Background
George Goldthwaite was the son of Thomas and Anne (Wilson) Goldthwaite. He was born on December 10, 1809, in Boston, Massachusets, whither his mother moved after her husband had deserted her and returned to England.
George Goldthwaite was the son of Thomas and Anne (Wilson) Goldthwaite. He was born on December 10, 1809, in Boston, Massachusets, whither his mother moved after her husband had deserted her and returned to England.
George received his preparatory education in the Boston Latin School and at the age of fourteen entered West Point.
During his fourth year there, he and some of his friends were ejected because of persistent hazing. They offered their services to the Greek revolutionists, but instead of going to Greece, Goldthwaite went to Montgomery, Alabama, and began life, according to himself, with five dollars and a “flea-bitten horse. ”
He read law under his older brother, Henry.
Goldthwaite was admitted to the bar at eighteen, and established himself at Monticello, Pike County. After several years of successful practice in this little village, he returned to Montgomery and formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, John A. Campbell.
In 1843, he was elected circuit judge and held this position until 1852 when he was elected justice of the state supreme court. Four years later, he was made chief justice of this court but resigned after thirteen days to accept an unusual legal opportunity as attorney for the huge Cowles estate.
In 1866, he was elected circuit judge again but was disqualified for this office by the Reconstruction acts of Congress in 1868. In 1851, he had been appointed one of the committee of three selected to prepare the code of laws of Alabama which was accepted by the legislature in 1852. After the war, he was again judge of the circuit court in 1868.
Goldthwaite retired at the end of his term because of ill health.
When the national crisis of 1850 came, Goldthwaite opposed secession. Though a large planter - he owned plantations in Texas and in the Mississippi Delta - he was not deeply sympathetic with the institution of slavery.
He represented Alabama in the Nashville Convention and used his influence on behalf of compromise.
Though he remained a conservative down to 1860, he followed Alabama into secession and served it for three years as adjutant-general.
In 1871, he was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate, serving until 1877.
Quotations: “If the assertion of just rights brings disunion, let it come!”
Elected to the United States Senate in 1870 upon the crest of a premature “White man’s movement” in state politics, Goldthwaite gained a reputation for calmness, conservatism, and discreet conduct, which made him an ideal man for Alabama at this critical time.
Goldthwaite was married on November 30, 1835, to Olivia Price Wallach of Washington, D. C. Four sons and two daughters were born to them.
1774 - 6 June 1863
1792 - January 1860
10 April 1802 - 19 October 1847
17 September 1804 - 13 February 1883
14 October 1800 - 22 March 1873
10 February 1810 - 13 July 1878
15 August 1840 - 29 October 1914
21 October 1837 - 16 June 1919
21 August 1836 - 31 October 1892
2 September 1843 - 31 January 1903
3 February 1839 - 11 March 1881
3 November 1841 - 28 January 1902
February 21, 1879 — January 20, 1957
June 28, 1869 - January 29, 1944
July 16, 1913 – March 28, 2000
August 12, 1921 – May 13, 1997
