Andrew J. Applegate (October 14, 1833 – August 21, 1870) was a lawyer, officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and served as the first Lieutenant Governor of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

during

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

. A Republican, Applegate served with Governor William H. Smith of the same political party, from 1868 to 1870.

Early life

A son of Benjamin and Rebecca Applegate, he grew up on a farm near Georgetown,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. His father's family had emigrated from

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

, settling in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and then

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, until finally moving to Ohio. Applegate was educated within the public schools at Georgetown, where he later studied and practiced

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Civil War

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Applegate enlisted for one year on July 9, 1861, as a

wagon A wagon (or waggon) is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by Working animal#Draft animals, draft animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are i ...

er in the Fourth Independent Company, Ohio Cavalry, but soon became its

quartermaster sergeant Quartermaster sergeant (QMS) is a class of rank or appointment in some armed forces, especially those of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, and formerly also in the United States. Ireland Quartermaster sergeant () a ...

. In March 1865, he was commissioned

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of Company H,

189th Ohio Infantry The 189th Ohio Infantry Regiment, sometimes 189th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (or 189th OVI) was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 189th Ohio Infantry was organized at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio, and ...

. Too late to see combat action, his regiment was sent to Alabama to serve on occupation duty.

Post-war career

After his discharge, Applegate returned home to Ohio and brought his family to

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

where he opened a law practice. In 1867, he was elected on a "Republican Union" ticket with Lafayette Robinson and Columbus Jones to serve as delegates to the Constitutional Convention to frame a new State

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. Republicans supported African American voting and civil rights and were referred to as

Radical Republican The Radical Republicans were a political faction within the Republican Party originating from the party's founding in 1854—some six years before the Civil War—until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reconstruction. They ca ...

s. In the election under that constitution, Applegate was Alabama's first and only elected lieutenant governor on August 13, 1868. He moved to

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

and served Alabama two years as lieutenant governor. He died of mysterious causes in Chattanooga two years later.

References

Lieutenant governors of Alabama 1833 births 1870 deaths People from Georgetown, Ohio Politicians from Huntsville, Alabama Quartermasters Alabama Republicans Union army officers American politicians of Dutch descent People of Ohio in the American Civil War Radical Republican Party politicians 19th-century Alabama politicians Military personnel from Huntsville, Alabama Lawyers from Huntsville, Alabama 19th-century American lawyers {{alabama-politician-stub