WIRT
WISE
"^/^^^^^^
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-
