Wood County History

By LOU MALLORY — Chairperson, Wood County Historical Commission

The Town of Quitman   3-18-06

The town of Quitman was named for John Anthony Quitman (1798-1858). He was a U.S. Army officer, a lawyer, and a champion of states’ rights. He was born in Rhinebeck, New York September 1, 1798, the fifth child of Rev. Frederick Henry and Anna Elizabeth (Hueck) Quitman.

He was educated for the Lutheran ministry by his father and private tutors. He attended Hartwick Academy in Otsego County, New York. In 1818 he became an adjunct professor of English at Mount Airy College in Germantown, Pennsylvania.

After finding that he had no vocation for the ministry, Quitman moved west, to Delaware, Ohio, where he studied law and volunteered for the militia. In 1821, he was elected first lieutenant of the Volunteer Rifle Corps and also was admitted to the bar.

He moved to Mississippi and established a law practice in Natchez. December 24, 1824, Quitman married Eliza Turner. The couple had four children, two of whom survived into adulthood.

Quitman’s devotion to the Mississippi Masons helped him establish a network of political connections and, in 1827, he was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. He served in a number of positions before being elected to the state Senate. He became president of the Senate in 1835, and through of quirk of law, served as de facto governor of the state until January, 1836. He ran for the United Sates Congress that year and was defeated.

At the outbreak of the Texas Revolution, Quitman determined to go with a few friends to the “wild woods of Texas, where at least honor and honesty may be appreciated.” He sent a Polish dagger to Sam Houston with a note encouraging him to fight for freedom. Houston responded by urging him to come to Texas with “auxiliary aid.”

Quitman joined Thomas J. Green in recruiting volunteers for Texas, and in April, 1836, he led the “Natchez Fencibles” company on board the steamer Swiss Boy. He and 17 volunteers steamed up the Red River to Natchitoches, Louisiana. They crossed the Sabine at Gaines Ferry and marched to Nacogdoches. He lent aid to citizens who were panicked by rumors of a Mexican and Indian attack. He convinced them that the attack story was a sham and marched his men into southeast Texas. Quitman learned that Houston had defeated the Mexican Army at San Jacinto. When the volunteers reached the Texas troops, Houston offered Quitman the position of second in command of his forces. Quitman declined. He also declined an offer of an appointment as judge advocate in a court-martial of General Santa Anna. Rather, Quitman argued that Santa Anna should be allowed to return to Mexico and Houston came around to this way of thinking.

Shortly after, Quitman returned to Natchez. His campaign to Texas and the aid he had given East Texas refugees had cost him $10,000.

His attention to Texas was renewed in 1844 when he made speeches in favor of annexation of the republic to the United Sates.

Quitman practiced law until 1846, when he was commissioned as a brigadier general of volunteers in the Mexican War. He served with General Zachary Taylor in the northern Mexico campaign of 1846, and with General Winfield Scott in the campaign against Mexico City in 1847. His command was the first to enter the Mexican capital after its surrender and Quitman was appointed civil and military governor of the city.

He was promoted to major general in April 1847. That same year, he received one of just 14 swords every awarded by resolution of Congress “in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of his gallantry and good conduct in storming Monterey.”

Quitman was honorably discharged July 20, 1848, and returned to Washington, where he urged President Polk to occupy Mexico on a permanent basis.

In 1848, Quitman was a strong candidate for the national Democratic vice presidential nomination, which, in the end, he did not receive. In 1849, he was elected governor of Mississippi and from the beginning of his term, favored secession.

He was also an advocate of Cuban liberation from Spain and entertained the revolutionary leader, Narciso Lopez. He declined an offer from Lopez to command the revolutionary army. Subsequently, he was indicted by a federal court for violating U.S. neutrality laws in favor of the insurrectionists. He resigned as governor. When the charge was dropped he ran for Congress and was elected in March, 1855. He was re-elected for a second term and fell ill and died at his plantation, Monmouth, near Natchez, July 17, 1858.