Thomas Tate Tunstall (1823 - 1918)

Born 8 Apr 1823 in Blacksher, Baldwin Co., AL

Ancestors

Died 8 Jun 1918 at age 95 in El Paso, El Paso Co., TX

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Thomas Dominick [send private message]

Biography

THOMAS TATE TUNSTALL was born in Baldwin county, Ala., April 8, 1823. His father was George Tunstall, a native of Virginia, who died at Montgomery Hill, Baldwin county, Ala., July 28, 1842. He was a newspaper man by profession, and once editor of the Nashville Whig, and was the first man to publish an American newspaper in the state of Florida. The paper was the Floridian, and published in Pensacola. The father of George Tunstall was Edmund Savage Tunstall, a native of Virginia, who died in the state of Kentucky, wither he had gone at an early day. The Tunstall family are lineal descendants of Sir Brian Tunstall, who was killed at the battle of Flodden Field in 1573, in the war between England and Scotland, so graphically described in Scott's Marmion, where he is styled "Tunstall of the white plume, Tunstall the undefiled." The mother of Thomas T. Tunstall was Elouisa Tate, daughter of David Tate (of Tate's Shoals, of the Alabama River), who was the son of Col. Tate of the British army, who was a native of Scotland. She was the niece of the celebrated Creek warrior, Weatherford, the hero of the Massacre of Ft. Mims, who fought with Gen. Jackson, the battles of Talledega, Tallushatchee, Emukfau and Tohopaka, and is the hero of Alexander B. Meek's poem, The Red Eagle. She died in 1878, at an advanced age. Thomas Tate Tunstall completed his education at Chapel Hill college, North Carolina. He then studied law, and distinguished himself, at the age of twenty-three, by an address to the legislature of Alabama in advocacy of the claim of citizens of Indian blood to the right of suffrage. He removed to Texas in 1851, where he practiced law several years and returned to Alabama in 1854. In 1856, he was appointed United States consul at Cadiz, Spain, by President Pierce, where he resided until 1861, when he was removed by President Lincoln. He was subsequently arrested at Tangier, Morocco (February, 1862), at the instigation of the Federal consul, and confined for days in irons till called for and carried to sea on the United States corvette, Ino. He was transferred a few days after to a merchant ship bound to Boston, where he was finally landed, the irons removed from his limbs after fifty-seven days, by a blacksmith in the United States marshal's office, and then committed to Fort Warren by order of Secretary Seward. He was subsequently released unconditionally, by order of Mr. Seward. He repaired to Washington, and after a lapse of several months, obtained a permit from Mr. Stanton, the secretary of war, to return to his home in the south. His southern blood and sympathies soon, however, got him into another dilemma. He procured a pass to run the blockade from the Confederate secretary of war, with a view to render some service to the now lost cause, when he was captured in the Federal lines and taken to the Old Capitol prison in Washington, where he was confined for six months as a spy, but was finally released upon condition that he would go to Europe and remain till the war was over. He honorably abided by his parole and returned to Alabama in 1866, having been absent two years. In 1867, he went to Texas, where he remained two years, returning to Alabama in 1869, and his residence since has been divided between Baldwin county and Mobile. Since 1869, he has devoted his time and attention to life insurance and has ranked as a first-class agent. Early in President Cleveland's administration he was appointed consul to Ascension, Paraguay, but declined the position. In 1888, he was appointed consul to San Salvador, Central America, and remained there till 1890, when he was removed by President Harrison. He is a master Mason, initiated at Gilbralter in 1857. He was married January 24, 1871, to Miss Josephine Crossland, who is his present wife. They have two sons -- Thomas Tate, Jr., and Bryan, named after the gallant knight slain at the battle of Flodden. His home is now permanently in Mobile, where he is at present engaged in the government service in deepening the harbor. -- Brant & Fuller (1893) [1]

OBITUARY

The Mobile Daily Register Sunday, June 9, 1918 Page 2A Column 1

COL. T.T. TUNSTALL DIES IN EL PASO

Former Mobilian Was Once Distinguished Confederate Blockade Runner

Col. Thomas Tate Tunstall, age 95, a native of Baldwin county, Ala., and a resident of Mobile for many years, died Saturday morning at 1:30 o'clock at El Paso, Tex., according to news received by relatives. The body will be brought to Bay Minette and then taken to Montpelier, where it will be buried in the family burying ground. Col. Tunstall had been a resident of El Paso for the past three years.

He is survived by two sons, Dr. Brian Tunstall, of Mobile; Dr. T. T. Tunstall, of El Paso; three grandchildren and other relatives.

Col. Tunstall was educated at Chapel Hill College, N. C., and practiced law in Alabama and Texas. When he was 23 years of age he went before the Alabama legislature and asked for the right of suffrage for people of Indian blood, and got it. He was appointed consul to Cadiz, Spain, by President Pierce and was removed by President Lincoln. He was placed in irons in Morocco and taken on board a ship, after being at sea for fifty-seven days, when he was finally landed at Boston. President Lincoln permitted him to return to the south. He became a daring blockade runner for the Confederacy and was finally caught inside the Yankee lines. On the promise that he would leave the country and go to Europe he was granted his freedom. After the war he lived in Texas and then came to Alabama. He was offered the consulship at Asuncion, Paraguay, by President Cleveland in 1884, but declined it. In 1888, he was appointed consul to San Salvador and remained in that country for two years. Afterwards he returned to Mobile and was connected with the United Sates engineer department.

Sources

• Southern Anthology Project [2]
• Native American Roots [3]
• 1819 Find A Grave, Tate Tunstall Family Cemetery, Blacksher, Baldwin Co., AL [4]