Lt. Col. Randal William McGavock
Randal William McGavock (1826-1863) was an American Democratic politician, Southern planter, and Confederate Lt. Colonel.[1][2][3][4][5][6] He served as the Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 1858 to 1859.[1][2][3][5][6]
Biography[]
Early life[]
He was born on August 10, 1826 in Nashville.[1][3][5][6] He was a fourth-generation Irish-American.[3] His paternal grandfather was Randal McGavock (1766-1843), who served as Mayor of Nashville from 1824 to 1825 and owned the Carnton plantation.[3] His father, Jacob McGavock, fought in the Creek War of 1813-1814 with Andrew Jackson.[1][3][5] His maternal grandfather was Felix Grundy (1775-1840), U.S. Congressman from Tennessee from 1829 to 1838 and 13th United States Attorney General from 1838 to 1840.[3] His mother was Louisa Caroline (Grundy) McGavock.[1][5] He attended a private academy, The Classical and Mathematical Seminary run by Professor Moses Stevens in Nashville, which closed down in 1846.[5] From 1843 to 1846, he attended the University of Nashville.[3][5] In 1847, he enrolled at the Harvard Law School, where he was active in the debating club called Kent Club and the Moot court.[3][4][5] He received his law degree from the Harvard Law School in 1849.[3][5][7] He then went on a twenty-month tour of Europe, Asia and Africa.[3][5] He wrote articles about his experiences abroad for the Daily Nashville Union and published them in a book in 1854.[3]
Career[]
Upon his return from Europe, he worked as a lawyer in Nashville.[3] He joined the A.O.M.C., a fraternal organization whose members wore black robes and hoods during ceremonies.[3] He also oversaw his family plantations in Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky.[3]
He was active in the Tennessee Democratic Party.[3] For example, he canvassed for James Buchanan in the 1856 campaign.[3] He served as Mayor of Nashville from 1858 to 1859.[1][2][6] He had won the election thanks to the Irish vote.[3] In 1860, he campaigned for John C. Breckinridge.[3] He was a strong proponent of states's rights.[3]
Prior to the American Civil War of 1861-1865, he established a militia in Tennessee among the Irish.[3] Meanwhile, his wife founded the Ladies Soldiers' Friend Society, a patriotic group that included Sarah Childress Polk, the widow of President James Polk (1795-1849).[3] During the war, he served as Lt. Colonel of the 10th Tennessee C.S.A. in the Confederate States Army.[1] He bought their uniforms.[3] In 1861, he was imprisoned in Fort Warren on Georges Island in Massachusetts for five months.[4] In 1862, he resumed the fight.[4] However, he was killed in the Battle of Raymond near Raymond, Mississippi on May 12, 1863.[1][4][5][6][7]
Personal life[]
He married Seraphina Deery in 1855.[1][5] He was first buried in Raymond, but his sister Ann and her husband, Judge Henry Dickenson made arrangements for the body to be brought to their home in Columbus, Mississippi.[3] Finally, on St. Patrick's Day, 1866, he was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville during a ceremony conducted by the Masons.[1][3]
Legacy[]
His portrait was painted by Washington Bogart Cooper (1802-1888) circa 1850.[8]
Bibliography[]
Primary source[]
Secondary source[]
- Jack Allen, The Diary of Randal William McGavock, 1852-1862: An Interpretation of a Period (George Peabody College for Teachers, 1941).[5]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Friends of Metropolitan Archives of Nashville and Davidson County, TN
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nashville Public Library: Mayors of Nashville, Tennessee
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 Col. Randal William McGavock, 1826 ~ 1863, Sons of Confederate Veterans
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Battle of Raymond
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 Tennessee State Library and Archives
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 FindAGrave
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Helen P. Trimpi, Crimson Confederates: Harvard Men who Fought for the South, Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press, 2010, p. 380 [1]
- ↑ Nashville Public Library Digital Collection
The original article can be found at Randal William McGavock and the edit history here.