Humphreys

Mississippi, I, 893) and which many of his sup-
porters opposed, was the main issue in the cam-
paign, though the real division of opinion on the
subject was not made clear. President Johnson
was disappointed at the defeat of Fisher, but, on
Sharkey's recommendation, proceeded to pardon
Humphreys. The latter was inaugurated on Oct.
16; he was recognized in some part by Johnson
by Nov. 17, but not until Dec. 14 was Sharkey
fully relieved. Humphreys remained in office
until June 15,1868, when he was ruthlessly eject-
ed by federal military authority and the "restored
government" of Mississippi was brought to an
unhappy end.

His problems were essentially similar to those
faced by other Southern governors elected under
the presidential plan; they proved insoluble not
merely because of their inherent difficulty but
also because of the pressure of Northern opinion.
National attention was focused on Mississippi as
a result of the enactment of the famous "Black
Code" of 1865, a well-intentioned but hasty at-
tempt to define the legal status of the freedmen
which was interpreted in the North as an effort
to reestablish slavery in another form. Even in
the North, the recommendations of Humphreys
were regarded at the outset as reasonable, al-
though he was felt to be insufficiently submissive
in spirit. He later urged the rejection of the
Fourteenth Amendment, though suggesting a re-
laxation of the negro code of 1865. He saw no
necessity for the presence of Federal troops and
sought vainly to secure permission to disarm the
freedmen, but in general he heartily cooperated
with the military authorities and accepted suc-
cessive humiliations with all the grace that could
have been expected. Because of his opposition
to many legislative measures that he deemed un-
constitutional, he was called "Old Veto" (New
Eclectic Magazine, August 1869, P- 179)- On
July 10, 1868, when the constitution of that year
was rejected, he was triumphantly reflected gov-
ernor by a majority of 8,000 (Garner, post, p.
216). It was no fault of the electorate as then
constituted that he was retired to private life.

For a time he was an insurance agent at Jack-
son and Vicksburg, but for several years before
his death in 1882 he lived on his plantation, "Itta
Bena," in Leflore County. He was buried at Port
Gibson. His son and namesake was a member of
Congress and a man of some importance (see
House Document No. 667, 68 Cong., 2 Sess.).

[F. Humphreys, "Humphreys Family of Miss.," IG
The Humphreys Family in America (1883); Confed,
Mil Hist. (1899), vol. VII, "Mississippi/' pp. 259-61;
War of the Rebellion: Official Records C<4rmy), see in-
dex; J. W. Garner, Reconstruction in Miss. (1901);
Dunbar Rowland, ed., The Official and Statistical Rea.
of the State of Miss. (1908), and Mississippi (1907),

Humphreys

I, 893-906; R. Lpwry and \V. H. McCardle, A Hist, of
Mtss. (1891) ; Bzog. and Hist. Memoirs of Mississippi
(1891), 1,983-85; D. A. Planck, eulogy of Humphreys,
in Southern Hist. Soc. Papers, vol. XI (1883); AVw
Eclectic Mag. (Baltimore), Aug. 1869, pp. 177-79;
Vicksburg Daily Commercial, Dec. 22, 33,1882.]

HUMPHREYS, DAVID (July 10, i;52-Feb,
21, 1818), soldier, statesman, poet, was born in
Derby, Conn., the youngest son of the Rev. Daniel
Humphrey and his wife, Sarah (Riggs) Bowers,
widow of John Bowers. He was a descendant of
Michael Humphrey who was living in what is
now Simsbury, Conn., in 1643. Daniel Hum-
phrey was a graduate of Yale in the class of 1732,
a capable scholar, and much beloved in the Con-
gregational church of Derby. David entered
Yale College at the age of fifteen, in the class of
1771, and at once manifested his energetic and
somewhat showy taste for public activity and
oratory. Even in these days he was known as
the upholder of the "respectability and rights of
the Freshmen." Although in a different class in
college, while at Yale he knew well John Trum-
bull [g.0.], the poet, and Joel Barlow [q.v."],
whose career resembled his own. His most en-
during friendship of college days was with Tim-
othy D wight [#.£'.]. He received the degree of
Master of Arts from Yale in 1774.

After a brief interval of schoolmastering in
Wethersfield, Conn., and at Philipse Manor, on
the Hudson River, he declined a position as tutor
at Yale, and in 1776 he volunteered as adjutant of
the 2nd Connecticut militia regiment. "Adieu,"
he wrote, "thou Yale, where youthful poets
dwell/* He was already moved by an ardent and
rather unthinking patriotism, which found ex-
pression, in speeches, an enormous correspond-
ence, and sonorous verse. "Adieu thou Yale,.* *
Hear ye the din of battle? Clang of arms?" At
about this time, also, began his life-long devotion
to the Commander-in-Chief of the American
armies, that won him the title which followed
him everywhere in his career, "faelov'd of Wash-
ington/' Humphreys' record in the army during
the Revolution was brilliant; at the age of twen-
ty-five he was a brigade major, and at twenty-
eight a lieutenant-colonel and aide-de-camp to
Washington. He had a natural talent for mili-
tary science, and there are few more intelligent
contemporary pictures of certain important cam-
paigns, notably the battle of Long Island and the
retreat from Harlem, than those contained in his
Essay on the Life of the HonoraK* Major-Gen-
eral Israel Putnam (1788). la this lie wrote as
he fought, coolly and vigorously, and the book
remains a testimonial to Putnam, to the effort and
sacrifice of these stirring days, and to Hum-
phreys* own victorious good sense. This

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