CVI.
CVI. HENRY ALEXANDER WISE.
CVI. Governor.
CVI. January 1, 1856, to January 1, 1860.
Henry Alexander Wise (descended from John Wise,
who migrated to Virginia from England about the year
1650, and settled in Northampton County,) was born at
Drummondtown, Accomac County, Virginia, December 3,
1806. Left an orphan at a tender age, he was adopted by
his father's relatives, and in 1822 was sent to college in Pennsylvania,
whence he graduated with distinction in 1825.
Mr. Wise adopted the profession of law, and after an early
marriage with Miss Ann Eliza Jennings, moved to Nashville,
Tennessee, where he embarked upon the practice of law. In
1831 he returned to Accomac County, Virginia, and in 1832
was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at
Baltimore, Maryland, where he advocated the nomination of
Jackson as President. In 1833 he was elected to Congress,
and again in 1835 and 1837. His wife dying in 1837, he
married, secondly, in November, 1840, Sarah, daughter of
Honorable John Sargeant, of Philadelphia. In 1842 President
Tyler appointed Mr. Wise, Minister to France, but the
nomination was rejected by the Senate. Later, he was made
Minister to Brazil, and in that office resided in Rio Janeiro,
from May, 1844, to October, 1847. Returning to his own
country he was, in 1850, a member of the Convention which
revised the Constitution of Virginia. In December, 1854, he
was nominated by the Democrats as their candidate for Governor,
and elected by upwards of 10,000 majority.
In 1850 Mr. Wise's second wife died, and in November,
1853, he married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. James
Lyons, of Richmond, Virginia.
Governor Wise's gubernatorial term was admirably conducted,
but the ship of state, which had long been sailing
tranquilly on, was now about to enter dark and stormy waters.
The distant territory of Kansas had lately become the battleground
of freedom and slavery, and this conflict, in that section,
was sought by some to be transferred to Virginia soil.
John Brown, whose exploits in Kansas had made him already
notorious, now formed a plan to strike a death-blow to slavery
in the very heart of a slave-holding state.
It was towards the close of Governor Wise's administration
that the seizure of the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia,
was attempted by John Brown and his few associates. The
final object of the effort was to free the slaves, but, the
undertaking failed and Brown met his fate upon the gallows,
December 2, 1859. This was the opening scene in a great
drama, whose consummation was at Appomatox Court House,
in April, 1865. Between these two points of time lies written
the history of a bloody war.
Of the Convention which met at Richmond, Virginia,
February 13, 1861 (to consider the relations of Virginia to
the Federal Government), Governor Wise was a prominent
member, and as soon as his State severed her allegiance from
the central government, Governor Wise offered his services to
his country in the field of battle. He was at once made
Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army, and entered
upon a distinguished career as a soldier. From the beginning
to the close of the four years' war, "Wise's Legion"
was in active, military service, and won for itself a highly
honorable record.
After the close of the war, General Wise engaged in the
practice of law in the City of Richmond until his death, which
occurred on September 14, 1876. He was a man of great
energy, original and vigorous as a thinker, independent as an
actor, and brilliant and persuasive as a speaker; a man of lofty
principles and unsullied life, who gathered honors in every department
of activity to which he directed his unusual powers of
mind and character. He left several children, but his name
is also perpetuated in a county in Virginia named after him.
