27th Alabama Governor. He served as the Governor of Alabama from 1886 to 1890. He was a Democratic politician. Beginning his political career, he served in the Alabama State Senate from 1876 to 1886, and was president of that body from 1884 to 1886. Born on a plantation, he attended Southern University in Greensboro until the outbreak of the American Civil War interrupted his studies. In 1863 at the age of seventeen, he enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army, serving in skirmishes with his company around Mobile. He was captured by Union forces at Spanish Fort and Blakeley and imprisoned on Ship Island. After the war, Seay returned to Southern University, graduating in 1867. He then studied law and practiced as a junior member of Coleman and Seay from 1869 to 1885. Seay also engaged in the industry of cotton planting. As a two-term governor, his administration was successful in reducing taxes, increasing social services, and running the State's budget in the black. Women and children were limited to an eight-hour workday during his administration. However, legislators in the next session exempted two textile mill counties from the act, and in 1894 the never-enforced bill was repealed. Pensions were first provided for disabled Confederate veterans and their widows. Seay was also supportive, in the context of late 19th century standards in the South, of measures to improve the rights and education of Alabama's Black citizens. Troy University and Alabama State University were established under his term as well as a state school for the blind for both white and Black students. Using state militia, he had the challenge of controlling the riot of two hundred angry Birmingham men, who planned to raid a jail and hang Richard Hawes. As a result of the rioting, ten men were killed, including a United States marshal and the city's postmaster. Eventually, after a trial, Hawes was hung in 1890 following being found guilty of murdering his estranged wife and two daughters. The governor gained much respect for his quick actions in this situation. Seay married twice and became a widower with a son and a daughter after his first wife's death. After remarrying, he had four more children. Seay Hall at the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, which became Auburn University, was named for him. Seay's $3,000 salary, the same as that received by his predecessors, was among the lowest in the South, along with those of North Carolina and Georgia. After leaving the governor's office, he unsuccessfully ran for United States Senator in 1890. In the same year, he built a one-story Victorian cottage with stained-glass windows, a three-bay façade, and decorative shingles and vents. The private home is part of the city's historic district in the 21st century and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
27th Alabama Governor. He served as the Governor of Alabama from 1886 to 1890. He was a Democratic politician. Beginning his political career, he served in the Alabama State Senate from 1876 to 1886, and was president of that body from 1884 to 1886. Born on a plantation, he attended Southern University in Greensboro until the outbreak of the American Civil War interrupted his studies. In 1863 at the age of seventeen, he enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army, serving in skirmishes with his company around Mobile. He was captured by Union forces at Spanish Fort and Blakeley and imprisoned on Ship Island. After the war, Seay returned to Southern University, graduating in 1867. He then studied law and practiced as a junior member of Coleman and Seay from 1869 to 1885. Seay also engaged in the industry of cotton planting. As a two-term governor, his administration was successful in reducing taxes, increasing social services, and running the State's budget in the black. Women and children were limited to an eight-hour workday during his administration. However, legislators in the next session exempted two textile mill counties from the act, and in 1894 the never-enforced bill was repealed. Pensions were first provided for disabled Confederate veterans and their widows. Seay was also supportive, in the context of late 19th century standards in the South, of measures to improve the rights and education of Alabama's Black citizens. Troy University and Alabama State University were established under his term as well as a state school for the blind for both white and Black students. Using state militia, he had the challenge of controlling the riot of two hundred angry Birmingham men, who planned to raid a jail and hang Richard Hawes. As a result of the rioting, ten men were killed, including a United States marshal and the city's postmaster. Eventually, after a trial, Hawes was hung in 1890 following being found guilty of murdering his estranged wife and two daughters. The governor gained much respect for his quick actions in this situation. Seay married twice and became a widower with a son and a daughter after his first wife's death. After remarrying, he had four more children. Seay Hall at the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, which became Auburn University, was named for him. Seay's $3,000 salary, the same as that received by his predecessors, was among the lowest in the South, along with those of North Carolina and Georgia. After leaving the governor's office, he unsuccessfully ran for United States Senator in 1890. In the same year, he built a one-story Victorian cottage with stained-glass windows, a three-bay façade, and decorative shingles and vents. The private home is part of the city's historic district in the 21st century and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bio by: Linda Davis
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