Background
Alfred Holt Colquitt was born on April 20, 1824 in Monroe, Georgia, United States. He was the eldest son of Walter T. Colquitt and Nancy (Lane) Colquitt.
military politician Soldier statesman
Alfred Holt Colquitt was born on April 20, 1824 in Monroe, Georgia, United States. He was the eldest son of Walter T. Colquitt and Nancy (Lane) Colquitt.
Colquitt graduated from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1844, studied law, and was admitted to the bar.
On the outbreak of the Mexican War Colquitt entered the army and served throughout as a staff officer with the rank of major. Returning to Georgia at the conclusion of the war he settled in Macon and entered upon the practise of his profession.
Like many another Georgian of the Antebellum period, Colquitt was at once lawyer, politician, and farmer. His father, Senator Walter T. Colquitt, had just finished his political career with an effort to bring about secession in connection with the struggle over the compromise measures of 1850. The father was always an extreme pro-Southern Democrat and the son took the same position. With a reputation already established as a brilliant orator, he entered politics in 1853 as a Democratic candidate for Congress from the 2nd District, opposing the incumbent, James Johnson, who was a Unionist. Colquitt defeated Johnson easily and took his seat in the thirty-third Congress. During his term in Congress Colquitt made one set speech, on the Kansas situation, in which he presented a historical account of the long struggle over the extension of slavery. On account of his wife’s poor health he did not offer himself for reelection.
In 1859 he was again in the political arena as a member of the Georgia legislature. He became an elector on the Breckinridge and Lane ticket in the presidential campaign of 1860. When the war broke he immediately entered the Confederate army as a captain of infantry. He developed considerable military ability and was promoted to colonel, then to brigadier-general, and finally to the rank of major-general.
On the return of peace Colquitt resumed his vocations of law and farming. He continued active in state politics, serving as president of the Democratic state convention in 1870. In 1876 he received the Democratic nomination for governor and was elected by the greatest majority ever given a gubernatorial candidate up to that time. Colquitt made many enemies during his incumbency of the governorship. Few public officials have been subjected to more scandalous misrepresentation. Largely for the purpose of obtaining public vindication of his policies, he again became a candidate for the governorship in 1880. The ensuing campaign is memorable in Georgia history for its rancor. The public excitement was much heightened by an incident that occurred in May 1880. General John B. Gordon suddenly resigned from the United States Senate and immediately Colquitt appointed ex-Governor Joseph E. Brown, who at that time was held in general detestation by thousands of Georgians. The cry of bargain and corruption was raised. The allegation was that General Gordon resigned in return for a promise of the presidency of the state-owned Western & Atlantic Railroad, then under the control of Brown, and that Colquitt won ex-Governor Brown’s political support by appointing the latter as senator. These charges seem to have been groundless. After a hard fight in the Democratic state convention, Colquitt secured the nomination and was later elected.
On the expiration of his second term (1882) he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of United States Senator Benjamin H. Hill, who died in office, and he served from 1883 to his death in 1894.
Colquitt was a member of the Democratic Party. He was a bitter opponent of the congressional Reconstruction policies and of ex-Governor Joseph E. Brown.
In 1870 Colquitt was elected president of the state of Georgia agricultural society.
Colquitt was a licensed Methodist preacher. He was an early champion of temperance, and took keen interest in all religious and moral issues. He was president at one time of the International Sunday School convention.
Colquitt was married in May 1848 to Dorothy Tarver, daughter of Hartwell Tarver, his father’s step-brother. She died in 1855 and he then married Sarah, the widow of Fred Tarver. The first Mrs. Colquitt received from her father a plantation in Baker County. The Colquitts removed there and Alfred H. Colquitt was identified with Baker County throughout his life.