George W. Summers

George W. Summers
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 14th district
In office
1841 – 1885
Preceded by Andrew Beirne
Succeeded by Joseph Johnson
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the Kanawha County district
In office
December 6, 1830 – December 2, 1832
Preceded by Matthew Dunbar
Succeeded by James H. Fry
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the Kanawha County district
In office
December 1, 1834 – December 4, 1836
Preceded by James H. Fry
Succeeded by Andrew Donnelly, Jr.
Personal details
Born (1804-03-04)March 4, 1804
Fairfax County, Virginia, U.S.
Died September 19, 1868(1868-09-19) (aged 64)
Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
Political party Whig
Profession Politician, Lawyer, Judge

George William Summers (March 4, 1804 – September 19, 1868) was an attorney, politician, and judge from Virginia and what became West Virginia) during the American Civil War.

Early and family life

Summers was born in Fairfax County, Virginia to George Summers and his wife, the former Nancy Ann Smith Radcliffe. His father represented Fairfax County in the House of Delegates for four terms, then moved his family to Kanawha County (later Putnam County) in 1814. Young George Summers graduated from Ohio University in 1825.

On February 7, 1833 in Charleston he married Ammazetta Laidley (1818-1892), and they had sons Lewis Summers (1844-1928) and George Laidley Summers (1848-1863).[1]

Career

Summers was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1827 and opened a law practice in Charleston.

In 1830, voters in Kanawha County elected Summers to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served from 1830 to 1832 (when he was defeated by James H. Fry, whom he defeated two years later), and again in the part-time position from 1834 to 1836.[2]

Later, in 1840, voters elected Summers was a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he represented what was then Virginia's 19th Congressional District. Summers served in the Twenty-Seventh and Twenty-Eighth Congresses, and despite the abolition of the 19th district after the 1840 census. He won re-election to the restructured 14th Congressional district, but was defeated for reelection in 1844 by Joseph Johnson.

Summers again represented Kanawha County as a delegate in the 1850 Virginia Constitutional Convention.[3] However, his attempt to become Governor of Virginia failed in 1851, as he again lost to Joseph Johnson. The Virginia General Assembly, nonetheless elected Summers a circuit court judge for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit.

In 1861, Kanawha County voters again elected Summers to represent them, at the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861. He vehemently opposed Virginia's secession from the Union and in March 1861 hoped, with associates, to call a border state convention in Nashville or Frankfort (sometimes called the "Guthrie Plan" after James Guthrie of Kentucky) to forestall the looming conflict.[4] After the secession vote, Summers resigned and was replaced by Andrew Parks.[5][6]

Death and legacy

Summers died in Charleston on September 19, 1868.

In 1871, the West Virginia Legislature honored Summers by forming Summers County from portions of Fayette, Greenbrier County, Mercer County, and Monroe County.

References

  1. ↑ 1860 U.S. Federal Census for Kanawha County Virginia, family no. 2396; also shows Summers as owning $53,000 in real property and $20,000 in personal property, which could include slaves, particularly since his post office was the Kanawha salines and slaves were used to stoke the fires to evaporate the salt.
  2. ↑ Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library pp. 356, 360, 372, 376
  3. ↑ Leonard p. 442
  4. ↑ Allan Nevins, The War for the Union, vol. 1, The Improvised War, 1861-1862 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1959), p. 52 n. 30.
  5. ↑ Leonard p. 475 and note
  6. ↑ Virginia Biographical Encyclopedia online at ancestry.com indicates that Summers signed the secession ordinance and supported the Confederate cause; however, the source is inaccurate in stating that he was born in Fayette county instead of Fairfax County, and also gives his middle name as Washington instead of William per findagrave; his gravestone uses only "w" per the photo and the online marriage certificate does not use a middle name nor initial
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Andrew Beirne		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 19th congressional district
March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843 (obsolete district) 		Succeeded by
CD abolished
Preceded by
Henry A. Wise		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 14th congressional district
March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845 		Succeeded by
Joseph Johnson
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