CURRY SURNAMED SOLDIERS
CURRY, Jabez Lamar Monroe (Lieutenant
Colonel, 5th Alabama Cavalry Regiment) (1825-1903)
Although he played an active role in the events of
1861-1865, Jabez L. M. Curry's greatest service to the South was performed in the postwar period. Born in
Georgia, Curry moved to Alabama and began the practice of law.
After several terms in the state legislature, he was elected to
the U.S. House of Representatives in 1856 where he remained until
the secession of his state. An early secessionist, he was named
to the Provisional Confederate Congress and served on the
committees on: Commercial Affairs; Flag and Seal; and Postal
Affairs. Running unopposed, he took his seat in the First Regular
Congress. He chaired the Committee on Commerce and sat on the
Committee on Elections.
A consistent supporter
of the war effort, he urged President Davis to take the field
personally. As a lame duck, having been defeated for reelection
in the 1863 elections, Curry was a driving force behind the call
for additional sacrifices made by the First Congress as it
adjourned.
Having also lost a bid
for a Senatorship, Curry was appointed Lieutenant Colonel, 5th
Alabama Cavalry Regiment, and commanded the regiment in central
Alabama during the final stages of the war. His only previous
military experience had been a brief stint in the Mexican War.
Becoming a Baptist preacher, he became involved in education,
establishing a public school system throughout most of the former
Confederacy. His work was occasionally interrupted by diplomatic
appointments, but he was active in education until his death in
1903. (Alderman, Edwin and Gordon, Armistead, J. L. M Curry:
A Biography) |
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