David P. Lewis
23rd Governor of Alabama
In office
November 17, 1872 – November 24, 1874
LieutenantAlexander McKinstry
Preceded byRobert B. Lindsay
Succeeded byGeorge S. Houston
Deputy from Alabama
to the Provisional Congress
of the Confederate States
In office
February 4, 1861 – April 29, 1861
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byNicholas Davis Jr.
Personal details
Born
David Peter Lewis

(1820-05-18)May 18, 1820
Charlotte County, Virginia
DiedJuly 3, 1884(1884-07-03) (aged 64)
Huntsville, Alabama
Resting placeMaple Hill Cemetery, Huntsville, Alabama
Political partyRepublican
Other political
affiliations		Democratic

David P. Lewis (born David Peter Lewis; May 18, 1820 – July 3, 1884) was a lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd governor of Alabama from 1872 to 1874 during the Reconstruction era.[1] He was also a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, serving from February until April 1861, when he resigned from office. He was a Unionist. He was the last Republican to serve as Governor of Alabama until H. Guy Hunt was elected in 1986.[2]

Biography

In 1861, David P. Lewis was a Deputy to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, representing Alabama.[2] He was a delegate to the 1868 Democratic National Convention. In 1869, he joined the Republican Party. As a well-known North Alabama Unionist who nevertheless supported the Confederate States of America, he was an attractive candidate for governor. He won decisively over Democrat Thomas Herndon. The 1872 election was highly controversial, and conflicting election returns resulted in the seating of two different legislatures controlled by each party. During his term, unsuccessful attempts were made to pass civil rights legislation that would have barred discrimination by common carriers, hotels, schools, and theaters. The impact of the Panic of 1873, as well as the civil rights controversies, led to Lewis' defeat in 1874. Lewis later unsuccessfully sought an appointment to the federal bench. Disillusioned by politics, he returned to the practice of law in Huntsville, where he is interred at Maple Hill Cemetery. He never married and died at age 64 in Huntsville, Alabama.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wiggins, Sarah Woolfolk (2014). "David P. Lewis". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Alabama Humanities Foundation.
  2. 1 2 Root, Elihu, ed. (1904). Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865. Vol. 1. Washington: Government Printing Office. p. 159. LCCN 05012700.
  3. ↑ Biographical Register of the Confederate Congress. LSU Press. September 1975. ISBN 9780807149416.


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