John Forsyth Jr. (October 31, 1812 – May 2, 1877) was an American newspaper editor of the ''

Mobile Register The ''Press-Register'' (known from 1997 to 2006 as the ''Mobile Register'') was a newspaper serving the southwest Alabama counties of Mobile and Baldwin. The newspaper is a descendant of one founded in 1813, making the ''Press-Register'' Alaba ...

'' and the son of politician John Forsyth.

Biography

Born in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

, he attended the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

where he was a member of the

Phi Kappa Literary Society The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a College literary societies (American), college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and is one of the few active literary societies left in America. Originally founded in ...

. Forsyth graduated from Princeton in 1832. In 1834, Forsyth married Margaret Hull, the daughter of Latham Hull of Augusta, GA. Their son Charles, born in Mobile, Alabama, would go on to serve as a colonel in the Confederate Army. Forsyth was for many years one of the foremost Democratic Party editors of the south. He was Adjutant of the First Georgia Regiment in the Mexican War. In 1856 he was appointed Minister to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, but in 1858 demanded his passports and withdrew from the legation. He went on to become the Mayor of Mobile, Alabama in 1860. By 1863, he served as Chief of Staff in the Confederate Army of Tennessee. In 1861, with Martin J. Crawford of Georgia, he represented the

Confederate States The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States from 1861 to 1865. It comprised eleven U.S. states th ...

as commissioner to the National government, but his request for an unofficial interview with

William Henry Seward William Henry Seward (; May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States senator. A determined opp ...

was declined. He left for

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 ...

after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and engaged in journalistic work until health problems compelled him to retire. He died in Mobile on May 2, 1877. The ''Mobile Register'' of May 5, 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.

References

*Burnett, Lonnie.
The pen makes a good sword : John Forsyth of the Mobile register
' (University of Alabama Press, 2006) *Shadburn, Don L. ''Pioneer History of Forsyth County Georgia: 1832-1860, Vol. I''. (Pioneer-Cherokee Heritage Series, 1981) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forsyth, John Jr. 1812 births 19th-century American newspaper editors 1877 deaths People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War Ambassadors of the United States to Mexico 19th-century American diplomats American male journalists 19th-century American male writers Meigs family