Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/468

 WIRT

WISE

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WIRT, William, cabinet officer, was born in Bladensburg, Md., Nov. 8, 1772; son of Jacob and Henrietta Wirt, and a nephew of Jasper Wirt, who cured for the boy after the deatli of Ills parents in 17bO. He attended private schools in Maryland: in 1787 he became tutor in the faniily of Benja- min Edwards (q.v.) of Maryland, studied law and was admitted to the bar in Cul- peper county, Va. in 1792. He was mar- ried in 1795 to Mil- dred, daughter of Dr. George Gilmer of Pen Park, Md. Upon the death of his wife in 1799, he removed to Richmond, Va., where he entered upon the practice of law and was appointed clerk in the house of delegates. He was chan- cellor of the eastern district of Virginia in 1802, and removed to Norfolk in 1803, where he remained till 1806, when he returned to Rich- mond. He was employed as aid to the U.S. attorney in the prosecution of Aaron Burr for treason, and delivered a speech which gave him fame, as an orator. He was a delegate in the state legislature, in 1808; dis-trict attorney, 1S16- 17, and attorney-general of the United States in the cabinets of James Monroe, 1817-25, and of John Quincy Adams, 1825-29. In 1826 he de- clined the appointment of professor of law and president of the University of Virginia; in 1829 he removed from Washington to Baltimore, where he engaged in law practice; was counsel for Judge Peck in his impeachment trial, April 22,

1830, and appeared as counsel for the Cherokee Indian nation, against the state of Georgia. He accepted the nomination for President of the United States on the Anti-Mason ticket, Sept. 28,

1831, receiving 33.108 popular votes at the election lield in November, 1832, and 7 electoral votes subsequently. His name in "Class J., Judges and Lawyers." received six votes for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, New York university, October, 1900. He is the author of: LpAter» of the British Spy (\803); The Old Bachelor (2 vols., 1812); Sketclies of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (1817); Ad- dresses to the Literary Societies of Rutgers Col- lege (1830); Addresses ou the Trivmph of Liberty in France (1830), and letters of John Q. Adams and William Wirt to the anti-Masonic Comviittee ofYork County (1831). He died in Washington, D.C., Feb. 18, 1834.

WISE, Henry Alexander, governor of Vir- ginia, was born in Drummondtown, Accomac county, Va., Dec. 3, 1806; .son of .Maj. John and Sarah Corbin (Cropper) Wise: grandson of Col. John (county lieutenant of the Eastern shore under King George III.) and Margaret (Douglas) Wise, and of Gen. Jolin (a Revolutionary officer) and Margaret (Pettite) Cropper, and a descen- dant of John Wise of Gravesend, England, who sailed in the Transport; settled in Accomac county, Va., in 1635; married Hannah, daughter of Capt. Edmund Scarburgii; pui'chased a tract of 2000 acres of land on the Ciiesconnessex and Onancock creeks in 1660; was of the justices of the court, and died in 1695; also of John Crop- per, who came from Scotland or north of Eng- land, 1643, and married Gertrude, daughter of Maj. Edmund Bowman. Henry A. Wise was left an orphan in 1813; lived with his guardian and grandfather. Gen. John Cropper at Foil}- Creek, Va., 1813-15, and subsequently with his aunts at Clifton, Va., attended Margaret academy, and upon the death of his grandfather in 1821. chose as guardian, his xmcle, Maj. John Custis of Deep Creek, Va. He was graduated from Washington college, A.B., 1825; studied law in Winchester, where he was admitted to the bar, 1828; prac- tised in Nashville, Tenn., 1828-30, serving as sec- retary of the Tennessee Colonization society, and subsequently in Accomac county. Va. He was a delegate to the Baltimore convention of 1832, voting for Jackson for President and for Philip P. Barbour for Vice-President; served on the "Jackson corresponding committee "' was elected a representative from Virginia as a Jackson Democrat to the 23d and 24th congresses, as a Whig to the 25th-27th congresses, and as a Tyler Democrat to the 28th congress, serving, Dec. 2, 1833-Feb. 15, 1844, and officiating as chairman of the committee on naval affairs. While a mem- ber of the house he sligiitly wounded Richard Coke, Jr., of Virginia, who had been his oppo- nent for the 23d co'ngress, in a duel, Jan. 22, 1835; was called upon by William J. Graves to bear a challenge to Jonathan Cilley in which duel the latter was fatally shot, 1836. and as- saulted Edward Stanly, a member of the house in 1843. He declined the portfolio of the navy from by President Tyler in 1841; was appointed minister to France in 1843 and resigned, but the senate not confirming his appointment, he was immediately' returned to congress. He served under President Tyler as U.S. minister to Brazil, 1844-47; resumed the practice of his pro- fession, making his home at " Only " Onancock Creek, Va.: was a presidential elector on the Cass and Butler ticket. 1848, atid also on the Pierce and King ticket, 1852; took a conspicuous part as a delegate in the state constitutional con-