Alexander Hamilton Stephens

Alexander Hamilton Stephens was born near Crawfordville, Georgia, on February 11, 1812. Left orphaned and penniless at age 15, he attended school through the charity of friends and by working. In 1832 he graduated from the University of Georgia. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1834.

• He served in the state legislature from 1836 to 1842 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1843 to 1858.
• Although opposed to secession and differing with Jefferson Davis over states rights and nullification, Stephens served as the Confederacy's vice president.
• At the close of the war, Stephens was arrested and imprisoned for five months at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor.
• Elected to the U.S. Senate upon his release, he was refused a seat because Georgia had not been readmitted to the Union.
• He served again in the House of Representatives from 1873 to 1882.
• Elected governor of Georgia in 1882, he served for four months until his death on March 4, 1883.
• Throughout his life Stephens helped numerous deserving young men secure an education, and he was influential in the affairs of Wesleyan, the first state-chartered female college.