The governor's butler and more front porch stories | INSIDE THE STATEHOUSE
This is the final version of a three week series of stories illustrating that Alabama is a big front porch.
James E. “Big Jim” Folsom was one of our few two-term governors. In the old days, governors could not succeed themselves. Therefore, Big Jim first served as governor from 1946-1950. He waited out four years and came back and won a second term in 1954, and stayed through 1958.
Big Jim was still a young man when he was first elected in 1948. He and his wife, Jamelle, had their first-born child, James E. Folsom Jr., in 1949 while Big Jim was governor. Therefore, Jim Folsom, Jr., who some folks refer to as “Little Jim,” was literally born in the Governor’s Mansion.
Big Jim hired a man to be the butler and overseer of the mansion on Perry Street. The gentleman’s name was Dave Perry. He looked the part. Dave Perry was a tall, handsome, distinguished gentleman with a beautiful baritone voice.
Perry practically raised Little Jim. He took him to school every day, taught him to ride a bike and taught him to swim in the pool shaped like the state of Alabama that Big Jim had built behind the mansion. I’ve wondered over the years that the reason Little Jim has such a rich southern Black Belt drawl is because he grew up listening to Perry, who had that same melodious drawl.
Little Jim went back to Cullman when his daddy left office but Perry stayed on as the master butler at the Governor’s Mansion. He stayed through different governors, including all of the Wallace years.
Guess what happens? Forty years after Dave Perry became the Governor’s Mansion butler, Jim Folsom Jr. became governor. Perry’s boy had come home. It was like old home week.
Jim Folsom Jr. was my favorite governor to serve with during my entire legislative career. He was the only one who was close to my age. We were friends. I was friends with his wife, Marsha Guthrie from Cullman, while we were at the University of Alabama. She was a student leader. So, Jim and Marsha were truly friends of mine and still are.
During legislative sessions and even during the rest of the year, occasionally Little Jim would invite his closest legislative friends and political buddies to join him in the “Library,” a backroom in the center part of the mansion. We would talk politics in the same room that his daddy held court in 40 years earlier. Guess who would join us sometimes? Mr. Dave Perry would tell us Big Jim stories we had never heard. Dave passed away a few years ago in his hometown of Montgomery. He was an Alabama legend.
The Alabama front porch narrative appears to be poised to transcend to a new generation of Alabamians. My lifetime friend, Bill Blount of Montgomery, recently shared this story of what goes around comes around in Alabama.
The 1954 governor’s race was between “Big Jim” Folsom and Baldwin County state Sen. Jimmy Faulkner. Faulkner had been the mayor of Bay Minette and owned several southwest Alabama newspapers. Big Jim beat Faulkner handily to win his second term as governor. The other two contestants in that governor’s race, whose progeny makeup our “Big Porch,” were state Sen. Bruce Henderson from Wilcox County and state Sen. Karl Harrison from Shelby County.
At that time, the president of the Alabama Young Democrats was Frank Long, who was openly for Folsom and would later become legal adviser to Folsom and an integral part of his Cabinet. Faulkner made a big deal about Long’s allegiance to Folsom and refused to attend all Democratic events.
Fast forward to today. Marshall Long, a Montgomery attorney who serves as an administrative assistant for the state Senate now, is Frank Long’s grandson. Marshall is married to Caroline Camp, who happens to be Jimmy Faulkner’s great-granddaughter. Further, Marshall’s brother, Frank of Birmingham, dates Nickie Reese who is the great- granddaughter of Bruce Henderson, the aforementioned candidate from Wilcox County.
Lastly, the Long brothers grew up with Bill Blount’s sons, Wilson and Jesse Blount. Their great-uncle was Karl Harrison from Columbiana in Shelby County, who was also a candidate. Matter of fact, Jess’s middle name is Harrison.
Kathryn Tucker Windham would enjoy this generational transition. She would simply smile and agree that her adage lives on – Alabama is indeed a big front porch.
We will continue with more stories next week.
Steve Flowers served 16 years in the Alabama Legislature. Readers can email him at steve@steveflowers.us.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Headline for Sept. 4, 2022 | INSIDE THE STATEHOUSE
