PoliticalGraveyard.com

College and University President Politicians in Alabama

John William Abercrombie (1866-1940) — also known as John W. Abercrombie — of Anniston, Calhoun County, Ala.; Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, Ala. Born near Kellys Creek, St. Clair County, Ala., May 17, 1866. Democrat. Member of Alabama state senate, 1896-98; Alabama superintendent of education, 1898-1902, 1920-27; president, University of Alabama, 1902-11; U.S. Representative from Alabama at-large, 1913-17. Baptist. Member, Kappa Alpha Order; Phi Beta Kappa; Knights of Pythias; Freemasons; Woodmen; Kiwanis. Died in Montgomery, Montgomery County, Ala., July 2, 1940 (age 74 years, 46 days). Interment at Greenwood Cemetery, Montgomery, Ala.   Relatives: Son of Henry M. Abercrombie and Sarah A. (Kendrick) Abercrombie; married, January 8, 1891, to Rose Merrill.   See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — Find-A-Grave memorial Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (1825-1903) — also known as Jabez L. M. Curry — of Talladega, Talladega County, Ala.; Washington, D.C. Born near Double Branches, Lincoln County, Ga., June 5, 1825. Lawyer; served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War; member of Alabama state house of representatives, 1847-48, 1853-57; U.S. Representative from Alabama 7th District, 1857-61; Delegate from Alabama to the Confederate Provisional Congress, 1861-62; Representative from Alabama in the Confederate Congress 4th District, 1862-64; defeated, 1863; colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; president, Howard College, Alabama, 1866-68; college professor; U.S. Minister to Spain, 1885-88. Baptist. Slaveowner. Died near Asheville, Buncombe County, N.C., February 12, 1903 (age 77 years, 252 days). Interment at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Va.   Relatives: Son of William Curry and Susan (Winn) Curry.   The Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, was named for him from 1905 to 2020.  — The World War II Liberty ship SS J. L. M. Curry (built 1941-42 at Mobile, Alabama; sank in the North Sea, 1943) was named for him.   See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — U.S. State Dept career summary — Find-A-Grave memorial   Image source: American Monthly Review of Reviews, February 1902   James Ferguson Dowdell (1818-1871) — also known as James F. Dowdell — of Chambers Court House (now Lafayette), Chambers County, Ala. Born near Monticello, Jasper County, Ga., November 26, 1818. Lawyer; candidate for Alabama state house of representatives, 1849, 1851; U.S. Representative from Alabama, 1853-59 (7th District 1853-55, 3rd District 1855-59); colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; president, East Alabama College at Auburn, 1868-70. Slaveowner. Died near Auburn, Lee County, Ala., September 6, 1871 (age 52 years, 284 days). Interment at Pine Hill Cemetery, Auburn, Ala.   Relatives: Son of Lewis Jefferson Dowdell and Elizabeth Clay (Farley) Dowdel; brother of William Crawford Dowdell; married to Sarah Hamilton Render; father of James Render Dowdell; uncle of William James Samford; grandfather of Armstead Brown; granduncle of William Hodges Samford and Thomas Drake Samford.   Political family: Candler family of Georgia.   See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Find-A-Grave memorial   Richard Channing Jones (b. 1841) — of Camden, Wilcox County, Ala. Born in Brunswick County, Va., April 12, 1841. Lawyer; served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; member of Alabama state senate, 1882-85; president, University of Alabama, 1890-97; delegate to Alabama state constitutional convention, 1901. Burial location unknown.   Relatives: Son of Rev. John Jones and Mary (Walker) Jones; married, October 19, 1864, to Stella H. Boykin.   Marion Letcher (b. 1872) — of Douglasville, Douglas County, Ga.; Conyers, Rockdale County, Ga.; Washington, D.C. Born in Shorter, Macon County, Ala., September 4, 1872. School principal; served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War; president, Douglasville College (Douglasville, Ga.), 1900-01; superintendent of schools; U.S. Consul in Acapulco, 1909-11; Chihuahua, 1911-16; U.S. Consul General in Christiania, 1919-20; Callao-Lima, 1920; Copenhagen, as of 1921-26; Antwerp, as of 1929-32. Burial location unknown.   Forrest David Mathews (b. 1935) — also known as F. David Mathews — of Alabama. Born in Grove Hill, Clarke County, Ala., December 6, 1935. President, University of Alabama, 1969-75 and 1977-80; U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, 1975-77. Still living as of 2006.   See also Wikipedia article   Charles Taylor (1819-1897) — of Millersburg, Bourbon County, Ky.; Covington, Kenton County, Ky. Born in Boston, Suffolk County, Mass., September 15, 1819. Democrat. Minister; missionary; president, Kentucky Wesleyan College, 1866-70; offered prayer, Democratic National Convention, 1880. Methodist. Died in Courtland, Lawrence County, Ala., February 5, 1897 (age 77 years, 143 days). Interment at Courtland Cemetery, Courtland, Ala.   Relatives: Son of Rev. Oliver Swayne Taylor and Catherine Gould (Parsons) Taylor; married, December 27, 1846, to Charlotte Gamewell.   See also Find-A-Grave memorial   Harry Toulmin (1766-1823) — of Lexington, Fayette County, Ky. Born in Taunton, England, September 7, 1766. Secretary of state of Kentucky, 1796-1804; first president, Transylvania University, 1804-18; judge of Mississippi territorial supreme court, 1804; U.S. District Judge for Alabama, 1818-19. Died in Millry, Washington County, Ala., November 11, 1823 (age 57 years, 65 days). Interment somewhere in Millry, Ala.; cenotaph at Spring Hill Graveyard, Mobile, Ala.   Relatives: Married, September 11, 1787, to Ann Tremlett; married 1812 to Martha Johnson; grandfather of Harry Theophilus Toulmin.   Political family: Henshaw-Torrey family of Claiborne, Alabama.   The World War II Liberty ship SS Harry Toulmin (built 1944 at New Orleans, Louisiana; launched as the USS Segnius; sold 1947; scrapped 1967) was originally named for him.   See also Find-A-Grave memorial

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