John J. Pettus

John J. Pettus
Portrait by Alexander Alaux, 1907 (Mississippi Department of Archives and History)
23rd Governor of Mississippi
In office
November 21, 1859 – November 16, 1863
Preceded byWilliam McWillie
Succeeded byCharles Clark
President of the Mississippi Senate
In office
1854–1857
Preceded byJames Whitfield
Succeeded byJames Drane
Governor of Mississippi
Acting
January 5, 1854 – January 10, 1854
Preceded byHenry S. Foote
Succeeded byJohn J. McRae
Member of the Mississippi Senate
from Neshoba and Kemper counties
In office
1848–1857
Preceded byEmanuel Durr
Succeeded byIsaac Enloe
Member of the
Mississippi House of Representatives
from Kemper County
In office
1844–1847
Serving with Lewis Stovall 1844–1845
Preceded byVacant
Succeeded byOswell Neely,
Lumpkin Garrett
Personal details
Born
John Jones Pettus

(1813-10-09)October 9, 1813
Wilson County, Tennessee, United States
DiedJanuary 25, 1867(1867-01-25) (aged 53)
Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States
Cause of deathPneumonia
Resting placeFlat Bayou Cemetery,
Jefferson County, Arkansas
34°21′30.3″N 91°52′09.5″W / 34.358417°N 91.869306°W / 34.358417; -91.869306
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
Permelia Virginia Winston
(m. 1837; died 1857)
Susan Hewell
(m. 1861)
RelationsEdmund Pettus (brother)
Military service
Allegiance Confederate States
Branch Mississippi State Troops
Years of service1864–1865
Rank Colonel
WarsAmerican Civil War

John Jones Pettus (October 9, 1813 – January 25, 1867) was an American politician, lawyer, and slave owner who served as the 23rd Governor of Mississippi, from 1859 to 1863. Before being elected in his own right to full gubernatorial terms in 1859 and 1861, he served as acting governor from January 5 to 10, 1854, following the resignation of Henry S. Foote. A member of the Democratic Party, Pettus had previously been a Mississippi state representative, a member and president of the Mississippi State Senate. He strongly supported Mississippi's secession from the United States in 1861 and sought cooperation with the Confederate States of America.[1]

  1. ^ Garraty, John A.; Carnes, Mark C., eds. (1999). American National Biography. Vol. 17. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 414–415 – via American Council of Learned Societies.