Pictured is the home of Alexander and Elizabeth (Lewis) Cameron McNutt as it stands today in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
This week we continue to follow the life of Alexander Gallatin McNutt following the murder of his friend and business partner, Joel Carmeron in 1833. Alexander married Joel’s wife that same year and was seemingly able to cover his dark deeds very well.
One of Alexander’s giftings was that of telling witty stories. One day he put pen to paper and allow the stories to come to life. His abilities as a humorous writer were little known. During his lifetime his stories were printed in the popular “Spirit of the Time” and were signed, “The Turkey Runner”. Only the editor and a few others knew for sure that this was Alexander’s pseudonym. Most of the stories were about the adventures of Jim and Chunkey, two backwoods guys who worked for a wealthy cotton planter named “The Captain”.
In 1835, he entered the world of politics. Alexander served as a member of the Mississippi State Senate, a position from which he also served as senate president in 1837. He next secured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and was elected governor by popular vote on November 6, 1837. He was reelected to a second term in 1839 and served until 1842. During his governorship, McNutt opposed central banking, including Mississippi’s Planters and Union Banks, in which the state had large ownership stakes, arguing that the stockholders and managers were corrupt. The banks sold bonds in an effort to raise revenue, which the state repudiated under McNutt’s influence, leaving the state with a large debt. After his term as governor, Alexander and Elizabeth moved back to Vicksburg where Alexander continued his law practice. In 1847, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. Senate. While campaigning for a presidential elector position, he passed away on October 22, 1848 at the age of 40. He was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson, Mississippi.
Elizabeth (Lewis) Cameron McNutt was born circa 1805 in Kentucky. Elizabeth married at the age of 24 to Joel Cameron on Jul 30, 1829. Life was rather dull for her. Living on a large plantation surrounded by slaves to do all the house hold tasks, she spent her days reading and taking long walks in the evenings. Shortly after her husband’s murder, she married Alexander G. McNutt in Feb 1833. After Alexander’s death in 1848, Elizabeth married George Ricardo Fall in Feb 1852. George was born in 1808 in England and was a wealthy Newspaper Publisher. George also entered the world of politics and served as a Mississippi State Representative. Elizabeth remained childless through both of her former marriages. After several years of marriage, George and Elizabeth adopted a daughter, they named Sallie. George died in 1869 at the age of 60, leaving Elizabeth a widow. Elizabeth lived to the age of 85, dying in 1893.
Governor Alexander McNutt’s home still stands in Vicksburg today. It was constructed in 1826 and purchased by Alexander in 1829 for $900. This home has withstood Civil War battles and ravaging storms. The rear addition was added in 1832 when Alexander married Elizabeth. During the Siege of Vicksburg Lieutenant David Weeks Magill was killed by a shell fragment in the garden of the home. He was buried by candlelight on the west side of the yard and his headstone is still in place there today.
