Walter Terry Colquitt (December 27, 1799May 7, 1855) was a lawyer, circuit-riding

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

preacher, and politician. Born in Virginia, he later moved with his family to Georgia, where he grew up. He graduated from

Princeton College Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

, "read the law", and passed the bar. Later he was elected as

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, and then by the Georgia state legislature as

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

from the state.

Life and career

Born in 1799 in Monroe,

Halifax County, Virginia Halifax County is a county (United States), county located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 34,022. Its county seat is Halifax, Virginia, Halifax. ...

, Colquitt moved as a child with his parents to

Mount Zion Mount Zion (, ''Har Ṣīyyōn''; , ''Jabal Sahyoun'') is a hill in Jerusalem, located just outside the walls of the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City to the south. The term Mount Zion has been used in the Hebrew Bible first for the City of David ( ...

Carroll County, Georgia Carroll County is a county in the West Central region of the State of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, its population was 119,148.US 2020 Census Bureau report, Carroll County, Georgia Its county seat is the city of Carrollton. Carroll County ...

. He attended

and studied law, gaining admission to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1820 at the age of 21. He began his law practice that year in

Sparta, Georgia Sparta is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Georgia, Hancock County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city's population was 1,357 at the 2020 census. History Sparta was founded in 1795 in the newly formed Hancock ...

. Later that year, Colquitt was commissioned as a brigadier general of the state

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

, also at the age of 21. Colquitt moved to the village of

Cowpens Cowpens may refer to: * Battle of Cowpens, a battle in the American Revolution * Cowpens National Battlefield, a unit of the National Park Service that protects the battlefield. * Cowpens, South Carolina * USS Cowpens (CG-63), USS ''Cowpens'' (CG-63 ...

in Walton County, where he practiced law. He was elected judge of the Chattahoochee circuit in 1826, and was re-elected three years later. He was licensed as a Methodist preacher in 1827, and practiced as a circuit-riding preacher. He became extremely popular in central and south Georgia, mostly for his strong support of

states' rights In United States, American politics of the United States, political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments of the United States, state governments rather than the federal government of the United States, ...

at a time when the state tried to deal directly with the Native American tribes who occupied extensive territory there. The state was trying to force them to cede land for the benefit of white settlers, but only the federal government was authorized constitutionally to make treaties with the Native Americans and deal with them officially. Colquitt was said to be able to make a stump speech, try a court case and plead another at the bar, christen a child, preach a sermon, and marry a couple - all before dinner. He was elected as a member of the

Georgia Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The Georgia State Senate and the lower house of the General Assembly, the Georgia House of Representatives, comprise the bicameral leg ...

in 1834 and 1837. In 1838, after Indian Removal had been underway for several years in Georgia and the Southeast by the federal government, Colquitt was elected as a Whig to the

Twenty-sixth Congress The 26th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 183 ...

, serving from March 4, 1839, to July 21, 1840, when he resigned. He changed parties, affiliating with the Democratic Party. He was elected as a Van Buren Democrat to the

Twenty-seventh Congress The 27th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., between March 4, ...

. Newly available seats were open in the election, due to the resignations of Julius C. Alford,

William Crosby Dawson William Crosby Dawson (January 4, 1798May 5, 1856) was a lawyer, judge, politician, and soldier from Georgia. Early life, education and legal career Dawson was born in Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia, January 4, 1798. His parents were Geor ...

, and Eugenius A. Nisbet.

Marriages and family

Colquitt married Nancy Holt after setting up his law practice. Their children included sons

Alfred Holt Colquitt Alfred Holt Colquitt (April 20, 1824March 26, 1894) was an American lawyer, preacher, soldier, and politician. Elected as the 49th Governor of Georgia (1877–1882), he was one of numerous Democrats elected to office as white conservatives too ...

and Peyton H. Colquitt (1831-1863). Following the death of his first wife, Colquitt married widow Alphea B. (Todd) Fauntleroy in 1841. She died that year, and he married Harriet W. Ross the following year, in 1842.

National office

In 1842 the Georgia state legislature elected Colquitt as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

; he served from March 4, 1843, until his resignation in February 1848. While in the Twenty-ninth Congress, Colquitt was chairman of the Committee on the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

and the Committee on Patents and Patent Office. He supported the

Polk DNA polymerase kappa is a DNA polymerase that in humans is encoded by the ''POLK'' gene. It is involved in translesion synthesis DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell (biology), cell identifies and corrects damage to the ...

administration in the controversy relative to the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...

, and was a prominent opponent of the

Wilmot Proviso The Wilmot Proviso was an unsuccessful 1846 proposal in the United States Congress to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War. The conflict over the Wilmot Proviso was one of the major events leading to the ...

throughout the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

Later years

Colquitt retired from national politics in 1848 to resume his law practice and preaching. He was a member of the

Nashville Convention {{Events leading to US Civil War The Nashville Convention was a political meeting held in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 3–11, 1850. Delegates from nine slave states met to consider secession, if the United States Congress decided to ban slavery ...

in 1850, arguing for

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

was restricted in any of the new territories then being added to the country. Colquitt died in 1855 during a trip from

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

. He was buried in Linwood Cemetery in Columbus, Georgia, where he had been residing.

Legacy and honors

Colquitt County, Georgia Colquitt County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 45,898. The county seat is Moultrie, Georgia, Moultrie. The county was ...

is named in memory of Walter T. Colquitt, as was the town of

Colquitt, Georgia Colquitt is a city and the county seat of Miller County, in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 2,001 at the 2020 census. Colquitt has been the county seat of Miller County since Miller County was incorpora ...

. His son,

(1824-1894), son of his first wife Nancy (Holt Colquitt, also became a politician, being elected as a U.S. Representative and Senator from Georgia. He served as a general in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

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 ...

. His second son, Peyton H. Colquitt (1831-1863), also served as a Confederate officer; the colonel was mortally wounded in the

Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 18–20, 1863, between the United States Army and Confederate States Army, Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a U.S. Army offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign, in southe ...

and died two days later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colquitt, Walter T. 1799 births 1855 deaths People from Halifax County, Virginia People from Carroll County, Georgia People from Walton County, Georgia Methodists from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) Whigs Colquitt, Walter Terry Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges Princeton University alumni Democratic Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state) Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Hancock County, Georgia 19th-century Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges United States senators who owned slaves Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly