, 1837, he married his cousin, Permelia Virginia Winston, a daughter of William Winston and Mary Cooper, in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

Early political life
In 1846, Pettus represented Kemper County in the Mississippi House of Representatives. In 1848, he was then elected to the Mississippi State Senate and was named President of the Senate in 1854.

Term as interim governor
In 1853, while lame-duck Governor Henry S. Foote was waiting for the January 11th inauguration of John J. McRae, Foote grew bitter and angry, addressing the legislative session by announcing that he had considered resigning in protest once the election results came in. At noon at January 5, 1854, Foote's resignation was received by the state senate.

The Mississippi Constitution of 1832 had abolished the office of lieutenant governor and so, on January 5, 1854, Pettus, as president of the senate, was sworn at noon on January 7, 1854. Pettus held the governorship to January 10, 1854. His only record act during these 120 hours was to order a special session in Noxubee County to fill the office of a deceased state representative, Francis M. Irby. On January 11, McRae was inaugurated as Governor and Pettus returned as senate president.

During the 1850s, he became identified as "the Mississippi Fire-eater," a term referring to southern supporting secession, because he once said that he would rather eat fire than sit down with Yankees. He was also known for saying:

"I am Mississippian to the Core. My ancestors are buried upon her hillsides. I am, and have been and ever expect to be within her borders. Whatever may happen, I am with her Heart and Soul."

Governorship
In 1859, he was elected Governor. In his inaugural address, he said that he the south's only way to maintain slavery was secession and called for the establishment of a southern confederacy. Following President Abraham Lincoln's election, on November 26, 1860, Pettus called for a Special Session of the Legislature and urges the Legislature to call for a convention to withdraw Mississippi from the Union.

The Legislature calls for a Secession Convention which convened in Jackson on January 7, 1861. They voted succession and on January 9, 1861, Mississippi seceded from the Union. On February 4, 1861, along with five other slave states, the Confederate States of America was established at Montgomery, Alabama. Pettus was re-elected in the fall of 1861.

Post-governorship
Pettus was succeeded by General Charles Clark. In October 1863, when his second term expired, Pettus then joined the Confederate Army. Although General Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox, Pettus refused to surrender and became a fugitive. His family later claimed he was going to flee to Mexico with Jefferson Davis but once Davis was captured, Pettus had to flee. The manhunt for him continued until his death in Pulaski County, Arkansas on January 28, 1867.

His original interment was in a private or family graveyard (on the property of a cousin, John Jones), although he was later re-interred at Flat Bayou Burial Ground, Wabbaseka, Arkansas. His wife Permelia died in 1857 and is buried in the Winston Family Cemetery in Gainesville, Sumter County, Alabama.

External link

 * Message of Gov. John J. Pettus to the Mississippi Legislature on November 5, 1861 at Archive.org