Henry A. Wise
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| Henry Alexander Wise | |
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33rd Governor of Virginia
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| In office 1856 – 1860 |
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| Lieutenant | Elisha W. McComas William Lowther Jackson |
| Preceded by | Joseph Johnson |
| Succeeded by | John Letcher |
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| Born | December 3, 1806 Drummondtown, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | September 12, 1876 (aged 69) Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer |
Henry Alexander Wise (December 3, 1806 – September 12, 1876) was an American statesman from Virginia.
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[edit] Biography
Wise was born in Drummondtown, Accomack County, Virginia, to Major John Wise and his second wife Sarah Corbin Cropper, whose families had been long settled there. He was privately tutored until his twelfth year and then entered Margaret Academy, near Pungoteague (later called Poncotock) in Accomack County. He graduated from Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in 1825. Wise was admitted to the bar in 1828, and settled in Nashville, Tenn., in the same year, but returned to Accomack County in 1830.
He was married three times, first in 1828 to Anne Jennings, the daughter of Rev. Obadiah Jennings and Ann Wilson of Washington, Pennsylvania.[1] Ann died in 1837 leaving Henry with four children: two sons and two daughters. A fifth child died with her in a fire.
Wise was married a second time in November of 1840, to Sarah Sergeant, daughter of Whig Congressman John Sergeant and Margaretta Watmough of Philadelphia. In nineteen years of marriage with two wives, Wise fathered fourteen children, only seven of whom survived to adulthood.[2] Sarah gave birth to at least five children. She and the last child died soon after its birth on October 14, 1850.[3] [4] Henry married a third time to Mary Elizabeth Lyons in 1853. [5]
After serving as governor, Wise settled with Mary and his younger children in 1860 at Rolleston, an 884-acre plantation which he bought from his brother John Cropper Wise, who also continued to live there.[6] It was located on the eastern branch of the Elizabeth River near Norfolk, Virginia, and was first developed by William and Susannah Moseley, English immigrants who settled there in 1649.[7] After the Civil War, Henry and Mary Wise lived in Richmond where he had a law career.
[edit] Political career
Henry A. Wise served in the United States Congress from 1833 to 1844. He was elected to Congress in 1832 as a Jacksonian Democrat. On the question of the rechartering of the United States Bank he broke with the Jackson administration, and became a Whig, but was sustained by his constituents. After his first election in 1832 he fought a duel with his competitor for the seat in Congress.[8] He was reelected to Congress as a Whig in 1837, serving till 1841, and was reelected as a Tyler Democrat in 1843.
Wise was active in securing the election of John Tyler as Vice President in 1840. Tyler appointed Wise as United States minister to Brazil from 1844 to 1847, where two of his children were born in Rio de Janeiro. After his return, Wise identified with the Democratic Party. In 1855, after a remarkable campaign, he was elected governor of Virginia over the Know Nothing candidate. Wise supported the annexation of Texas by the United States. Wise County, Texas was named in his honor.
Wise served as the Governor of Virginia from 1856 to 1860. Wise County, Virginia was named after him when it was established in 1856. One of his last official acts as Governor was to sign the death warrant of John Brown. He was a member of the Virginia secession convention of 1861, and opposed immediate secession. Upon the withdrawal of the State from the Union, however, he joined the Confederate Army and was commissioned as a Brigadier General.
[edit] Military career and after the war
Wise served as a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army. He commanded the District of Roanoke Island during the Battle of Roanoke Island. His part in the decision to cede the island when faced with much greater Union forces drew the ire of some of the Confederate government leadership.
He commanded a brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia during the siege of Petersburg, and was promoted to the rank of Major General after the Battle of Sayler's Creek. He was with Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, where he fought bravely but urged Lee to surrender. He was the brother-in-law of Union General George G. Meade.
After the war Wise resumed his law practice in Richmond, and settled there for the rest of his life. In 1865 he was unable to reclaim Rolleston, his plantation outside Norfolk, before he received pardon from the president. After Wise entered Confederate service, he and his family abandoned Rolleston in 1862 as Union troops were taking over Norfolk. Wise arranged then for residence for his family in Rocky Mount, Franklin Co, VA.
As a result, Major-General Terry of the US command in the Norfolk area did not permit Wise to reclaim the Rolleston property. In an exchange of letters published in the New York Times, Terry stated under conditions of parole, Wise had claim only to the Rocky Mount property where he had been living when he went to war. The Freedmen's Bureau used Rolleston Hall and other plantations in the Norfolk area as schools for freedmen. Two hundred were said to be at Rolleston.[9] [10]
Wise returned to law and made a career in Richmond after the war. In addition, he wrote an historical work based on his public service entitled Seven Decades of the Union (1872). His two surviving sons were both active in state and Federal politics.
One of his sons, John Sergeant Wise, wrote a memoir entitled The End of an Era.[11] John Wise was fourteen in the summer of 1860 and served in the Confederate Army late in the war. He wrote about his own memories of Rolleston and the war years, as well as about his father's role and their family members. In addition, Henry A. Wise's grandson Barton Haxall Wise wrote a biography of the former governor called The Life of Henry A. Wise of Virginia (New York, 1899).[12]
[edit] Citations
- ^ Jennings Cropper Wise, Col. John Wise of England and Virginia (1617-1695): His Ancestors and Descendants, Richmond: Virginia Historical Society, 1918; Digitized 2007 by University of California, p.196, accessed 20 Mar 2008
- ^ Craig M. Simpson, A Good Southerner: A Life of Henry A. Wise of Virginia, Raleigh: University of North Carolina Press, 1985, p.23
- ^ 1850 US Census, St. George's Parish, Accomack Co, VA, accessed 5 Mar 2008
- ^ John S. Wise, The End of an Era, New York: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1899, p.39; Documents of the South Collection, University of North Carolina Website, accessed 11 Feb 2008
- ^ Craig M. Simpson, A Good Southerner: A Life of Henry A. Wise of Virginia, Raleigh: University of North Carolina Press, 1985, p.95
- ^ Craig M. Simpson, A Good Southerner: A Life of Henry A. Wise of Virginia, Raleigh: University of North Carolina Press, 1985, p.222
- ^ Idris Bowen, "Rolleston Hall, Virginia", The Rollestonian, Spring 2002, accessed 2 Feb 2008
- ^ New International Encyclopedia, Henry A. Wise
- ^ The Wise and Terry Letters, 31 Jul 1865, The New York Times, accessed 4 Feb 2008
- ^ Idris Bowen, "Rolleston Hall, Virginia", The Rollestonian, Spring 2002, accessed 2 Feb 2008
- ^ John Sergeant Wise, The End of an Era, University of North Carolina
- ^ Henry A. Wise, New International Encyclopedia
[edit] References
- Wise, Barton Haxall. The Life of Henry A. Wise of Virginia, 1806-1876. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1899. googlebooks Accessed January 29, 2008
[edit] External links
- Henry A. Wise at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-02-13
- Governor Wise, Ghotes of Virginia
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Richard Coke, Jr. |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 8th congressional district March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1843 |
Succeeded by Willoughby Newton |
| Preceded by William L. Goggin |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 7th congressional district March 4, 1843 – February 12, 1844 |
Succeeded by Thomas H. Bayly |
| Preceded by Joseph Johnson |
Governor of Virginia 1856 – 1860 |
Succeeded by John Letcher |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by George H. Proffit |
United States Minister to Brazil 10 August 1844–28 August 1847 |
Succeeded by David Tod |
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