William W. Bibb

William W. Bibb
1st Governor of Alabama
In office December 14, 1819 – July 10, 1820 Territory: March 6, 1817– December 14, 1819
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Thomas Bibb
United States Senator from Georgia
In office November 6, 1813 – November 9, 1816
Preceded by	William B. Bulloch
Succeeded by	George Troup
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's at-large district
In office January 26, 1807 – November 6, 1813
Preceded by	Thomas Spalding
Succeeded by	Alfred Cuthbert
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from Elbert County
In office 1803–1805
Personal details
Born	William Wyatt Bibb (1781-10-02)October 2, 1781 Amelia County, Virginia
Died	July 10, 1820(1820-07-10) (aged 38) Elmore County, Alabama
Resting place	Bibb Family Cemetery, Coosada, Alabama
Political party	Democratic-Republican
Spouse	Mary Freeman
Alma mater	College of William & Mary University of Pennsylvania
Profession	Physician
Signature

William Wyatt Bibb (October 2, 1781 – July 10, 1820) was a United States Senator from Georgia, the first governor of the Alabama Territory, and the first Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama. Bibb was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party and served as governor of Alabama until his death on July 10, 1820, from a horse riding accident. He is the first of only three people in U.S. history to be elected a U.S. Senator from one state and the governor of another. Bibb County, Alabama, and Bibb County, Georgia, are named for him.

Early life

William Wyatt Bibb was born on October 2, 1781, in Amelia County, Virginia, to Captain William Bibb, an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and a member of the state legislature, the General Assembly of the newly independent Commonwealth of Virginia, and his wife, Sally (Wyatt) Bibb.

Around 1784, Bibb Sr. moved with his family south to Georgia with a large number of Virginians who accompanied General George Mathews, hero of the Battle of Brandywine in southeastern Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia, during the American Revolutionary War. Most of the general's followers were also veterans and, with their families, took advantage of the new nation's offer of land bounties in lieu of pay for former soldiers and officers. They established tobacco farms on the rich lands around the confluence of the Broad and Savannah Rivers in newly developing frontier of northeastern Georgia. The Bibbs are recorded as one of the earliest pioneer families in Elbert County.

Bibb was probably privately educated before he went to the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He was awarded a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in 1801, returned to Georgia, and began to practice medicine in Petersburg. In 1803, he married Mary Freeman.

Early political career

Bibb was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1802 as a member at the age of 21. He took office in 1803 and served one two-year term. In 1806 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democratic-Republican to the lower chamber in the Ninth session of the United States Congress to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Thomas Spalding (1754-1851), of Georgia], and was re-elected four times, serving until November 6, 1813.

As was then the federal constitutional practice in that 19th century era, he was elected at that time by the Georgia General Assembly (state legislature) to the U.S. Senate at the United States Capitol in the federal city of Washington, D.C. to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of William H. Crawford (1772-1834), who had served in several federal high offices and was a nationally known presidential candidate. Bibb served until November 9, 1816.

As a Senator in 1816, Bibb opposed the first attempt to abolish the Electoral College in the United States Constitution of 1787-1789, and directly elect the president by popular vote, speaking very forthrightly about the advantages that the then slave states derived from the Electoral College system. He stated on the Senate floor that with a nationwide popular vote, these Southern states "would lose the privilege the Constitution now allows them, of votes upon three-fifths of their population other than freemen. It would be deeply injurious to them."

Governor of Alabama (territory / state)

Fifth President of the United States James Monroe (1758-1831, served 1817-1825) in Washington, D.C., appointed Bibb as the first governor of the newly formed Alabama Territory (in the eastern half from the larger previous Mississippi Territory, 1798-1817) in 1817. Two and a half years later, the Territory of Alabama became the 22nd state admitted to the federal Union on December 14, 1819.

Bibb's primary duties were establishing first the brief federal territorial administration, then subsequently the state government. Huntsville was designated to be the site of the constitutional convention. Bibb was elected first governor of the new state by defeating Marmaduke Williams and receiving 8,342 votes to Williams's 7,140 votes. The state capital was chosen to be the newly created town of Cahawba in 1820 on the Alabama frontier but moved to Tuscaloosa six years later in 1826 and finally after another two decades to the more central city of Montgomery in 1846.

During Bibb's tenure, the Alabama state militia was established, and the beginnings of the state judicial system, along with the organization of and judicial appointments to the Supreme Court of Alabama, were accomplished.

Henry Hitchcock was elected the first Attorney General of Alabama and initially held the position of Secretary of State of Alabama as well. However, shortly afterward, Thomas A. Rodgers was elected as the second Secretary of State of Alabama. The first session of the Alabama state legislature was held from October 25, 1819, to December 17, 1819. William R. King and John W. Walker were chosen as the state's first U.S. Senators.

To date, Bibb is one of only three individuals to have served as governor of a state and as a U.S. senator from a different state. The others are Sam Houston, who (among his other political offices) served as the sixth Governor of Tennessee and a U.S. senator from Texas (a state, like Alabama, which also had not existed when he held his governorship), and two and half centuries later with Mitt Romney, who served as the 70th Governor of Massachusetts and a U.S. senator from Utah.

Death

At the young age of 38, Bibb was thrown from his horse during a violent thunderstorm, and died from the internal injuries suffered on July 10, 1820. His brother, Thomas Bibb (1783-1839), was president of the legislature's upper chamber of the Alabama State Senate and later succeeded him and filled out his term as the second governor.

William Bibb is buried in Coosada, Alabama. Because he was the federal territory's only chief executive and following first elected state governor, his likeness appears on the Alabama Centennial half dollar commemorative coin issued by the United States Mint in 1921.

See also

• Thomas Bibb - William's brother

External links

• William Wyatt Bibb's An inquiry into the modus operandi of medicines upon the human body (Philadelphia, 1801).
• Alabama Department of Archives and History Archived 2011-12-08 at the Wayback Machine

• United States Congress. "William W. Bibb (id: B000434)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Political Graveyard
• Image of "Voucher for the salary to be paid to Governor William Wyatt Bibb" Archived 2021-08-03 at the Wayback Machine
• Library of Congress - Letter from "William Wyatt Bibb to Andrew Jackson, October 1, 1818"