Benjamin Fitzpatrick

Infobox Senator
name=Benjamin Fitzpatrick

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jr/sr=United States Senator
state=Alabama
party=Democrat
term=November 25, 1848ndash November 30, 1849
January 14, 1853ndash March 3, 1855
November 26, 1855ndash January 21, 1861
preceded=Dixon H. Lewis
William R. King
Benjamin Fitzpatrick
succeeded=Jeremiah Clemens
Benjamin Fitzpatrick
George E. Spencer
date of birth=birth date|1802|6|30|mf=y
place of birth=Greene County, Georgia, U.S.
date of death=death date and age|1869|11|21|1802|6|30
place of death=Wetumpka, Alabama, U.S.
spouse=
profession=Politician, Lawyer

Benjamin Fitzpatrick (June 30, 1802ndash November 21, 1869) was an American politician, who served as Governor of Alabama and as United States Senator from Alabama as a Democrat.

Born in Greene County, Georgia, Fitzpatrick was orphaned and was taken by his sister (Celia Fitzpatrick Baldwin) to Alabama in 1815.

Fitzpatrick studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1821, commencing practice in Montgomery, Alabama. Fitzpatrick served as solicitor of the Montgomery circuit from 1822 to 1823, but moved to his plantation in Autauga County in 1829 and engaged in planting.

Fitzpatrick became Governor of Alabama in 1841, serving until 1845, and was appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dixon H. Lewis and served from November 25, 1848, to November 30 1849, when a successor was elected.

He was again appointed and subsequently elected to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William R. King (who had been elected Vice President of the United States) and served from January 14, 1853 to March 3, 1855. He served in this Congress as Chairman of the Committee on Printing and the Committee on Engrossed Bills. He was elected to the Senate again to fill the vacancy caused by the failure of the legislature to elect his own successor on November 26, 1855. In this role he served several times as President pro tempore of the Senate.

In 1860, Fitzpatrick was nominated for vice president of the United States by the wing of the Democratic Party that had nominated Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois for President, but refused the nomination, and ultimately Herschel V. Johnson of Georgia was nominated in his stead. Fitzpatrick withdrew from the Senate on January 21, 1861, following the secession of his home state.

Fitzpatrick did not take a particularly active role in the politics of the Confederacy, but did serve as president of the constitutional convention of Alabama in 1865. He died on his plantation near Wetumpka, Alabama, on November 21, 1869, aged 67.

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6432299 Benjamin Fitzpatrick] at Find A Grave

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=President pro tempore of the United States Senate
before=Thomas J. Rusk
years=December 7, 1857ndash February 26, 1860
after=Jesse D. Brightsuccession box
title=President pro tempore of the United States Senate
before=Jesse D. Bright
years=June 26, 1860ndash December 2, 1860
after=Solomon Foot