Richard Henry Wilde

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Henry Wilde (September 24, 1789 - September 10, 1847) was a United States Representative and lawyer from Georgia.

Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1879 and moved to Augusta, Georgia, in 1802. He was a businessman and studied law. After gaining admittance to the state bar in 1809, Wilde practiced law in Augusta. He served as the solicitor general of the superior court of Richmond County, Georgia, and was also the attorney general of Georgia from 1811 to 1813 as a result of holding the Richmond County position.

In 1814, Wilde was elected as a Democratic-Republican Representative to the 14th United States Congress and served one term from March 4, 1815 until March 3, 1817, as he lost his reelection campaign in 1816. Upon Thomas W. Cobb's resignation, Wilde successfully ran as a Crawford Republican to fill that seat in the 18th Congress and served only a month from February 7, 1825, to March 3, 1825. After several more unsuccessful Congressional campaigns in 1824 and 1826, Wilde ran again in 1827 as a Jacksonian to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Forsyth and won election to fill that term. He was reelected to three additional terms (21st, 22nd and 23rd Congresses) in that seat and served from November 17, 1827, to March 3, 1835.

Wilde lost his reelection campaign in 1834 and traveled in Europe from 1835 to 1840. In 1843, he moved to New Orleans, returned to the practice of law and served as a professor of constitutional law at the University of Louisiana at New Orleans (current-day Tulane University). Wilde died in New Orleans on September 10, 1847, and was interred in a vault in a cemetery in New Orleans. In 1854, he was reinterred at Sand Hill family burying ground near Augusta and then reinterred an additional time in 1886 in the Augusta's City Cemetery.

Preceded by William Barnett	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's At-large congressional district March 4, 1815 - March 3, 1817	Succeeded by Joel Abbott
Preceded by Thomas Willis Cobb	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's At-large congressional district February 7, 1825, to March 3, 1825.	Succeeded by James Meriwether
Preceded by John Forsyth	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's At-large congressional district November 17, 1827 - March 3, 1835	Succeeded by John W. A. Sanford

[edit] References

• This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress