Tom Tate Tunstall
TUNSTALL. TOM TATE, lawyer, U. S. consul, was born April 8, 1823, at Tate's Shoals, Baldwin County; son of George Brook and Eloisa (Tate) Tunstall (q. v.), and cousin of Mrs. Virginia Clay Clopton (q. v.). He received his education at Patrick Henry academy in Virginia, and at Chapel Hill, N. C., but left school before he was graduated and returned to Alabama in 1841. He studied law, and at the age of twenty-three years, addressed 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, was licensed to practice in that state and remained there until 1854, when he returned to Alabama. He was appointed U. S. consul at Cadiz, Spain, by President Pierce in 1856, and remained there until 1861, when he was removed by President Lincoln. He was arrested at Tangier, Morocco, in company with the paymaster of the C. S. A. steamer, then lying in the Bay of Gibraltar, February, 1862, was returned to the United States, and after being released returned to his home in the south. He was again captured by the Federals, when he attempted to run the blockade, and was taken to the Old Capitol prison at Washington, where he was confined for six months as a spy, but was finally released upon the condition that he would go to Europe and remain there until the war was over. After spending two years in Europe, he returned to Alabama, in 1866; in 1867, went to Texas where he remained two years; then returned to Alabama: and his residence has since been divided between Baldwin County and Mobile. In 1869, he engaged in the insurance business, and early in President Cleveland's administration, was appointed consul to Ascension, Paraguay, but declined the appointment. He was appointed consul to San Salvador, Central America, in 1888, and remained there until 1890, when he was removed by President Harrison. His last public service was that of a U. S. inspector supervising the deepening and widening of the channel in Mobile Bay. When the appropriation was exhausted and the work suspended, he retired from further participation in active life. He is a Democrat and a Mason. Married: January 24. 1871. at Camden, to Josephine Crossland, daughter of John Crossland, who lived at Camden, Wilcox County, and who was a first cousin of Gen. Braxton Bragg. Children: 1. Tom Tate, jr., El Paso, Tex.; 2. Brian, Jackson, Miss. Residence: El Paso, Tex.