David P. Lewis
David P. Lewis was an American politician who served as the 23rd Governor of Alabama from 1872 to 1874. He was also a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, serving from February until April 1861, when he resigned from office.Biography
In 1861, David P. Lewis was a Deputy to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, representing the state of Alabama. In 1868, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. In 1869, he joined the Republican Party. As a well-known North Alabama Unionist who nevertheless did support the Confederacy, he was an attractive candidate for governor and won decisively over Democrat Thomas Herndon. The 1872 election was highly controversial and conflicting election returns resulted in the seating of two different legislatures controlled by each party. During his term unsuccessful attempts were made to pass civil rights legislation which would have barred discrimination on common carriers and in hotels, schools, and theaters. The impact of the Panic of 1873 as well as the civil rights controversies led to Lewis' defeat in 1874. Lewis later unsuccessfully sought an appointment to the federal bench. Disillusioned by politics, he returned to the practice of law in Huntsville, where he is interred at Maple Hill Cemetery.
