David Hubbard was an American politician and congressman.
Background
He was born near the town of Old Liberty (now Bedford), Bedford County, Virginia, circa 1792. He was the son of Thomas and Margaret Hubbard. His father was a Revolutionary soldier. While his son was still a child he moved his family to Tennessee.
Education
At Tennessee David received his elementary education and entered an academy.
Career
When Andrew Jackson called for volunteers to fight the British at New Orleans he promptly enlisted. Reckless fighting brought him a serious wound in the hip and the rank of major. After the war he studied law briefly in a lawyer's office. In 1819 he appeared in Huntsville, Ala. , as a carpenter but four years later he opened a law office in Florence and was elected solicitor. Though deficient in schooling, he possessed qualities that made him formidable before a pioneer jury. In 1827 he moved to Lawrence County, where he spent the major part of his life in law practice, merchandising, planting, manufacturing, and politics.
He was a successful lawyer and a shrewd businessman. With slave labor he successfully operated several kinds of small manufactories. He was the leading promoter of Alabama's first railroad and a trustee of the state university. From 1823 to 1860 Hubbard was almost constantly in politics. His witty sayings and humorous stories, his bulky form with stooping shoulders and disproportionately long arms, his broad and wen-marked brow, his harsh voice and awkward but vigorous manners made him a long-remembered figure in north Alabama.
He served nine terms in the legislature, two terms in Congress, was three times presidential elector, and represented Alabama in the Southern commercial congress of 1859. He was thrice defeated for Congress and once for governor, his defeats coming when the state-rights feeling was low, though his defense of the poor also contributed to his political reverses. He opposed the compromise measures of 1850 and ten years later warmly espoused secession. He was elected to the Confederate Congress in 1861 and served until 1863, when he was appointed commissioner of Indian affairs. He had been a successful dealer in Chickasaw lands, and under his tactful promptings the Indians were generally detached from the Union cause.
After the war, which ruined him financially, he moved to Springhill, Tenn. , where with the assistance of his former slaves he regained part of his fortune before death overtook him. He died at the home of his son in Pointe Coupée Parish, La. , and was buried from Trinity Church (Episcopal), Rosedale, Iberville Parish, on January 23, 1874.
Achievements
Politics
He was a born politician and a master at stirring up the people, possessing the art and fire of a popular tribune. No debater took him lightly. He was an ultra-state-rights Democrat and classed as a "fire-eater" for his impassioned defense of the South against the protective tariff and abolition. Nevertheless, though a slave-owner and a man of large means, he championed the cause of the poor whites, helping to force upon the planters the "white" basis of representation which enlarged the voting power of the farmer counties in the legislature and advocating a land policy that would enable the poor to possess fertile soil.
Connections
Twice married – first, to Eliza Campbell, daughter of George W. Campbell, secretary of the treasury under Madison; second, to Rebecca Stoddert, daughter of Benjamin Stoddert, secretary of war under John Adams – he was the father of six children.