Dale, Sam, 1772-1842

Samuel Dale, a soldier and pioneer, was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, to Scotch-Irish parents from Pennsylvania. As a boy, both he and his parents moved many times with westward border expansion, most notably in 1775 and 1783. With the death of his parents in December 1792, he was responsible for the welfare of eight younger children. From 1793–1796 he served as a United States Government scout. He abandoned work as a trader between Savannah, Georgia and the border settlements and as a mill owner-operator to guide immigrants into Mississippi, over Native American lands. Dale was present in 1811 when Tecumseh enlisted local Alabama Native Americans to fight against Americans, during his campaign to establish a pan-Indian confederacy. He was involved in many of these confrontations, particularly in 1814, when he served as a courier bringing documents to Andrew Jackson in New Orleans, from Georgia in just eight days.

Dale was elected to the first Alabama General Assembly in 1817, serving until 1829. As a legislator and distinguished veteran brigadier general, he and four other men received the visiting Marquis de Lafayette of France into Alabama. General Dale was the first elected member of the Mississippi House of Representatives to come from Lauderdale County, Mississippi. General Dale died in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, in 1841, and Dale County, Alabama, is named for him.

David Holmes (10 March 1769 – 20 August 1832) was the last governor of the Mississippi Territory and the first governor of the State of Mississippi. Born in York County, Pennsylvania, Holmes and his family moved to Virginia when he was a child. He served as U.S. Representative from Virginia from 1797 until 1808. President Thomas Jefferson appointed him fourth governor of Mississippi Territory. Holmes was very popular and his appointment marked the end of a long period of factionalism within the territory. Holmes was generally successful in dealing with a variety of matters, including expansion, land policy, Indians, the War of 1812, and the constitutional convention of 1817 (of which he was elected president).

In 1817, Mississippi joined the Union as the 20th state and Holmes won the election to be the first governor of the State of Mississippi. During his term, he established the state judicial system and the state militia and organized the land east of the Pearl River that the Choctaw Indians ceded. In 1820, the state legislature elected Holmes to be one of Mississippi's Senators in the U.S. Congress, and he served from 1821 until late 1825, when his election to another term as governor of Mississippi forced him to resign. Because Holmes's declining health forced him to resign, he served only six months (January 1826 - July 1826) as Mississippi's sixth governor. Because of poor health, he served only six months in office. Holmes returned to his native Virginia where his health continued to fail before his death in 1832 at Jordan's Sulphur Springs, near Winchester, Virginia. Holmes County, Mississippi, is named in honor of him.

Source: Wikipedia contributors. "Samuel Dale." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Jul. 2013.

Wikipedia contributors. "David Holmes (politician)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 18 Jul. 2013.

From the guide to the Sam Dale Envelope Fragment mss. 3732., 1817 May 15, (University Libraries Division of Special Collections, The University of Alabama)