Crawfordville: Home of the Confederacy's Vice President

Crawfordville, the seat of tiny Taliaferro County, is best known as the home of Alexander Hamilton Stephens, who served as Vice President of the Confederate States from eighteen sixty-one to eighteen sixty-five. Stephens was born nearby in eighteen twelve, became a lawyer in Crawfordville, and represented Georgia in Congress for years before secession. He was a complicated figure: he opposed secession as impractical, then accepted the vice presidency and delivered the notorious Cornerstone Speech, declaring slavery the foundation of the Confederate government.

During the war, Stephens spent most of his time at Liberty Hall, his Crawfordville estate, feuding with Jefferson Davis over centralized power. After the war, he served time in a Boston prison, returned to Georgia, went back to Congress, and was elected governor in eighteen eighty-two. He died in office.

His grave is on the front lawn of Liberty Hall, now a Georgia state park.