John Anthony Quitman Letter

John Anthony Quitman was born September 1, 1778, at Rhinebeck, New York. After graduation from Hartwick Academy, Otsego, New York, he became an instructor at Mount Airy College, Germantown, Pennsylvania, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1821, he moved to Natchez, Mississippi, where he joined the law practice of William B. Griffith. His wife, Eliza Turner, whom he met in Natchez and married in 1824, was a cousin to the wife of W. B. Griffith. In 1827, Quitman was selected to the state House of Representatives and was unanimously elected chancellor of Mississippi, a position he held for six years.

In 1832, Quitman served as a member of the Mississippi Constitutional Convention, chairing the judiciary committee of that body. Two years later he was elected to the Mississippi Senate. He was elected president of the Senate in December 1835 and served for one month and four days as acting governor when Governor Runnels' term ended.

During the latter part of the 1830's Quitman turned to military activities and led a company to assist Texans in their struggle with Mexico. When the Mexican War began, Quitman was commissioned Brigadier General of Volunteers; he took part in the Battle of Monterey and was appointed governor of the city upon its surrender.

There was support for Quitman as a candidate for vice-president in 1848, but he was not nominated. He was elected governor of Mississippi on the Democratic ticket in 1849. During this same time Quitman became involved in an independence movement in Cuba and later was arrested for violation of national neutrality agreements. Because of his arrest, he resigned from the office of governor, although the case against him was never prosecuted. In 1855, Quitman was elected to the U. S. Senate and held this office until his death, July 17, 1858, at his plantation home, "Monmouth", near Natchez, Mississippi.