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| You are in: Museum of History >> Hall of North and South Americans >> John Forsyth | |
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FORSYTH, John, statesman, born in Frederick County, Virginia, 22 October 1780; died in Washington, D. C., 21 October 1841. His father was an Englishman, but fought in the American army in the Revolution. John removed to Georgia with his family when he was four years old. He was graduated at Princeton in 1799, studied law, and was admitted to the bar at Augusta, Georgia, in 1802. He was elected attorney general in 1808, and was afterward chosen to congress as a Democrat, serving from 1813 till 1818, when he became U. S. senator.
He resigned in 1819, having been appointed minister to Spain, and conducted the negotiations which resulted in the cession of Florida to the United States. He served in congress again from 1823 till 1827, when he was elected governor of Georgia, and in 1829 was again chosen U. S. senator in place of J. M. Berrien, who had resigned. He opposed nullification, voted for Henry Clay's compromise act of 1833, and supported Jackson in the debate regarding the removal of deposits from the U. S. bank. He was a delegate to the anti-tariff convention at Milledgeville, Georgia, in 1832, but withdrew on the ground that it did not fairly represent the people of Georgia,. He resigned his senator ship on 27 June 1834, to become secretary of state under President Jackson, and continued to serve under Van Buren till 3 March 1841.
John Forsyth Sr. and his wife had 8 children: Julia (1802), Mary (1807), Clara (1810), John Jr. (1812), Virginia (1818), Rosa and Anna, twins (1823), and Robert (1826): Reference: Alvin Leroy Duckett, John Forsyth, Political Tactician (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1962, page 6.)
His son, John Forsyth, editor, born in Augusta, Georgia on October 31, 1812;
died in Mobile, Ala., 2 May 1877, was for many years one of the foremost
Democratic editors of the south. In 1856 he was appointed minister to Mexico,
but in 1858 demanded his passports, and withdrew from the legation. In 1861,
with Marshall J. Crawford, of Georgia, he represented the Confederate states as
commissioner to the National government, but his request for all unofficial
interview with Sec. Seward was declined. He
removed to Mobile after the civil war and engaged in journalistic work until
feeble health compelled him to retire. The Mobile Register of the on May
5th, 1877 (its columns draped in black) printed a lengthy obituary; "a large
congregation of Mobile citizens were assembled to testify by their presence,
their love and respect for the honored dead." A funeral cortege traveled to
Magnolia Cemetery where
the final interment took place.
Edited by John I. Sellers
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FORSYTH, John, statesman, born in Frederick County, Virginia, 22 October 1780; died in Washington, D. C., 21 October 1841. His father was an Englishman, but fought in the American army in the Revolution. John removed to Georgia with his family when he was four years old. He was graduated at Princeton in 1799, studied law, and was admitted to the bar at Augusta, Georgia, in 1802. He was elected attorney general in 1808, and was afterward chosen to congress as a Democrat, serving from 1813 till 1818, when he became U. S. senator. He resigned in 1819, having been appointed minister to Spain, and conducted the negotiations which resulted in the cession of Florida to the United States. He served in congress again from 1823 till 1827, when he was elected governor of Georgia, and in 1829 was again chosen U. S. senator in place of J. M. Berrien, who had resigned. He opposed nullification, voted for Henry Clay's compromise act of 1833, and supported Jackson in the debate regarding the removal of deposits from the U. S. bank. He was a delegate to the anti-tariff convention at Milledgeville, Georgia, in 1832, but withdrew on the ground that it did not fairly represent the people of Georgia,. He resigned his senator ship on 27 June 1834, to become secretary of state under President Jackson, and continued to serve under Van Buren till 3 March 1841.
His son, John Forsyth, editor, born in Georgia in 1813; died in Mobile, Ala., 2 May 1879, was for many years one of the foremost Democratic editors of the south. In 1.856 he was appointed minister to Mexico, but in 1858 demanded his passports, and withdrew from the legation. In 1861, with Marshall J. Crawford, of Georgia, he represented the Confederate states as commissioner to the National government, but his request for all unofficial interview with Sec. Seward was declined. He removed to Mobile after the civil war and engaged in journalistic work until feeble health compelled him to retire.