John Purifoy (March 21, 1842 – July 17, 1927) was a politician from

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 ...

. He served as

secretary of state of Alabama A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

from 1915 to 1919,

Alabama state treasurer The Alabama state treasurer acts as the head banker for the State of Alabama, handling deposits, withdrawals, redemptions of state warrants and investments of state funds. The position was created in 1819 when Alabama became a state. Its consti ...

1911 to 1915 and state auditor of Alabama from 1892 to 1896. He was born on March 21, 1842. He went to Tennessee University where he left in April 1861 to join the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

. Following the end of 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 ...

, he was a schoolteacher for several years and engaged in farming. Purifoy was elected Probate Judge of

Wilcox County, Alabama Wilcox County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,600. Its county seat is Camden. History Wilcox County was established on December 13, 1819. The county was named after Joseph M. Wilcox, a ...

in 1880 and, ten years later, was elected to the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

. In 1915, during his time as secretary of state of Alabama, the

considered impeaching Purifoy over allegations that he paid an opponent in his 1914 election to withdraw from the Democratic Party

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

. The House, however, rejected impeachment. His son James L. Purifoy died in 1939.

References

Additional sources

alabama.gov
1842 births 1927 deaths Alabama Democrats Secretaries of state of Alabama State treasurers of Alabama State auditors of Alabama 20th-century Alabama politicians {{Alabama-politician-stub