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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 473
Cruel treatment of slaves was also forbidden. Section 37 of the
Penal Code of 1816 reads as follows: "Any owner or owners of a slave
or slaves, who shall cruelly treat such slave or slaves, by unnecessary
and excessive whippings, by withholding proper food and nourishment,
by requiring greater labor from such slave or slaves than he, she, or
they are able to perform, by not affording proper clothing, whereby the
health of such slave or slaves may be injured or impaired; every such
owner or owners shall, upon sufficient information being laid before the
grand jury, be by said grand jury presented, whereupon it shall be the
duty of the attorney or solicitor-general to prosecute said owner or
owners who, on conviction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine at the dis
cretion of the court, and also be imprisoned, if the jury trying the
offender or offenders shall think proper to recommend that additional
punishment.'' *
Georgia's eight electoral votes in the presidential campaign of 1816
were given to James Monroe, of Virginia, for President, and to Daniel
D. Tompkins, of New York, for vice president. The following electors
were chosen this year: from the state at large, David Adams and Charles
Harris; district electors, John Mcliitosh, John Clark, Jared Irwin, John
Rutherford, Henry Mitchell and David Meriwether.f
On November 9, 1816, Dr. W. "W. Bibb, Georgia's junior senator,
resigned the toga in great mortification of spirit. He had voted for an
act increasing the salaries of congressmen; and because of a strong
protest aroused throughout the country he felt that he could not longer
retain his seat. But President Madison, in recognition of his conspicu
ous abilities, appointed him governor of the Territory of Alabama. He
was the only man to hold this office; and in 1819, when Alabama entered
the Union, he was called by the spontaneous voice of the people to be
the first governor of the new state. During a violent thunderstorm he
was thrown from his horse, receiving injuries from which he died, at
Fort Jackson, Alabama, July 9, 1820. He was succeeded in office by his
brother Thomas, a coincidence rare in the history of politics.
Col. Albert J. Pickett, the noted pioneer historian of Alabama,
was personally well acquainted with Doctor Bibb whose characteristics
of person and manner he describes as follows. Says he: " Governor
Bibb was five feet ten inches in height, with an erect but delicate frame.
He was exceedingly easy and graceful in his bearing. His face bore the
marks of deep thought and great intelligence. His eyes, of a dark
color, were mild but expressive. Whether thrown into the company of
the rude or the refined, his language was pure and chaste. No one ever
lived, either in Georgia or Alabama, who was treated with a greater
degree of respect by all classes. This was owing to his high moral
character, unsurpassed honor, excellent judgment, and a very high
order of talents. Entirely free from those patronizing airs which char
acterize many of our distinguished men, he invariably treated the hum
blest citizen with courtesy and respect. He was, however, a man of
firmness, swaying the minds of men with great success, and governing
by seeming to obey. In reference to his Congressional career, we have
* Ibid., p. 609.
t '' Lanman 's Biographical Annals of the United States Government, pp. 518-519.