Pettus, John Jones, 1813-1867

John Jones Pettus was Mississippi's governor during the first three years of the Civil War. Born in Wilson County, Tennessee, on October 9, 1813, Pettus moved to Limestone County, Alabama, as a child. In 1835, he moved to Mississippi and eventually began a law practice in Scooba, Mississippi. He married Permelia Winston in the 1840s. She passed away in 1857, and in 1861 Pettus married Susan Hewell.

Pettus began pursuing a political career in the mid-1840s, first serving as a state representative for Kemper County. He won a state Senate election in 1848 and by 1853 had risen to president of the Mississippi Senate. Then, in January 1854, Governor Henry S. Foote resigned in protest before Governor-elect John J. McRae was inaugurated. Pettus’ position in the Senate placed him next in line to fill the governor’s vacancy, and he was sworn in as Mississippi’s interim executive on January 7, 1854. He served in that role for only three days, before McRae was inaugurated on January 10.

Pettus won the governor’s election in 1859. By that time, he had become a notable secessionist. He advocated for the creation of an independent Confederacy dedicated to preserving slavery. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, Pettus called forth a special legislative session in Mississippi and pressed state representatives to hold a secession convention. His efforts succeeded, as such convention assembled in January 1861 and voted in support of secession, declaring the State of Mississippi out of the Union. Pettus won reelection for governor in 1861 and served until his term ended in 1863. Mississippi’s Constitution had a two-term limit for the governor’s office, leaving Pettus unable to run again. He took a commission as a colonel in the Mississippi State Troops and served until the end of the war. Shortly thereafter, Pettus moved to Arkansas. He applied for a presidential pardon according to President Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction policies, but was denied three times. Pettus died of pneumonia on January 25, 1867. He is buried in Flat Bayou Cemetery, Jefferson County, Arkansas. (Wikipedia; FindaGrave)