Mississippi
Fitzgerald was born February 7, 1846 in Jackson, Mississippi. He was educated in his hometown's public schools until the age of 12 when his work as a newsboy prompted a patron to sponsor him into St. Mary's College (Kentucky). Fitzgerald attended the Kentucky school from late 1858 till the start of the American Civil War.
With the outbreak of hostilities, Fitzgerald enlisted in the Confederate States Army on March 27, 1861. He saw considerable action during the course of hostilities, participating in the Battle of Shiloh and being wounded at least once. A later account in the Vicksburg Daily Herald reported of the youth, "It was under the eye of the gallant Bod Smith that Fitzgerald, then a beardless stripling of seventeen, charged, with his gallant company, the impregnable Federal works, held by a large body of troops, strongly intrenched, with heavy siege guns, behind quadrilateral earthworks, and fell, sword in hand, pierced through the lungs, at the foot of the murderous parapet. He alone of his entire company succeeded in reaching the works." As a result of this action Fitzgerald received a battlefield promotion to first lieutenant.
Following the war, Fitzgerald began studying law and was admitted to the Mississippi bar on February 18, 1868. Upon obtaining his law license, he began practicing law in Jackson. Fitzgerald was twice married, both times to a daughter of Dr. C. S. Knapp of Jackson. As a result of his marriages, Fitzgerald fathered one daughter.
Politically, Fitzgerald broke with the Southern norm and joined the Republican party. He was twice elected to four-year terms as district attorney for the eleventh judicial circuit (containing area around both Jackson and Vicksburg) in 1878 and 1882. In July 1881, Fitzgerald received the Republican nomination for Mississippi Attorney General. Despite winning support from both the Greenbacks and Independent Democrats he failed to win the election. During the United States Senate elections of 1882, Fitzgerald was the Republican challenger to incumbent Lucius Quintus Cincinatus Lamar.
Read more about this topic: William F. Fitzgerald
Famous quotes containing the word mississippi:
““Where is the Mississippi panorama
And the girl who played the piano?
Where are you, Walt?
The Open Road goes to the used-car lot.”
—Louis Simpson (b. 1923)
“Mississippi: I told you I was no good with a gun.
Bull: The trouble is Doc, Cole was in front of the gun. The safe place is behind Mississippi when he shoots that thing.”
—Leigh Brackett (1915–1978)
“Listen, my friend, I’ve just come back from Mississippi and over there when you talk about the West Bank they think you mean Arkansas.”
—Patrick Buchanan (b. 1938)