Historical marker tells of famous Alabama lawyer, general and politician

Edmund Winston Pettus House Site in Selma, Ala.

This week’s featured historical marker is the “EDMUND WINSTON PETTUS HOUSE SITE” marker in Selma, Alabama. The marker is located on Alabama, up the street from the Vaughan Smitherman Museum.

This marker was erected by the Alabama Historical Association in 1972. There’s text on both sides of this marker, but both sides are identical. What follows is the complete text from the marker.

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“EDMUND WINSTON PETTUS HOUSE SITE: Edmund Winston Pettus, lawyer, General C.S.A., U.S. Senator, was born Limestone County, Alabama, 1821. Admitted to bar, 1842. Moved to Cahaba, 1858. Major, C.S.A., 1861. Brigadier General, 1863. U.S. Senator, 1897-1907. Resided here from 1866 until death, 1907. When in Senate, with John T. Morgan, Selma was home of both U.S. Senators from Alabama.”

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Pettus was an interesting man. According to the Encyclopedia of Alabama, he was the last Confederate brigadier general from Alabama to serve in the U.S. Senate and he was an influential leader in the state Democratic Party. However, he didn’t hold public office until he was 75 years old.

The youngest of nine children, he was born in 1821 and was admitted to the bar in 1842. He and his wife, Mary Lucinda Chapman, had three sons and two daughters. He served two years as a lieutenant in the Mexican War and then traveled to California on horseback during the famous California Gold Rush. He returned to Alabama two years later.

He settled in Carrollton, Ala. in 1851 and moved to Cahaba in 1858. He was living there at the start of the Civil War, and during this time, his brother, John J. Pettus, was governor of Mississippi. In 1861, he became a major in the 20th Alabama Infantry and he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1862.

He eventually rose to the rank of colonel and was promoted to brigadier general in 1863, which put him in charge of the 20th, 23rd, 30th, 31st and 46th Alabama regiments. He served in a number of battles during the war and was wounded a few days before General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox. He eventually recovered and began practicing law in Selma, not far from Cahaba.

He ran for the U.S. Senate at the age of 75 and beat incumbent James L. Pugh. He served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee supported the Gold Standard Act of 1900. Morgan, who was also from Selma, was 82 at the time. Pettus was eventually succeeded by Joseph F. Johnston, and Morgan was succeeded by John Hollis Bankhead. During a vacation to Hot Springs, N.C., Pettus had a stroke and died two days later on July 27, 1907. He’s buried in Live Oak Cemetery in Selma. One of Selma’s most famous landmarks, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, was named in his honor.

In the end, visit this site next Wednesday to learn about another historical marker. I’m also taking suggestions from the reading audience, so if you know of an interesting historical marker that you’d like me to feature, let me know in the comments section below.