Crawford, a nationally known presidential candidate. Bibb served until November 9, 1816. As a Senator in 1816, Bibb opposed the first attempt to abolish the Electoral College and elect the president by popular vote, speaking very forthrightly about the advantages slave states derived from the Electoral College. He stated on the Senate floor that with Popular Vote, these states "would lose the privilege the Constitution now allows them, of votes upon three-fifths of their population other than freemen. It would be deeply injurious to them." Governor of Alabama US President James Monroe appointed Bibb as the first governor of the newly formed Alabama Territory (from the larger previous Mississippi Territory) in 1817. Alabama became the 22nd state on December 14, 1819. Bibb's primary duties were establishing the state government. Huntsville was designated to be the site of the constitutional convention. Bibb was elected governor by defeating Marmaduke Williams and receiving 8,342 votes to Williams's 7,140 votes. The capital was chosen to be the newly created town of Cahawba in 1820 on the Alabama frontier but moved to Tuscaloosa in 1826 and finally to the central city of Montgomery in 1846. During Bibb's tenure, the Alabama state militia was established, and the beginnings of the state judicial system, along with the organization of and appointments to the Supreme Court of Alabama, were accomplished. Henry Hitchcock was elected the first Attorney General of Alabama and initially held the position of Secretary of State of Alabama as well. However, shortly afterward, Thomas A. Rodgers was elected as the second Secretary of State of Alabama. The first session of the Alabama state legislature was held from October 25, 1819, to December 17, 1819. William R. King and John W. Walker were chosen as the state's first US Senators. To date, Bibb is one of only three individuals to have served as governor of a state and as a US senator from a different state. The others are Sam Houston, who (among his other political offices) served as the sixth governor of Tennessee and a US senator from Texas (a state, like Alabama, which also had not existed when he held his governorship), and Mitt Romney, who served as the seventieth governor of Massachusetts and is currently a US senator from Utah. Death At the age of 38, Bibb was thrown from his horse during a violent thunderstorm, and died from internal injuries on July