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Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace

Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace: Georgia

in chronological order

  John Joachim Zubly (1724-1781) — of Savannah, Chatham County, Ga. Born in St. Gall, Switzerland, August 27, 1724. Ordained minister; Delegate to Continental Congress from Georgia, 1775-76; accused of treason against the Continental Congress and banished in 1777; half of his estate was confiscated; returned to Savannah in 1779. Presbyterian. Swiss ancestry. Died in Savannah, Chatham County, Ga., July 23, 1781 (age 56 years, 330 days). Interment at Colonial Park Cemetery, Savannah, Ga.
  Relatives: Married 1746 to Anna Tobler.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Find-A-Grave memorial
  Henry Osborne (1751-1800) — of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pa.; Camden County, Ga. Born in Newtown Limavady (now Limavady), County Londonderry, Ireland (now Northern Ireland), August 21, 1751. Delegate to Continental Congress from Georgia, 1786; justice of Georgia state supreme court, 1787-89; superior court judge in Georgia, 1789-91. Removed from offices he held in Pennsylvania in June 1783 following the supreme executive council's determination that he was a bigamist; convicted by the Georgia senate in December 1791 of election fraud. Died in St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Ga., November 9, 1800 (age 49 years, 80 days). Burial location unknown.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page
  David Brydie Mitchell (1760-1837) — of Savannah, Chatham County, Ga.; Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Ga. Born in Muthill, Perthshire, Scotland, October 22, 1760. Georgia state attorney general, 1795; member of Georgia state house of representatives, 1796; mayor of Savannah, Ga., 1801-02; U.S. Attorney for Georgia, 1802-04; Governor of Georgia, 1809-13, 1815-17; U.S. Indian Agent to the Creek Nation, 1817-21; resigned from this position following charges that he was smuggling African slaves into the country. Scottish ancestry. Died in Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Ga., April 22, 1837 (age 76 years, 182 days). Interment at Memory Hill Cemetery, Milledgeville, Ga.
  Relatives: Son of John Mitchell.
  See also National Governors Association biography — Wikipedia article
Alexander H. Stephens Alexander Hamilton Stephens (1812-1883) — also known as Alexander H. Stephens; "The Little Pale Star from Georgia" — of Crawfordville, Taliaferro County, Ga. Born near Crawfordville, Taliaferro County, Ga., February 11, 1812. Democrat. Member of Georgia state house of representatives, 1836; member of Georgia state senate, 1842; U.S. Representative from Georgia, 1843-59, 1873-82 (at-large 1843-45, 7th District 1845-53, 8th District 1853-59, 1873-82); candidate for Presidential Elector for Georgia; delegate to Georgia secession convention, 1861; Delegate from Georgia to the Confederate Provisional Congress, 1861-62; Vice President of the Confederacy, 1861-65; arrested for treason in May 1865, and held for five months at Fort Warren; Governor of Georgia, 1882-83; died in office 1883. Slaveowner. Died in Atlanta, Fulton County, Ga., March 4, 1883 (age 71 years, 21 days). Original interment and cenotaph at Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Ga.; reinterment at Alexander H. Stephens Memorial State Park, Crawfordville, Ga.
  Presumably named for: Alexander Hamilton
  Relatives: Son of Andrew Baskins Stephens and Margaret (Grier) Stephens; half-brother of Linton Stephens; great-granduncle of Robert Grier Stephens Jr..
  Political family: Stephens family of Crawfordville and Atlanta, Georgia.
  The World War II Liberty ship SS Alexander H. Stephens (built 1942 at Houston, Texas; scrapped 1973) was named for him.
  Politician named for him: Alexander S. Clay
  Coins and currency: His portrait appeared on Confederate States $20 notes in 1861-64.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — National Governors Association biography — Wikipedia article — NNDB dossier — Find-A-Grave memorial
  Books about Alexander H. Stephens: Thomas E. Schott, Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia : A Biography — William C. Davis, The Union That Shaped the Confederacy: Robert Toombs and Alexander H. Stephens
  Image source: James G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, vol. 2 (1886)
  Robert Augustus Toombs (1810-1885) — also known as Robert Toombs; Bob Toombs — of Washington, Wilkes County, Ga. Born in Wilkes County, Ga., July 2, 1810. Lawyer; member of Georgia state house of representatives, 1837-43; U.S. Representative from Georgia 8th District, 1845-53; U.S. Senator from Georgia, 1853-61; delegate to Georgia secession convention, 1861; Delegate from Georgia to the Confederate Provisional Congress, 1861-62; Confederate Secretary of State, 1861; general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; fled to Europe in 1865 to avoid arrest by Union forces; he was suspected of involvement in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln; later returned to Georgia; delegate to Georgia state constitutional convention, 1877. One of the greatest orators of his time. Slaveowner. Died in Washington, Wilkes County, Ga., December 15, 1885 (age 75 years, 166 days). Interment at Rest Haven Cemetery, Washington, Ga.
  Toombs County, Ga. is named for him.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article
  Books about Robert Toombs: William C. Davis, The Union That Shaped the Confederacy: Robert Toombs and Alexander H. Stephens
  Tunis George Campbell (1812-1891) — also known as Tunis G. Campbell — of McIntosh County, Ga. Born in Middlebrook (unknown county), N.J., April 1, 1812. Minister; abolitionist; delegate to Georgia state constitutional convention, 1867; member of Georgia state senate, 1868, 1869-72; expelled 1868; defeated, 1872; expelled from the Georgia State Senate in 1868 based on the claim that only whites could serve; charged with falsely imprisoning white men as Justice of of the Peace, and served a year of hard labor in Georgia's brutal leased labor system. Methodist. African ancestry. Died in Boston, Suffolk County, Mass., December 4, 1891 (age 79 years, 247 days). Burial location unknown.
  William Dudley Chipley (1840-1897) — also known as W. D. Chipley — of Pensacola, Escambia County, Fla. Born in Columbus, Muscogee County, Ga., June 6, 1840. Democrat. Colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; fought against Reconstruction along with other members of the Ku Klux Klan; he was among those implicated in the murder of George W. Ashburn in in 1868; tried in a military court, but Georgia's re-admission to the Union ended military jurisdiction, so he and his co-defendants were released; general manager of the Pensacola Railroad; successfully promoted the construction of the Pensacola and Atlanta Railroad in 1881-83; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Florida, 1884, 1892; mayor of Pensacola, Fla., 1887-88; member of Florida state senate, 1895-97. Died in a hospital at Washington, D.C., December 1, 1897 (age 57 years, 178 days). Interment at Linwood Cemetery, Columbus, Ga.
  Relatives: Son of Dr. William Stout Chipley and Elizabeth (Fannin) Chipley; brother of Stephen Fannin Chipley; married to Ann Elizabeth Billups; uncle of Fannin Chipley.
  Political family: Chipley family of Pensacola, Florida.
  The city of Chipley, Florida, is named for him.
  See also Find-A-Grave memorial
Thomas E. Watson Thomas Edward Watson (1856-1922) — also known as Thomas E. Watson — of Thomson, McDuffie County, Ga. Born in Columbia County, Ga., September 5, 1856. Lawyer; member of Georgia state house of representatives, 1882-83; candidate for Presidential Elector for Georgia; U.S. Representative from Georgia 10th District, 1891-93; Populist candidate for Vice President of the United States, 1896; Populist candidate for President of the United States, 1904, 1908; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Georgia, 1912; controversial for his writings attacking the Catholic Church; arrested in 1912 on obscenity charges over three chapters in his book The Catholic Hierarchy; tried and acquitted in 1916; U.S. Senator from Georgia, 1921-22; died in office 1922. Died September 26, 1922 (age 66 years, 21 days). Interment at Thomson Cemetery, Thomson, Ga.
  Relatives: Son of John S. Watson and Ann Eliza (Maddox) Watson.
  Cross-reference: John I. Kelley
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — OurCampaigns candidate detail
  Image source: American Monthly Review of Reviews, September 1908
  Hillyer Rudisill (1875-1923) — of Macon, Bibb County, Ga. Born in Forsyth, Monroe County, Ga., April 26, 1875. Republican. Postmaster at Macon, Ga., 1922-23 (acting, 1922). Died from a self-inflicted gunshot, in the post office at Macon, Bibb County, Ga., February 16, 1923 (age 47 years, 296 days). A shortage of about $86,000 was discovered after his death. Interment at Forsyth Cemetery, Forsyth, Ga.
  Relatives: Son of Benjamin Franklin Rudisill and Antoinette Vashti (Smith) Rudisill; married, November 9, 1899, to Frances Lane.
  See also Find-A-Grave memorial
  Hosea Lorenzo Williams (1926-2000) — also known as Hosea Williams — of Savannah, Chatham County, Ga.; Atlanta, Fulton County, Ga.; Decatur, DeKalb County, Ga. Born in Attapulgus, Decatur County, Ga., January 5, 1926. Democrat. Served in the U.S. Army during World War II; walked with a cane due to wartime injury; ordained minister; candidate for U.S. Senator from Georgia, 1972; member of Georgia state house of representatives 54th District, 1975-85; candidate for mayor of Atlanta, Ga., 1989. African ancestry. Member, NAACP; Phi Beta Sigma; Elks; Freemasons; Veterans of Foreign Wars; Disabled American Veterans; American Legion. Civil rights leader; active in sit-ins and protest marches in Savannah and elsewhere; arrested at least 135 times. As Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "field general" in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march which helped galvanize support for Black voting rights. In 1968, he was present at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., when King was assassinated. Convicted in 1981 of leaving the scene of an accident, and jailed for six months. Died, of cancer, at Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, Fulton County, Ga., November 16, 2000 (age 74 years, 316 days). Entombed at Lincoln Cemetery, Atlanta, Ga.
  Relatives: Married to Juanita Elizabeth Terry Williams.
  Personal motto: "Unbought and unbossed."
  See also Wikipedia article — Find-A-Grave memorial
  Joseph Echols Lowery (b. 1921) — also known as Joseph E. Lowery — of Atlanta, Fulton County, Ga. Born in Huntsville, Madison County, Ala., October 6, 1921. Democrat. Pastor; leader in the civil rights movement; co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; escaped death in 1963 when his hotel room in Birmingham, Ala., was bombed, and in 1979 when Klansmen in Decatur, Ala., opened fire on Lowery and other protesters; arrested while demonstrating in support of a garbage workers' strike in Atlanta, 1968; arrested during protests in Cullman, Ala., 1978; arrested while protesting apartheid at the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C., 1984; offered prayer, Democratic National Convention, 1988 ; delivered eulogies at the funerals of Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Georgia, 2008. Methodist. African ancestry. Still living as of 2014.
  Relatives: Married 1950 to Evelyn Gibson.
  Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard, in Atlanta, Georgia, is named for him.
  See also Wikipedia article — NNDB dossier
  Otis O'Neal Horsley Jr. (1944-2015) — also known as Neal Horsley — of Carrollton, Carroll County, Ga. Born in Bremen, Haralson County, Ga., April 15, 1944. Convicted in 1973 of drug possession with intent to distribute, over three gallons of hashish oil, and served a sentence in federal prison; creator of a "Nuremburg Files", an anti-abortion website which listed home addresses and other details about many abortion providers; information from the site helped militant anti-abortionist James Charles Kopp track down and kill Dr. Barnett Slepian in 1998; Horsley's web site was later ruled to be a threat, and not protected by the First Amendment; candidate for Governor of Georgia, 2010. Died in Carrollton, Carroll County, Ga., April 13, 2015 (age 70 years, 363 days). Cremated.
  Relatives: Son of Otis O'Neal Horsley and Miriam (Adamson) Horsley.
  See also Wikipedia article — Internet Movie Database profile — Find-A-Grave memorial — Encyclopedia of American Loons
  R. Eugene Holley (c.1926-2000) — of Georgia. Born about 1926. Served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean conflict; lawyer; member of Georgia state senate, 1965-77. In 1980, he was convicted of bank fraud and sentenced to ten years in prison (later reduced to three years); served 16 months. Suffered a heart attack, and died soon afterward, in Augusta, Richmond County, Ga., July 19, 2000 (age about 74 years). Interment at Westover Memorial Park, Augusta, Ga.
  Scott Winfield Davis — also known as Scott W. Davis — of Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, Calif. Arrested in 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, and charged with killing David Coffin and setting fire to his home; the charges were later dropped for lack of evidence; Independent candidate for Governor of California, 2003. Still living as of 2003.
  Newt Gingrich (b. 1943) — also known as Newton Leroy McPherson; "Nuclear Newt" — of Carrollton, Carroll County, Ga. Born in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pa., June 17, 1943. Republican. College professor; author; U.S. Representative from Georgia 6th District, 1979-99; defeated, 1974, 1976; Speaker of the U.S. House, 1995-99. Baptist; later Catholic. Reprimanded in 1997 by the House of Representatives, and fined $300,000, over false statements he had made during an investigation of his use of tax-exempt organizations for partisan advocacy. Still living as of 2020.
  Relatives: Son of Newton Searles McPherson and Kathleen (Daugherty) McPherson; married, June 19, 1962, to Jackie Battley; married, August 8, 1981, to Marianne Ginther; married, August 18, 2000, to Callista Louise Bisek; step-father of Robert Gingrich.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — NNDB dossier — Internet Movie Database profile — OurCampaigns candidate detail — Encyclopedia of American Loons
  Books by Newt Gingrich: Winning The Future: A 21st Century Contract with America (2005) — Saving Lives & Saving Money : Transforming Health and Healthcare, with Dana Pavey & Anne Woodbury — To Renew America (1995) — Lessons Learned the Hard Way: A Personal Report (1998) — Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny, with Callista Gingrich & David N. Bossie (2011) — A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters (2011)
  Fiction by Newt Gingrich: Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War, with William R. Forstchen — Grant Comes East, with William R. Forstchen — Never Call Retreat : Lee and Grant: The Final Victory, with William R. Forstchen — 1945, with William R. Forstchen
  Books about Newt Gingrich: Mel Steely, The Gentleman from Georgia : The Biography of Newt Gingrich — Richard B. Cheney & Lynne V. Cheney, Kings Of The Hill : How Nine Powerful Men Changed The Course of American History
  Critical books about Newt Gingrich: David Maraniss & Michael Weisskopf, Tell Newt to Shut Up : Prize-Winning Washington Post Journalists Reveal How Reality Gagged the Gingrich Revolution — John K. Wilson, Newt Gingrich: Capitol Crimes and Misdemeanors
  Mark E. Musselwhite (b. 1966) — of Gainesville, Hall County, Ga. Born March 13, 1966. Republican. Mayor of Gainesville, Ga., 2006; arrested for public indecency in June 2009, when he was found nude and intoxicated at a public camp site in Rabun County, Ga. Still living as of 2009.
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