John Gill Shorter (April 23, 1818 – May 29, 1872) was an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Alabama from 1861 to 1863. Before assuming the governorship, Shorter was a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from February 1861 to December 1861. Biography John Gill Shorter was born on April 23, 1818, in Monticello, Georgia. History records him as a member of the planter class and an ardent secessionist. During his term of office, Shorter sent state troops to Randolph and other counties to put down resistance to the war effort. In the 1863 election, he was defeated by Thomas H. Watts by three votes to one. Shorter died on May 29, 1872, in Eufaula, Alabama. References Further reading History of the University of Georgia, Thomas Walter Reed, Imprint: Athens, Georgia : University of Georgia, ca. 1949 p.392 External links John Gill Shorter at The Political Graveyard 1818 births 1872 deaths 19th-century American politicians Alabama lawyers Burials in Alabama Confederate States of America state governors Democratic Party governors of Alabama Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States People from Monticello, Georgia People of Alabama in the American Civil War People from Eufaula, Alabama Signers of the Confederate States Constitution Signers of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States University of Georgia alumni 19th-century American lawyers