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74-484: Stephens County is the name of three counties in the United States of America: Stephens County, Georgia Stephens County, Oklahoma Stephens County, Texas See also [ edit ] Stevens County (disambiguation) [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with

148-699: A Constitutional Unionist. He vigorously opposed the dismantling of the Constitutional Union Party when it began crumbling in 1851. Political realities soon forced the Union Democrats in the party to affiliate once more with the national party, and, by mid-1852, the combination of both Democrats and Whigs, which had formed a party behind the Compromise, had ended. The sectional issue surged to the forefront again in 1854, when Senator Stephen A. Douglas from Illinois moved to organize

222-458: A Democrat from the 8th District to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Ambrose R. Wright . He was re-elected to the 8th District as an Independent Democrat in 1874, 1876 and 1878, and as a Democrat again in 1880. He described himself, on the title page of the 1876 edition of his Compendium , as "Professor Elect of History and Political Science at the University of Georgia." He served in

296-655: A U.S. history in 1868–1870, laying out the Lost Cause of the Confederacy in his view: that secession was legal, and that Northern States were the aggressors in this conflict. The thrust of his legal argument was rejected by the Supreme Court in the 1869 case Texas v. White , ruling secession to be unconstitutional. In 1873, Stephens was elected to the United States House of Representatives as

370-523: A block of resolutions aimed at securing peace. From then until the end of the war, as he continued to press for actions aimed at bringing about peace, his relations with Davis, never warm to begin with, turned completely sour. On February 3, 1865, Stephens was one of three Confederate commissioners who met with Lincoln on the steamer River Queen at the Hampton Roads Conference , a fruitless effort to discuss measures to bring an end to

444-496: A former slave, a gate fell on Stephens while he and another black servant were repairing it, "and he was crippled and lamed up from that time on till he died." The veracity of this rumor is difficult to determine as the cited ex-slave was not present when this happened. While returning from a trip to Savannah in February, his already poor health further deteriorated from exposure to the elements. His last official act as governor

518-542: A historic marker on Highway 123 at the Georgia-South Carolina border helps mark this spot. On November 6, 1977, the earthen Kelly Barnes Dam collapsed after a period of heavy rainfall. The resulting flood swept through the campus of Toccoa Falls College, killing 39 people and causing $ 2.8 million in damage. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 184 square miles (480 km ), of which 179 square miles (460 km )

592-655: A large reservoir would be created, known as Lake Hartwell . Prior to the flooding of this area by Lake Hartwell, produced behind the Hartwell Dam on the Savannah River, archeological studies were conducted in 1958 of known prehistoric and historic sites in the area. Among them, the Tugaloo Mound and village site by a team from the University of Georgia . The mound is still visible above the water, and

666-522: A reputation as a capable defender of the wrongfully accused. None of his clients charged with capital crimes were executed. As his wealth increased, Stephens began acquiring land and slaves . By the time of the Civil War, Stephens owned 34 slaves and several thousand acres. He entered politics in 1836 and was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives , serving there until 1841. In 1842, he

740-585: A reservoir on the river after the construction of Hartwell Dam on the Savannah, completed in 1962. The southern half of the county is located in the Broad River sub-basin of the same Savannah River basin. As of the 2020 United States Census , there were 26,784 people, 9,543 households, and 6,783 families residing in the county. As of the 2010 United States Census , there were 26,175 people, 10,289 households, and 7,236 families residing in

814-627: A state under the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution (which was overwhelmingly rejected by voters in a referendum in that state). Stephens declined to seek re-election in 1858 but continued to publicly advocate against secession. After Georgia and other Southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America, Stephens was elected as the Confederate Vice President. Stephens's Cornerstone Speech of March 1861 defended slavery ; enumerated contrasts between

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888-516: A vote. He later called this "the greatest glory of my life." From this point on, Stephens voted with the Democrats. Until after 1855, Stephens could not be properly called a Democrat, and even then, he never officially declared it. In this move, Stephens broke irrevocably with many of his former Whig colleagues. When the Whig Party disintegrated after the election of 1852, some Whigs flocked to

962-742: Is a county in the Northeast region of the U.S. state of Georgia , in the Piedmont and near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains . It is bounded by the Tugaloo River and Lake Hartwell on the east. As of the 2020 census , the population was 26,784. The county seat is Toccoa . Stephens County comprises the Toccoa, Georgia Micropolitan Statistical Area . The county was long inhabited by indigenous peoples. People of

1036-490: Is a radio station broadcasting from Toccoa. It went on the air in 1956. Alexander Stephens Alexander Hamilton Stephens (February 11, 1812 – March 4, 1883) was an American politician who served as the first and only vice president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, and later as the 50th governor of Georgia from 1882 until his death in 1883. A member of the Democratic Party , he represented

1110-472: Is land and 5.1 square miles (13 km ) (2.8%) is water. The county is located mainly within the upper Piedmont region of the state, with western portions of the county having the highest elevations and located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains . The northern half of Stephens County is located in the Tugaloo River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin. Lake Hartwell was created as

1184-608: Is located at 47 North Alexander Street. The rail line is shared with the Norfolk Southern Railway . Toccoa was formerly a stop on the Airline Belle , which was a Southern Railway regional train between 1879 and 1931. Toccoa Airport is a small executive airport northeast of the town. The airport is sometimes referred to as R.G. LeTourneau Field as it was built by R.G. LeTourneau . The Toccoa Record newspaper started in 1873. WNEG (AM) and 93.1 FM

1258-540: Is now used for county elections. Despite the Great Depression , more industry developed in the county in the 1930s. J&P Coats Company purchased the Capps Cotton Mill in 1937 and operated it for nearly 70 years, before textile manufacturing jobs moved offshore to cheaper labor markets. In 1938 industrialist R.G. LeTourneau opened a manufacturing plant for earth-moving equipment. Later that year

1332-561: Is widely rejected by historians. Hébert states that "the speech haunted Stephens to the grave and beyond as he and other postbellum southern Democrats struggled to conceal the clear meaning of his words under the camouflage of a Lost Cause mythology." In 1866, Stephens was elected to the United States Senate by the first legislature convened under the new Georgia State Constitution but was not allowed to take his seat because of restrictions on former Confederates. He published

1406-489: The Biographical Sketch of Linton Stephens ( Linton Stephens being Alexander Stephens's half-brother), Andrew B. Stephens was "endowed with uncommon intellectual faculties; he had sound practical judgment; he was a safe counselor, sagacious, self-reliant, candid and courageous." His mother, a Georgia native and sister of Grier's Almanac founder Robert Grier, died in 1812 at the age of 26; Alexander Stephens

1480-531: The Compromise of 1850 . After Taylor supported the ratification of New Mexico 's anti-slavery state constitution and threatened to send troops to defend it against Texas's territorial claims, Stephens published an open letter in the National Intelligencer calling for Taylor's impeachment , and he warned that if the United States were to fire the first shots against Texas it would lead to

1554-633: The Georgia Platform , which rallied Unionists throughout the Deep South . Stephens and Toombs were not only political allies but also lifelong friends. Stephens was described as "a highly sensitive young man of serious and joyless habits of consuming ambition, of poverty-fed pride, and of morbid preoccupation within self," a contrast to the "robust, wealthy, and convivial Toombs. But this strange camaraderie endured with singular accord throughout their lives." By this time, Stephens had departed

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1628-463: The Psalm 118:22 and Curse of Ham to biblically justify the institution, and stated that: With us, all of the white race, however high or low, rich or poor, are equal in the eye of the law. Not so with the negro. Subordination is his place. He, by nature, or by the curse against Canaan, is fitted for that condition which he occupies in our system. The architect, in the construction of buildings, lays

1702-582: The South Appalachian Mississippian culture developed a village and a platform mound on Tugaloo Island about 800 CE. The village and mound, both known as Tugaloo, were later occupied by other peoples until about 1700. Numerous other villages also developed along the river and its tributaries. Descendants of the Mississippians have been identified as the proto-Creek ( Muscogee people ). Allied with them in historic times were

1776-644: The Yuchi , who occupied the village known as Tugaloo, where they were replaced by the Cherokee. While Cherokee began to move into this area from Tennessee under pressure by European Americans during and after the Revolutionary War, the Muscogee Creek continued to dominate the southern part of the county until they ceded their land to the United States in a treaty of 1794. It was not until after

1850-432: The 43rd through 47th Congresses, from December 1, 1873, until his resignation on November 4, 1882. On that date, he was elected and took office as governor of Georgia. His tenure as governor proved brief; Stephens died on March 4, 1883, four months after taking office. Stephens was sickly throughout his life, most painfully from "crippling rheumatoid arthritis and a pinched nerve in his back." Although his adult height

1924-684: The American Revolutionary War that European Americans began to settle here. The first were veterans who had been given land grants in lieu of pay; they migrated up the Savannah River and the Tugaloo River after the war. During the American Civil War , the Battle of the Narrows was fought in what would become the county. The county was created on August 18, 1905, from parts of Franklin and Habersham counties, and

1998-582: The American and Confederate foundings, ideologies and constitutions; and laid out the Confederacy's rationale for seceding . Historian Keith S. Hébert describes it as "the most significant speech" ever delivered by Stephens. It declared that disagreements over the enslavement of Africans were the "immediate cause" of secession and that the Confederate constitution had resolved such issues. The new [Confederate] Constitution has put at rest forever all

2072-465: The American and Confederate foundings, ideologies, and constitutions ; and laid out the Confederacy's rationale for seceding . In the course of the war, he became increasingly critical of President Jefferson Davis 's policies, especially Confederate conscription and the suspension of habeas corpus . In February 1865, he was one of the commissioners who met with Abraham Lincoln at the abortive Hampton Roads Conference to discuss peace terms. After

2146-637: The Eden of the world, the paradise of the universe. On the eve of the outbreak of the American Civil War, Stephens counseled delay in moving militarily against U.S.-held Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens so that the Confederacy could build up its forces and stock resources. In 1861, Stephens was elected as a delegate to the Georgia Secession Convention to decide Georgia's response to the election of Abraham Lincoln . During

2220-570: The Lecompton Constitution and broken with Buchanan, Stephens remained on good terms with Douglas and even served as one of his presidential electors in the election of 1860 . On November 14, 1860, Stephens delivered a speech titled "The Assertions of a Secessionist." He said: When I look around and see our prosperity in every thing, agriculture, commerce, art, science, and every department of education, physical and mental, as well as moral advancement, and our colleges, I think, in

2294-841: The Nebraska Territory, all of which lay north of the Missouri Compromise line, in the Kansas–Nebraska Act . This legislation aroused fury in the North because it applied the popular sovereignty principle to the Territory, in violation of the Missouri Compromise. Had it not been for Stephens, the bill probably never would have passed in the House. He employed an obscure House rule to bring the bill to

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2368-583: The Southern states to secede from the Union. Stephens and Toombs both supported said compromise between slave and free states , though they opposed the exclusion of slavery from the territories on the theory that such lands belonged to all of the people. The pair returned from the District of Columbia to Georgia to secure support for the measures at home. Both men were instrumental in the drafting and approval of

2442-733: The Toccoa Airport was constructed. During World War II, the LeTourneau plant produced equipment for use by the military, employing 2000 people in this effort. In addition the US Army developed Camp Toccoa here, for training paratroopers. Beginning in 1950, planning began for what was called the Hartwell Project, which envisioned dams on the Savanna and tributary rivers for flood control and hydropower generation. In addition,

2516-739: The Union victory of Gettysburg made the Lincoln administration refuse to receive him. As the war continued and the fortunes of the Confederacy sank lower, Stephens became more outspoken in his opposition to the administration. On March 16, 1864, Stephens delivered a speech to the Georgia Legislature that was widely reported in both the North and the South. In it, he excoriated the Davis Administration for its support of conscription and suspension of habeas corpus and supported

2590-438: The agitating questions relating to our peculiar institutions—African slavery as it exists among us—the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson , in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the "rock upon which the old Union would split." He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended

2664-465: The attack, refusing to recant his positions even at the cost of his life. Only the intervention of others saved him. Stephens's wounds were serious, and he returned home to Crawfordville to recover. He and Cone reconciled before Cone's death in 1859. Stephens and fellow Georgia Representative Robert Toombs campaigned for the election of Zachary Taylor as president in 1848. Both were chagrined and angered when Taylor proved less than pliable on aspects of

2738-543: The convention, as well as during the 1860 presidential campaign, Stephens, who came to be known as the sage of Liberty Hall , called for the South to remain loyal to the Union, likening it to a leaking but fixable boat. During the convention he reminded his fellow delegates that Republicans were a minority in Congress (especially in the Senate) and, even with a Republican president, they would be forced to compromise just as

2812-412: The corner " — the real "corner-stone" in our new edifice. After the Confederacy's defeat, Stephens attempted to retroactively deny and retract the opinions he had stated in the speech. Denying his earlier statements that slavery was the Confederacy's cause for leaving the Union, he contended to the contrary that he thought that the war was rooted in constitutional differences; this explanation by Stephens

2886-422: The county. The population density was 146.1 inhabitants per square mile (56.4/km ). There were 12,662 housing units at an average density of 70.7 per square mile (27.3/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 85.1% white, 10.9% black or African American, 0.7% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 1.0% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.4% of

2960-428: The deaths of his father and his stepmother, Alexander Stephens was sent to live with his mother's other brother, General Aaron W. Grier, near Raytown (Taliaferro County), Georgia. General Grier had inherited his own father's library, said to be "the largest library in all that part of the country." Alexander Stephens, who read voraciously even as a youth, mentions the library in his "Recollections." Frail but precocious,

3034-626: The face of such an exhibition, if we can, without the loss of power, or any essential right or interest, remain in the Union, it is our duty to ourselves and to posterity to—let us not too readily yield to this temptation—do so. Our first parents, the great progenitors of the human race, were not without a like temptation when in the garden of Eden. They were led to believe that their condition would be bettered—that their eyes would be opened—and that they would become as gods. They in an evil hour yielded—instead of becoming gods, they only saw their own nakedness. I look upon this country, with our institutions, as

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3108-507: The fighting. Stephens and Lincoln had been close friends and Whig political allies in the 1840s. Although peace terms were not reached, Lincoln did agree to look into the whereabouts of Stephens's nephew, Confederate Lieutenant John A. Stephens. When Lincoln returned to Washington, he ordered the release of Lieutenant Stephens. Stephens was arrested for treason against the United States at his home in Crawfordville, on May 11, 1865. He

3182-407: The foundation with the proper material-the granite; then comes the brick or the marble. The substratum of our society is made of the material fitted by nature for it, and by experience we know that it is best, not only for the superior, but for the inferior race, that it should be so... Concluding: This stone which was " rejected by the first builders " [Founding Fathers] " — is become the chief of

3256-539: The great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. Stephens contended that advances and progress in the sciences proved that the United States Declaration of Independence 's view that " all men are created equal " was erroneous. His speech criticized "most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution" for their views on slavery, stating that: The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of

3330-404: The idea that African Slavery is wrong, and it looked forward to the ultimate extinction of that institution. But time has proved the error, and we have corrected it in the new Constitution. We have based ours upon principle of the inequality of races , and the principle is spreading -- it is becoming appreciated and better understood; and though there are many, even in the South, who are still in

3404-485: The institution would be evanescent and pass away. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the idea of a Government built upon it - " when the storm came and the wind blew, it fell ." Stephens proceeded to state that in contrast to the United States: Our new Government is founded upon exactly

3478-574: The land; a reader and collector of books; a close observer of the weather, and father of the Weather Bureau of the United States ." In 1814, Andrew B. Stephens married Matilda Lindsay, daughter of Revolutionary War Colonel John Lindsay. In May 1826, when Alexander Stephens was age 14, his father Andrew and stepmother Matilda died of pneumonia only days apart. Their deaths caused him and several siblings to be scattered among relatives. He grew up poor and in difficult circumstances. Not long after

3552-454: The leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution [Founding Fathers] were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with; but the general opinion of the men of that day was, that, somehow or other, in the order of Providence,

3626-453: The opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new Government, is the first, in the history of the world, based on this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. Criticizing the position of Northern evangelicals who were opposed to slavery, Stephens quoted

3700-425: The population. In terms of ancestry, 14.7% were American , 9.1% were Irish , 8.1% were German , and 7.4% were English . Of the 10,289 households, 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.7% were non-families, and 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size

3774-570: The prevailing Southern rationale utilized to defend the institution. Stephens quickly rose to prominence as one of the leading Southern Whigs in the House. He supported the annexation of Texas in 1845. Along with his fellow Whigs, he vehemently opposed the Mexican–American War , and later became an equally vigorous opponent of the Wilmot Proviso , which would have barred the extension of slavery into territories that were acquired after

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3848-589: The ranks of the Whig party, whose Northern wing generally was not amenable to some Southern interests. Back in Georgia, Stephens, Toombs and Democratic U.S. Representative Howell Cobb formed the Constitutional Union Party . The party overwhelmingly carried the state in the ensuing election, and, for the first time Stephens returned to Congress no longer a Whig. Stephens spent the next few years as

3922-501: The same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephens_County&oldid=540792203 " Category : United States county name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Stephens County, Georgia Stephens County

3996-512: The shell upon this subject, yet the day is not far distant when it will be generally understood and appreciated... — Alexander H. Stephens , speech to The Savannah Theatre . Weeks before the Cornerstone Speech (March 1861) Stephens's Cornerstone Speech on March 21, 1861, to The Savannah Theatre is frequently cited in historical analysis of Confederate ideology. The speech defended slavery ; enumerated contrasts between

4070-568: The short-lived Know-Nothing Party , but Stephens fiercely opposed the Know Nothings both for their secrecy and their anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic position. Despite his late arrival in the Democratic Party, Stephens quickly rose through the ranks. He even served as President James Buchanan 's floor manager in the House during the fruitless battle for the slave state Lecompton Constitution for Kansas Territory in 1857. He

4144-685: The state of Georgia in the United States House of Representatives before and after the Civil War . Stephens attended Franklin College and established a legal practice in his hometown of Crawfordville, Georgia. After serving in both houses of the Georgia General Assembly , he won election to Congress , taking his seat in 1843. He became a leading Southern Whig and strongly opposed the Mexican–American War . After

4218-678: The two sections had for decades. Because the Supreme Court had voted 7–2 in the Dred Scott case, it took decades of Senate-approved appointments to reverse it. He voted against secession in the convention but asserted the right to secede if the federal government continued allowing Northern states to nullify the Fugitive Slave Law with "personal liberty laws." He was elected to the Confederate Congress and

4292-408: The war, Stephens was a prominent supporter of the Compromise of 1850 and helped draft the Georgia Platform , which opposed secession . A proponent of the expansion of slavery into the territories , Stephens also helped pass the Kansas–Nebraska Act . As the Whig Party collapsed in the 1850s, Stephens eventually joined the Democratic Party and worked with President James Buchanan to admit Kansas as

4366-441: The war, Stephens was imprisoned until October 1865. The following year, the Georgia legislature elected Stephens to the U.S. Senate , but the Senate declined to seat him due to his role in the Civil War. He won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1873 and held that office until 1882, when he resigned from Congress to become governor of Georgia. Stephens served as governor until his death in March 1883. Alexander Stephens

4440-460: The war. He also controversially tabled the Clayton Compromise , which would have excluded slavery from the Oregon Territory and left the issue of slavery in New Mexico and California to the U.S. Supreme Court . This would later nearly kill Stephens when he argued with Georgia Supreme Court Justice Francis H. Cone , who stabbed him repeatedly in a fit of anger. Stephens was physically outmatched by his larger assailant, but he remained defiant during

4514-410: The young Stephens acquired his continued education through the generosity of several benefactors. One of them was the Presbyterian minister Alexander Hamilton Webster, who presided over a school in Washington, Georgia. Out of respect for his mentor, Stephens adopted Webster's middle name, Hamilton, as his own. Stephens attended Franklin College (later the University of Georgia) in Athens, Georgia, where he

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4588-637: Was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.96. The median age was 40.7 years. The median income for a household in the county was $ 34,938 and the median income for a family was $ 41,768. Males had a median income of $ 35,814 versus $ 24,834 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 18,285. About 12.3% of families and 18.8% of the population were below the poverty line , including 25.9% of those under age 18 and 16.0% of those age 65 or over. The Amtrak Crescent connects Toccoa to New York , Philadelphia , Baltimore , Washington , Charlotte , Atlanta , Birmingham , and New Orleans . The Amtrak station

4662-471: Was 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m), he often weighed less than 100 pounds (45 kg). Almost all of his former slaves continued to work for him, often for little or no money; whether this decision was voluntary or the result of few other options existing for former slaves in the Deep South is difficult to determine. These servants were with him upon his death. Although old and infirm, Stephens continued to work on his house and plantation. According to

4736-451: Was born on February 11, 1812. His parents were Andrew Baskins Stephens and Margaret Grier. The Stephenses lived on a farm in Taliaferro County, near Crawfordville. At the time of Alexander Stephens's birth, the farm was part of Wilkes County. Taliaferro County was created in 1825 from land in Greene, Hancock, Oglethorpe, Warren, and Wilkes counties. His father, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Georgia at 12 years of age, in 1795. According to

4810-464: Was captured the day after Davis. In 1862, Stephens first publicly expressed his opposition to the Davis administration. Throughout the war he denounced many of the president's policies, including conscription, suspension of the writ of habeas corpus , impressment , various financial and taxation policies, and Davis's military strategy. In mid-1863, Davis dispatched Stephens on a fruitless mission to Washington, D.C., to discuss prisoner exchanges, but

4884-429: Was chosen by the Congress as vice president of the provisional government. He took the provisional oath of office on February 11, 1861, then the 'full term' oath of office on February 22, 1862 (after being elected in November 1861 ) and served until his arrest on May 11, 1865. Stephens officially served in office eight days longer than President Jefferson Davis ; he took his oath seven days before Davis's inauguration and

4958-425: Was elected to the Georgia Senate . Stephens served in the U.S. House of Representatives from October 2, 1843, to March 3, 1859, from the 28th Congress through the 35th Congress. In 1843, he was elected to the House as a Whig , in a special election to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mark A. Cooper . This seat was at-large, as Georgia did not have U.S. House Districts until the following year. Stephens

5032-409: Was executed on 28 February. He died shortly before 3:30am on 4 March, surrounded by physicians and friends. That afternoon, commemorative speeches were made by "prominent citizens" in the Georgia Senate chamber. On 6 March, Stephens' body laid in state in the chamber. On 8 March, a grand funeral was held, and all citizens of the state were requested to observe the occasion. In 1928, Judge Alex Stephens,

5106-408: Was imprisoned in Fort Warren , Boston Harbor, for five months until October 1865. ... We have settled, and, I trust, settled forever, the great question which was the prime cause of our separation from the United States: I mean the question of African Slavery. The old [American] Constitution set out with a wrong idea on this subject; it was based upon an erroneous principle ; it was founded upon

5180-424: Was instrumental in framing the failed English Bill after it became clear that Lecompton would not pass in order to negotiate the approval. Stephens did not seek re-election to Congress in 1858. As sectional peace eroded during the next two years, Stephens became increasingly critical of Southern extremists. Although virtually the entire South had spurned Douglas as a traitor to Southern rights because he had opposed

5254-403: Was named for Alexander Stephens , U.S. representative , Vice President of the Confederate States of America , and fifty-third governor of Georgia . Toccoa was designated as the county seat and was the site of the county's two courthouses. The first courthouse was built in 1907, and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The second was built in 2000. The former courthouse

5328-414: Was only three months old. In the introduction to Recollections of Alexander H. Stephens , there is this about his mother and her family: "Margaret came of folk who had a liking for books, and a turn for law, war, and meteorology." The introduction continues: "In her son's character was a marked blending of parental traits. He [Alexander Stephens] was thrifty, generous, progressive; one of the best lawyers in

5402-401: Was re-elected from the 7th District as a Whig in 1844, 1846 and 1848, as a Unionist in 1850, and again as a Whig (from the 8th District) in 1852. In 1854 and 1856, his re-elections came as a Democrat . As a national lawmaker during the crucial decades before the Civil War, Stephens was involved in all of the major sectional battles. He began as a moderate defender of slavery but later accepted

5476-513: Was roommates with Crawford W. Long and a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society . He raised funds for Phi Kappa Hall, located on the university campus. Stephens graduated at the top of his class in 1832. After several unhappy years teaching in school, Stephens began legal studies, was admitted to the Georgia bar in 1834, and began a successful career as a lawyer in Crawfordville. During his 32 years of practice, he gained

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