Alexander McNutt (governor)

Alexander Gallatin McNutt ( born January 3, 1802 in Rockbridge, Rockbridge County, Virginia; † October 22, 1848 in DeSoto County, Mississippi ) was an American politician and 1838-1842 Governor of the State of Mississippi.

Early years and political rise

Alexander McNutt attended Washington College, from which the present-day Washington and Lee University has emerged. After a subsequent law degree, he ran together with a planter named Joel Cameron in Vicksburg a community practice. After Cameron had been murdered in 1833 by one of his slaves, McNutt married his widow. Politically, he was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1835 he was elected to the Senate from Mississippi, 1837, he was president of that body.

Governor of Mississippi

On November 6, 1837 Alexander McNutt was elected governor of his state. He took up his new post on January 8, 1838, and could exercise after a re-election in 1839 until 10 January 1842. During this time, the state prison was completed, and the property rights of women have been improved. Was overshadowed his term of office by the collapse of the Union Bank. This bank had previously issued government bonds to supplement the budget of the State. But the collapse of the bank then led to a national debt of five million dollars. In 1841, the government decided not to repay the bonds. The result was a lawsuit which was inherited from generation to generation and sometimes continues today. McNutt renounced in 1841 on a bid again.

Further CV

In 1847, McNutt applied unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. Senate. A year later, he ran for the office of elector for the presidential elections. During the election campaign, he contracted deadly. He was with Elizabeth Cameron, the widow of his ex-partner in the law firm, married. The couple had no children.