University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER VII

DOMESTIC HISTORY, 1789-1861 (Continued)
ADMINISTRATIONS OF THE GOVERNORS, 1834-1861

Littleton Waller Tazewell, Governor,

March 31, 1834-April 30, 1836.

Mr. Tazewell was the son of Hon. Henry Tazewell, who was
one of the Revolutionary patriots and constantly in the public
service as a member of the House of Delegates from Brunswick
County 1776-1778, and from Williamsburg 1779-1786, a member
of the Convention of 1776, as Judge of the General Court
1785-93, and of the Supreme Court of Appeals 1793, and as
a member of the Senate of the United States 1794-99. He was
born in Williamsburg December 17, 1774, and graduated from
William and Mary College in 1792, studied law under John
Wickham, of Richmond, and in 1796 was admitted to the bar.
In 1798 he was elected to the House of Delegates from James
City County and remained a member till 1801. He supported
Madison's resolutions of 1798 and report of 1800. When John
Marshall resigned from Congress, on being appointed by John
Adams Secretary of State, Tazewell was elected by the people
of the Richmond District to fill out his unexpired term. While
in Congress Mr. Tazewell supported Jefferson in the presidential
election, and opposed the attempt to place Burr in the
presidency. He moved to Norfolk in 1802, where he gained
much fame as a lawyer. In 1804-05 and 1805-06 he represented
Norfolk in the Legislature. That city was Federalistic
in its politics on account of its commercial interests, and this
doubtless influenced Mr. Tazewell to oppose the embargo and
the War of 1812.

After the war started, however, he loyally and patritically
yielded his support to Madison's administration. In 1816 he
was once more in the House of Delegates as the representative
of Norfolk City, but served only a single term. Under Monr
he was one of the United States commissioners instrumental
in the purchase of Florida from Spain. In 1824 Tazewell was
elected to the Senate of the United States and in that year
supported Crawford for the Presidency. Four years later, in
1828, he gave his support to Andrew Jackson as a choice of
evils, being disgusted with the latitudinarian views of Mr.
John Quincy Adams as represented in his messages. Jackson
in 1829 offered him the mission to England, which he declined.
In November, 1832, he retired from the Senate, induced
by the calls of private business and sickness in hi
family. In the meantime, he had served in the Convention of
1829-30, in which he was one of the influential members. He
joined the new Whig party formed in 1834 of all the opponents
of Jackson, denouncing the proclamation against the
South Carolina movement, though he did not approve the
doctrine of nullification. In January, 1834, he was elected
Governor and entered upon his duties March 31 following.
When the Legislature framed and adopted resolutions for
removing the deposits from the United States Bank he
resigned April 30, 1836, and retired to his elegant seat in
Norfolk, never afterwards to appear in public service. He was
revered in Virginia for his great ability; and his appearance
was majestic and commanding. Both John Tyler and John
Floyd regarded him as an abler man than either Webster or
Calhoun. He died in Norfolk May 6, 1860.

In his message of December 1, 1834, Mr. Tazewell discussed
the question of the relation of the States to the Union and
opposed the National or rather Sectional interpretation. An
act of the Virginia Legislature of April 8, 1831, appointed
Thomas W. Gilmer of Albemarle as commissioner to investigate
the claim of Virginia on the United States for and o
account of the promise contained in an act of the General

Assembly May, 1779, to give the officers of the Virginia line
in the Revolution half pay for life. John Floyd, while Governor,
had pressed the responsibility of these claims upon
Congress, and Congress by an act July 5, 1832, agreed to pay
over to Virginia the sum of $380,888.66 already paid by the
State, and to satisfy the unpaid judgments. In this message
Governor Tazewell stated that the money had been received
and that it had been used to pay what remained of the State
Debt and to increase the Literary Fund.

In his second annual message December 7, 1835, Governor
Tazewell took notice of the slavery agitation, severely condemning
it as unfriendly to the existence of the Union. A pile
of incendiary pamphlets was publicly burned in front of the
postoffice in Richmond.

Some notable deaths threw sadness over his administration.
June 24, 1834, the papers in Richmond appeared in
mourning for the death of the good and great LaFayette. He
died in Paris May 20, 1834, in the seventy-sixth year of his
age. On July 30, 1835, died Major James Gibbon, who led
"the forlorn hope" at Stony Point during the American
Revolution. But the most notable death was that of John
Marshall, who despite his Federalistic views, which the majority
of Virginians never approved, was admired by all
because of his remarkable powers of mind, the purity of his
private life, and the amiability of his temper. He died at
Philadelphia July 6, 1835, and his remains arrived in Richmond
July 9 on the Steamer Kentucky. A great procession
of citizens, civil and military, escorted his remains to their
burial place in Shockoe Cemetery.

Wyndham Robertson, Lieutenant and Acting Governor,

March 30, 1836-March 31, 1837.

On March 30, 1836, Mr. Robertson became senior member
of the Council and as such Lieutenant Governor, and on the
same day by the resignation of Governor Tazewell succeeded

him for the remaining year of his term as acting Governor of
Virginia. He was a son of William Robertson and Elizabeth
Gay Bolling, his wife, and was born January 26, 1803. He
was a graduate of William and Mary College in 1821, and
entering upon the study of the law was admitted to the
bar in 1824. He travelled in Europe, and in 1833 was made a
member of the Council of State. March 30, 1836, he became
Acting Governor, and after serving his year out retired to
private life. Soon after he moved to the country and engaged
in agriculture. In 1858 he returned to Richmond and in 1860
acquiesced in the wishes of his constituents to serve them
in the Legislature. In this body he was a strong Union man,
but, as the organ of a committee reported on January 7, 1861,
the resolution known as "the Anti-Coercion resolution,"
declaring the purpose of Virginia, if a war of coercion was
undertaken by the Federal Government to fight with the
South. The resolution was adopted. After the secession of
Virginia Mr. Robertson gave all the assistance he could to
the State government and the Confederacy. He was an ardent
student of history and two of his contributions, "The Marriage
of Pocahontas" and "The Descendants of Pocahontas,"
of which he was one, have permanent value.

In his first message to the Legislature Governor Robertson
called further attention to the abolition movement, designating
it as "a mad fanaticism," the march of which, if
unchecked, "could well be over violated faith, the rights of
the slave-holding states, chartered liberty and the cause of
humanity itself." The Legislature adopted resolutions in
January, 1836, warning the North for the peace of the country
to regard the rights of the States.

There was a meeting of the Colonization Society in Richmond
at which John Tyler was elected president and James
Madison one of the vice presidents.

A notable death occurred. The solemn announcement was
made in the papers of July 5, 1836, that the "Father of the
Constitution," James Madison, was no more. A great procession

was had in Richmond, and the people in Virginia
turned out everywhere to honor the great President.

During this year the first railroad to Richmond was projected,
the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. Books were
opened at the Eagle Hotel in Richmond for the subscription
of stock. W. H. McFarland was made president and Moncure
Robinson was made engineer. The enterprise was scarcely
organized before the books were opened for the Richmond
and Louisa R. R.

David Campbell, Governor,

March 31, 1837-March 31, 1840.

Mr. Campbell was born at "Royal Oaks," Botetourt
County, August 2, 1779, son of John and Elizabeth (McDonald)
Campbell. He had only such education as the frontier afforded
in private schools. In his fifteenth year he was made ensign
of militia, and he was afterwards engaged in the clerk's office
at Abingdon. In 1799 he organized a light infantry company,
of which he was captain. He then studied law, but never practiced.
He was deputy clerk of Washington Country from 1802
to 1812. July 6, 1812, he was made major of the Twelfth
United States Infantry, promoted to lieutenant colonel,
Twentieth Regiment; participated in the St. Lawrence River
campaign, and incurred such rheumatic ailments that he
resigned June 28, 1814. Returning home he was aide de camp
to Governor James Barbour, soon afterwards commissioned
brigadier-general, and appointed colonel of the Third Virginia
Cavalry January 25, 1815. He served as County Clerk till
1820, when he was elected a State senator and served in that
capacity till 1824. In that year he was made Clerk of Washington
County, holding until March 31, 1837, when he became
Governor. He had supported Jackson for the Presidency,
but after the Democratic party brought forward the sub-treasury
and standing army measures, he became an active
member of the new Whig party, formed of many elements.

In his message to the Legislature January 1, 1838, Governor
Campbell reviewed the history of the banks and public
improvements, and one of his suggestions was a better engineering
corps. He noted that the interest on the Literary Fund
available for tutoring the poor was $84,177.85, and he recommended
that the increasing surplus be applied to the endowment
of common schools throughout the State. The expenses
of the Commonwealth was announced by him as $437,181.92.

In his message of January 7, 1839, he expressed his dissatisfaction
with the eleemosynary nature of the existing system
of education, and recommended a system of popular
instruction to be paid for by the interest derived from the
Literary Fund and an appropriation of $200,000 by the State
Legislature.

Governor Campbell's administration covered a period of
hard times in the United States. A great deal of money
had been spent in internal improvements and the speculation
spirit had been rampant. The banks in New York, Philadelphia
and other places suspended specie payments, and
the banks in Richmond had to follow suit. Governor Campbell
called an extra session of the Legislature, which met June 12,
1837, and passed acts for the relief of the banks and to stay
executions.

Notwithstanding the hard times the work on railroads and
canals was carried forward. The Richmond and Petersburg
Railroad was completed May 11, 1838, as far as Manchester.
The passengers had to walk over Mayo's bridge.[108] The Richmond
and Louisa Road was opened December 21, 1837, to
Frederick Hall.

Thomas Walker Gilmer, Governor,

March 31, 1840-March 20, 1841.

Mr. Gilmer was born at Gilmerton, Albemarle County,
1802, son of George Gilmer and grandson of George Gilmer

of "Pen Park," Albemarle County. He was educated by private
tutors and studied law under his uncle, Peachey R.
Gilmer, at Liberty, Bedford County. He was a delegate in
1825 to the Staunton Convention called to agitate for a constitutional
convention; editor of the "Virginia Advocate"
in 1828, during the Jackson presidential campaign, and member
of the House of Delegates from 1829 to 1840, serving as
speaker in 1838 and 1839, and later was appointed by Gov.
John Floyd to prosecute the Revolutionary claims of the State.
In this he was successful. He supported Jackson for the Presidency
in 1828 and 1832, but when Jackson issued his proclamation
against South Carolina Mr. Gilmer aided in the formation
of the Whig party, with hundreds of other Democrates. He
became Governor March 31, 1840, but resigned in less than
a year on March 20, 1841.

He was immediately elected to Congress and gave his support
to President Tyler, when Mr. Clay ruptured the Whig
party by insisting on a bank and protective tariff repudiated
by him in the late canvass. He was a strong advocate of the
annexation of Texas and was called to the Navy Department
by President Tyler, but came to his death by an explosion on
board the Steamship Princeton in less than two weeks after
his appointment. He married Anne E. Baker, daughter of
John Baker of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, a lawyer employed
in the defence of Aaron Burr in 1802. Gilmer County
in West Virginia was named for Mr. Gilmer.

Upon his election as Governor Mr. Gilmer made a tour
of the State to examine all public works, and defrayed all
his expenses out of private funds. His message December 1,
1840, reviewed the manufactures of the State, enumerating
among them manufactures of cotton cloth, ink, paper and
glass. He stated there were in the State 3,119 common schools,
and 26,732 poor children received instruction. Mr. Gilmer
did not serve as Governor very long, because of a complication
in the Legislature. He got into a dispute with

Governor Seward, of New York, over certain slave stealers.
He made a demand for their surrender, and when Seward
declined to give them up, Gilmer refused to honor a requisition
made upon him for certain criminal refugees from New York.
When the Legislature refused to support him in this position,
Gilmer sent to the Legislature an able message in vindication,
and resigned the chair of State March 20, 1841.

His term was filled out by the Senior Councillors. John
Mercer Patton was Acting Governor for 11 days, John Ruther
foord for one year, John Munford Gregory from March 31,
1842, to January 5, 1843.

John Mercer Patton, Lieutenant and Acting Governor,

March 20, 1841-March 31, 1841.

He was a son of Robert Patton, a native of Scotland and
merchant of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Anne Gordon
Mercer, daughter of Gen. Hugh Mercer, who fell at Princeton
in 1777. He was born August 10, 1797. He was liberally
educated and practiced law in Fredericksburg. In 1830 he was
elected to Congress, and served till 1838, when he returned
to Richmond and was elected to the Council of State and as
Lieutenant Governor succeeded to the duties of chief executive
on the resignation of Governor Thomas Walker Gilmer. In
1849 he was associated with Conway Robinson in a revision
of the Code of Virginia. He died in Richmond October 28,
1858, and was buried in Shockoe Hill Cemetery.

His occupancy of the executive chair—only eleven days—
was not distinguished by any notable event.

John Rutherfoord, Lieutenant and Acting Governor,

March 31, 1841-March 31, 1842.

John Rutherfoord, born in Richmond December 8, 1792, was
a son of Thomas Rutherfoord, a distinguished merchant of

Richmond and able political writer. He was educated at
Princeton College, studied law, but practiced it for only a
short time. He was many years president of the Mutual
Assurance Society, the first insurance company in the State;
also first captain of the Richmond Fayette Artillery and rose
to the rank of colonel. He was a States rights man, supported
William H. Crawford in 1824, and Andrew Jackson in 1828
and 1832 as a choice of evils. When Jackson issued his
proclamation against South Carolina, Rutherfoord, like John
Tyler, Littleton Waller Tazewell and William F. Gordon,
joined the ranks of the Whigs, then forming of many elements
of opposition. In 1837 he, like Gordon and Calhoun, returned
to the ranks of the Democrats on the issue of the Independent
Treasury, which the Democrats now put forward to take the
place of the National Bank. From 1826 to 1839 he was a member
of the House of Delegates, and in the latter year became
a member of the Council of State. On March 31, 1841, as
Senior Councillor, he succeeded John M. Patton as Acting
Governor. After a year of service he retired to private life,
dying at Richmond August 3, 1866.

During his administration Governor Rutherfoord continued
with much ability the correspondence with Governor
Seward of New York regarding slave stealers, begun by Governor
Gilber. This correspondence was only another exposure
of the discordant nature of the Union.

The coming of Charles Dickens to the State was perhaps
the most notable event of his year of office. He stopped first
in Washington where he called upon President Tyler, whose
"whole carriage and demeanor" received from the critical
Englishman the favorable comment of "becoming his station
singularly well." He afterwards came to Richmond. Mr.
Ritchie, editor of the Richmond Enquirer, presided at a banquet
given to him in Richmond on the night of March 18, 1842.
Mr. Ritchie sat on his right hand and Governor Rutherfoord
sat on his left. There was great enthusiasm.

John M. Gregory, Lieutenant and Acting Governor,

March 31, 1842-January 5, 1843.

He was the son of John M. Gregory, Sr., and Letitia
Graves, his wife, and was born in Charles City County July 8,
1804. He was a descendant of early settlers in Virginia, and
his grandfather John Gregory was killed in action during the
Revolution.

His elementary education was acquired at "the Old Field
School." He taught school in James City County, and in
1830 he graduated as Bachelor of Laws at William and
Mary College. He was a member of the House of Delegates
from James City County from 1831 to 1841, when he was
elected by the Legislature a member of the Council of
State. As Senior Councillor, he succeeded John Rutherfoord
as Acting Governor till January 5, 1843, when he was succeeded
in the executive office by James McDowell. This was
in accordance with an act of the Legislature, passed December
14, 1842, which provided that the term for which the Governor
was to be elected hereafter should run for three years.

In 1853 Mr. Gregory was appointed United States District
Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in which office
he served till the year 1860, when he was elected judge of the
Sixth Judicial Circuit of Virginia, serving in this capacity till
1866. At this date he was removed from office by the Federal
military officer, and, resuming his practice as a lawyer, was
soon elected Commonwealth's Attorney of Charles City
County. This post he held till 1880, when he resigned on
account of his age and retired to Williamsburg, where he died
in 1888. He married Amanda Wallace of Petersburg, Virginia,
and left a large family.

James McDowell, Governor,

Jan. 5, 1843-Jan. 1, 1846.

He was the son of Col. James and Sarah (Preston) McDowell,
and was born at "Cherry Grove," Rockbridge County,

October 11, 1795. He went to college at Yale and Princeton, and
studied law under Chapman Johnson, but never practiced. He
entered the House of Delegates in 1830, and remained in that
body till 1838. He became a leader, and after Nat Turner's
Insurrection he advocated the gradual abolition of slavery.
He was a Democrat, and supported Andrew Jackson on the
Force Bill and made a brilliant speech against nullification
in 1833. This made him a rival of John Tyler for the Senatorship,
but he was defeated, and John Tyler's opposition to
the Force Bill was endorsed by the General Assembly. On
January 1, 1843, he was elected Governor, and after serving
three years was elected to the House of Representatives,
succeeding his brother-in-law, William Taylor, who died January
17, 1846, serving until 1851, with conspicuous ability. His
most memorable effort in Congress was his speech favoring
the admission of California to the Union. He died at Lexington,
Virginia, August 24, 1851. He married his cousin Susan,
daughter of Gen. Francis Preston and Sarah B. Campbell, his
wife, daughter of Gen. William Campbell, the hero of King's
Mountain.

In his message of December 4, 1843, he noticed the public
debt, which amounted to $7,350,000, of which the State held
$1,386,000 and the citizens $2,977,000. The rest was owned by
foreigners and citizens of other States. His disquisition on
internal improvements was very modern in its character
and has a familiar ring to all who read about good roads
in this day:

"Such, indeed, are the improvements almost everywhere
accompanying these roads, the new settlements, the better
agriculture, the accumulating comforts of all kinds, the
enhanced values of houses and lands, that the opinion is confidently
expressed that not only in these respects but in the
actual additional revenue which is brought by these means into
the treasury, the State has a fair dividend, the perpetuity of
it considered, upon her portion of the money expended upon
them." He described the roads improved in the State as of
great aggregate extent and cost.

The sentiments upon the abolition agitation of a man who
had approved Jackson's Force Bill is worthy of notice.
"If, however, nothing should at last be done, Virginia cannot
but deplore such an event more than ever, because more than
ever portending a period when she and every other Southern
State may be compelled to appeal to their own rights of
reserved and ultimate sovereignty—for that perfect safety
which they had fondly hoped it was competent for their Federal
compact to afford."

In his message of December 2, 1844, McDowell went largely
into the subject of the common schools, condemning the existing
system as insufficient and he returned to the subject again
in his message of December 1, 1845. He had this saving paragraph,
"that the number of pupils at the University, colleges,
academies and classical and grammar schools of the state,
though something less than 2 per cent of the whole population,
was greater, nevertheless, than is to be found in any
of the States, except New England, and is less than it is there
only by an inconsiderable fraction."

It was largely under the influence of the Governor that
the Legislature passed an act at the session of 1845-46 establishing
the free school system in such of the counties where
two-thirds of the voters were in favor of them. A number of
the counties availed themselves of this authority, such as
Norfolk County, King George, Elizabeth City, Loudoun, Fairfax,
Clarke, Kanawha, Culpeper, Marshall and Ohio.

William Smith, Governor,

Jan. 1, 1846-Jan. 1, 1849.

He was born in King George County, Virginia, September
26, 1797, son of Caleb Smith and Mary Waugh, his wife. He
was educated at private schools and qualified to practice law
in Culpeper County in 1819. In 1827 he obtained a contract
for carrying the mails twice a week from Fairfax C. H. to
Warrenton, and thence to Culpeper C. H. He renewed the

contract in 1831, and with this small beginning built up a
large business as mail contractor in the Southern States. In a
fierce attack made by the Whigs on the Postoffice Department
as conducted by W. T. Barry, Senator Benjamin Watkins
Leigh referred to Mr. Smith because of the numerous extra
charges made by him as "Extra Billy." The sobriquet became
fixed upon him, but in good sense, as his claims were just,
and well characterized the extraordinary abilities possessed
by him. He was a Democrat in politics, and in 1841-43 he
served in the Congress of the United States. In January, 1846,
he became Governor, and after a service of three years he
removed to California, where he was president of its Constitutional
Convention. He returned to Virginia in 1852,
and in May, 1853, was reelected to Congress, in which he
served until March 4, 1861.

War breaking out soon after, Mr. Smith though sixty-four
years of age offered his services and was appointed by Governor
Letcher Colonel of the Forty-ninth Virginia Infantry.
He bore himself gallantly in numerous engagements and was
promoted to Brigadier and Major General. After a brief service
in the Confederate Congress he was again elected Governor
January 1, 1864, and when Richmond was evacuated in April,
1865, he removed the seat of government to Lynchburg and
afterwards to Danville, surrendering the executive office May
9, 1865. After the war he engaged in farming at Warrenton.
In 1877 though eighty-one years of age he was reelected to
the State Senate and the next year came within a few votes
of election to the United States Senate, and soon after retired
to private life. He was a warm temperance man, abstained
from both tobacco and ardent spirits, and was a model of
politeness and chivalry. He died at Warrenton, Virginia,
May 18, 1887, aged ninety years.

As Governor his administration partook largely of his
characteristic vigor and enthusiasm. The Mexican war was
then in progress, and on all matters connected with it he was
prompt, energetic and progressive. The same spirit animated

him on purely domestic questions. He recommend in the
strongest terms the extension of the old Richmond and Louisa
Railroad, now the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, to the
town of Charlottesville and across the Blue Ridge on to
Covington to connect Richmond with the Southern and Western
States, so as to ensure the trade and travel to that city.
His views were not acted upon at once, but it was not many
years later that they were. He projected and executed valuable
changes and reforms in the capitol square and public grounds,
the utility and beauty of which may be seen to this day.[109]

The treaty of peace was ratified by Mexico May 19, 1848,
and Richmond citizens gave a dinner to the Virginia Regiment
on the return home August 5 of the same year.

John B. Floyd, Governor,

Jan. 1, 1849-Jan. 1, 1852.

John Buchanan Floyd was born at "Smithfield," Montgomery
County, June 1, 1806, eldest son of Governor John
Floyd and Letitia Preston, his wife. He was graduated from
the College of South Carolina in 1826, and began the practice
of law in 1828. He resided in Arkansas from 1836 to 1839, then
came back to Virginia and settled in Washington County,
where he pursued his law practice. He served in the House of
Delegates at the sessions of 1847-48, 1848-49 and 1855-56. He
became Governor of the State January 1, 1849, and served
three years. In 1857 he was made Secretary of War by President
Buchanan, and performed his duties with great success
and efficiency. He disapproved of South Carolina in 1860, and
directed Major Anderson to hold Fort Moultrie "at any
cost." But he was hopeful of peace and when Major Anderson
without orders moved his garrison to Fort Sumter,
Floyd considered that the status quo, which the administration
promised the South Carolina authorities to observe, had
been violated, and on the refusal of the President to retire

the troops he resigned his office. He returned to Virginia,
and on May 23, 1861, was made brigadier-general in the Confederate
army, and held command with General Wise in West
Virginia. He was transferred to Tennessee, and in February,
1862, extricated his command by a movement at night from
Fort Donnelson. He fell under the displeasure of President
Davis for thus leaving Generals Pillow and Buckner whose
troops were captured at the fort, and was relieved of his
command. The Legislature of Virginia did not approve of
this treatment, and made him major general in the State
service, and directed him to recruit and organize a division
of troops from among the classes not embraced in the conscription
of the Confederacy. He raised 2,000 men and operated
on the Big Sandy River with success. Shortly afterwards,
however, he was attacked with cancer of the stomach and
forced to return home. He died near Abingdon, Washington
County, Virginia, August 26, 1863. General Floyd married
early in life his cousin Sarah Buchanan, but left no children.

For many years Floyd was a favorite subject of attack by
Northern writers. He was unjustly charged with scattering
the army in order to promote secession, but Floyd was opposed
to secession and Adjutant General Townsend shows that the
changes in the station of troops during Floyd's incumbency of
the war office were unimportant. He was also charged with
sending arms to the South, but an investigation showed that
the South received far less than its quota under the law of
Congress. After his resignation he was indicted for alleged
complicity in the abstraction of certain bonds of the Indian
Trust Funds in the Department of the Interior. He was also
indicted for alleged malversation in office. On hearing of it he
returned to Washington, gave bail and demanded a trial.
The court records show that on March 7 a nolle prosequi in
the first indictment was entered, and that on March 20, 1861,
the malversation charge was quashed.[110]

Floyd's administration as Governor was able and efficient.
His messages are eloquent on the two great subjects of
internal improvements and schools. His administration was
marked by two great happenings—the dedication of the great
Crawford monument in the Capitol Square at Richmond and
the meeting of the Constitutional Convention of 1850-51.

During the preceding administration a committee
appointed by the Virginia Historical Society appeared before
the Legislature and, calling attention to the fact that there
was then in the treasury $41,733 donated by private individuals
for a monument to Washington, asked that the work be
taken up and carried to completion. A bill to do this was
passed February 22, 1849. The plan of Thomas Crawford, of
Philadelphia, was accepted, and his model was placed in the
Capitol. One year later the corner stone was laid, and it was
a memorable day in the history of the State. There was a
great celebration, and the largest crowd that Richmond ever
saw gathered in the city. Among the guests were Gen. Zachary
Taylor, President of the United States; Millard Fillmore, Vice
President; John Tyler, ex-President; J. M. Clayton, Secretary
of State; W. M. Meredith, Secretary of the Treasury; W. B.
Preston, Secretary of the Navy; George W. Crawford, Secretary
of War; Thomas Ewing, Secretary of the Interior; Jacob
Collamer, Postmaster General; W. H. Devins, President of
the State Senate, and H. L. Hopkins, Speaker of the House
of Delegates, and the members of the General Assembly. This
monument—a splendid grouping of figures, with an equestrian
statue of Washington surmounting all—cost when completed
$259,913.26. Mr. Crawford, the sculptor, died of a cancer, in
London, October 10th at the age of forty-seven, and the work
was completed by Randolph Rogers.

It was a short time after this that the people of Richmond
honored the deaths of John C. Calhoun and President Zachary
Taylor by suitable exercises and ceremonies.

The other important event—the meeting of the Constitutional
Convention—occurred in Richmond October 14, 1850.

John Y. Mason was elected president and Stephen D. Whittle,
secretary. It adjourned after a few days to await the census
of that year. It reassembled January 6, 1851, and remained in
continuous session till August 1. The West had largely
increased in population and property, and more attention was
paid to its complaints. The net result of deliberations was
that figures were adopted for representation in the House
based on white population, which gave the West the majority,
and in the Senate the mixed basis of population and property
was adopted which gave the East the majority, but the suffrage
was extended to every male white citizen of the Commonwealth,
and the voters were to elect the members of the Board
of Public Works, the Governor, judges and county officials.
The Governor's term was extended to four years. The constitution
was ratified by the overwhelming majority of 75,784
to 11,063.

Joseph Johnson, Governor,

Jan. 1, 1852-Jan. 1, 1856.

Joseph Johnson, the second son of Joseph and Abigail
Johnson, was born in Orange County, New York, December 10,
1785. When he was but a lad, his parents removed to Harrison
County, Virginia, which was his home for over seventy years.
He was captain in the War of 1812. He was elected to the
House of Delegates in 1815 and remained a member by successive
elections till 1822. He defeated the eloquent and able
Philip Doddridge for Congress in 1823 and was reelected in
1825. After his term was out, he retired to private life but
on the death of Philip Doddridge November 19, 1832, he was
elected to fill the vacancy caused by it. After another interval,
Mr. Johnson was elected to Congress in 1835 and served as a
Democrat continuously till 1841, when he declined reelection
and supported Samuel L. Hays, who, however, was defeated
by the Whig candidate, George W. Summers. In 1845 Mr.
Johnson was again elected to Congress, this time over Col.

George D. Camden. This was the seventh time he had been
elected to Congress. After his term was out he declined
reelection but his constituents then elected him to the House
of Delegates, in which he served in the session of 1847-48.
He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1850-51,
and was chairman of the Committee on Suffrage. In the
autumn after the convention he was elected Governor over
the Whig candidate, George W. Summers, under the provisions
of the new constitution, he being the first Governor to be
elected by the popular vote, and the first and only Governor
from the section now comprised in West Virginia. After his
term was out, he retired to his farm in Harrison County, and
held no other offices. When the war broke out he advised his
people to side with the South. During the war he took refuge
with the Confederates, but after it, returned to his home, where
he died February 27, 1877.

In his messages Governor Johnson dwelt at much length
on the improvements in which the West was especially interested.
From 1850 to 1854 more turnpikes and railroad companies
were incorporated with the privilege of constructing
works of internal improvement in the West than in all the
years preceding. Very liberal appropriations were made to
the Western Turnpike Company, and this caused an acquiessence
by the Westerners in the appropriations made to the
various railroad companies operating east of the mountains.
Governor Johnson was able to say in his message in 1855 that
"the northwestern portion of the State wanted little and
asked less."[111] As a result of the adoption of the constitution
sectional controversy almost passed away. There was a considerable
increase of the public debt, which on January 1,
1852, amounted to $11,971,838. In 1861 the debt had reached
the figure of $31,187,999.32.

An occasion of great interest, from a literary point of view,
was the visit to the State of the distinguished writer, William
Makepeace Thackeray. He delivered three lectures in Richmond

which made a great impression. After a short time he
returned and delivered three more.

Henry Alexander Wise, Governor,

Jan. 1, 1856-Jan. 1, 1860.

He was born at Drummondtown, Accomac County, December
3, 1806, son of Major John and Sarah C. (Cropper) Wise.
His father had served in the House of Delegates from 1791
to 1801, during which time he had been Speaker of the House
in 1794 and 1795. He was a Federalist in politics and opposed
the Madison Resolutions of 1798. Henry A. Wise was
orphaned at the age of six years, and his early training was
by an aunt and Major John Custis, an uncle by marriage.
He was a student at Washington College, Pennsylvania,
studied law under Judge Henry St. George Tucker at Winchester,
Virginia; removed to Nashville, Tennessee, but soon
returned to Virginia. He was elected to Congress in 1833 over
Richard Coke, of Gloucester County, who was suspected of
nullification tendencies. A duel ensued because of words
spoken in the canvas, and Mr. Coke was slightly wounded
in the arm. He remained in Congress for six consecutive
terms, and became distinguished as one of its ablest and most
brilliant leaders and speakers. At first he was an adherent
of Andrew Jackson, but in 1834 when Jackson removed the
money belonging to the United States from the United States
Bank he and sixteen other members of Congress, called the
"Awkward Squad," went over to the Whig party, then forming
out of many elements. Later he adhered to President Tyler
in his controversy with Congress over the Bank question, and
received from him a nomination to France, but the nomination
was rejected by the Senate. Later in 1844 he became minister
to Brazil, where he remained till 1847. In 1850 he was
elected a member of the Convention of 1850-51, and in 1855
was nominated for Governor by the Democrats, defeating the
American or Know Nothing candidate when that party seemed

irresistible. He was Governor from January 1, 1856, to January
1, 1860, in which latter year he was a presidential candidate.
In 1861, he was a member of the secession convention
and advocated fighting in the Union, but soon lined up on
the side of the immediate secessionists. When war ensued,
he was made brigadier-general, and saw service in West Virginia,
North Carolina and South Carolina. In May, 1864, he
reached Petersburg with his command, and resisted succesfully
the first attack on the city, and his was the last command
engaged at Appomattox. After the war he resumed law
practice in Richmond, and beyond a brief service as commissioner
to fix the Virginia-Maryland boundary, he took no part
in politics or public affairs. He was the author of "Seven
Decades of the Union," which book gives an account of
national politics from 1790 to 1860, with the "Life of John
Tyler," as the thread. He died in Richmond September
12, 1878.

Mr. Wise was a vigorous Governor, and gave all his influence
to the promotion of internal improvements. His first
regular message, addressed to the legislature upon its assembling
in December, 1857, was full of the subject. When we consider
the difficulties ensuing from a scattered population and
the mountains to be traversed, the development of the Commonwealth
between 1845 and 1860 was truly astonishing. The
Assembly of 1857-58 made liberal appropriations for completing
the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad and incorporated numerous
companies to build branch lines thereto. There had at
times been considerable differences of view between the East
and the West, but the completion of the old James River and
Kanawha Canal, which was strongly endorsed by Wise, might
have prevented a division of the State in 1861. Millions of
dollars were sunk in the enterprise but the war came on, and
after it the Chesapeake and Ohio railway was substituted for
the unfinished project.

Among other subjects to which the attention of the Legislature
was early directed was the need of a reorganization

of the State Militia System, which at that time was weak
and inefficient. Wise's decided opinion was that a preparation
of the State in full panoply of arms and prompt action would
have prevented the war. But the peace policy prevailed in
Virginia, and the Legislature did not, even after John
Brown's raid, wake up to a realization of the true nature of
the situation. The history of this atrocious attack upon a
peaceful State has been given in another connection.

Amid the gathering storm Governor Wise presided over
two patriotic occasions, memorable in the history of Richmond
and Virginia. During the month of July, 1858, the
remains of James Monroe were brought from their resting
place in New York, accompanied by the gallant Seventh Regiment,
under the command of Colonel Duryee, and interred in
Hollywood Cemetery, at Richmond, in the presence of a vast
concourse of people.

On the 22nd of February, 1858, preceding this event,
occurred an outpouring of the people to witness the unveiling
in Richmond of the superb equestrian statue of Washington,
surmounting the Washington monument, whose corner stone
had been laid in 1850; and despite the bleak, wintry day, the
enthusiasm of the audience knew no bounds.[112]

John Letcher, Governor,

Jan. 1, 1860-Jan. 1, 1864.

John Letcher, son of William Letcher, was born at Lexington,
Rockbridge County, Virginia, March 28, 1813. He took
a course at Washington College, and graduated in 1833 from
Randolph-Macon College, where he also studied law. He
entered upon the practice in Lexington, and for some time was
the editor of the Valley Star. In 1850 he was a member of
the Constitutional Convention, and as a Democrat he served
in Congress from 1852 to 1859, and was active on the Ways and
Means Committee. He was Governor from January 1, 1860, to

January 1, 1864, thus holding the office at the time of secession,
which policy he had previously opposed but earnestly supported
when the Federal Government resorted to force. At
the close of the war he resumed practice at Richmond, and
served two terms in the House of Delegates, 1875-76 and
1876-77. In 1876 while attending upon the House, he was
stricken with paralysis. He lingered eight years and finally
expired at his home in Lexington, January 26, 1884.

Mr. Letcher's administration covered much of the period
of the war waged against the South by the Federal Government,
to destroy its right of self-determination. After the
secession of South Carolina he called an extra session of the
Legislature to meet January 7, 1861. At this Legislature he
sent in a long message on the position of Virginia in the impending
crisis. The Legislature passed an act to provide for
a convention of the people in Richmond February 13 to amend
the Constitution and to take such steps as should be necessary.
They also passed acts to send Judge John Robertson to South
Carolina and John Tyler to President Buchanan to beg them
to refrain from any act likely to involve the Union in war till
the Peace Convention called by Virginia could meet in Washington
February 3. As we have seen, the Northern delegates
to the Peace Convention opposed any real compromise and
rejected the Crittenden propositions, which were satisfactory
to the South. These propositions, while saving the honor of the
South, gave slavery no real practical advantage and were
approved by a majority of the people of the North. Lincoln,
after a month of vacillation, decided to appeal to force, and
without calling Congress together and getting its consent, sent
an expedition to Charleston to supply Fort Sumter with provisions
"peaceably if permitted, otherwise by force." South
Carolina, left to the alternative of subjecting its capital city
to the mercy of a sectional President, or of reducing Fort
Sumter, chose the latter. And then Lincoln issued his call
upon the States for 75,000 men, to which Governor Letcher
replied that "the militia of Virginia would not be furnished to

the powers at Washington for any such purpose as they have
in view. * * * You have chosen to inaugurate civil war;
and having done so, we will meet you in a spirit as determined
as the Administration has exhibited towards the South." The
Convention of Virginia, seconding the Governor, passed the
ordinance of secession April 17, 1861.

Among the public events that marked the short interval of
peace between Letcher's inauguration and the passage of
this fateful measure were the unveiling of the Clay statue in
the Capitol Square at Richmond, April 12, 1860, and the coming
on October 6, 1860, of the Prince of Wales, afterwards
King Edward VII, who was travelling on the Continent as
Baron Renfrew. In spite of the war clouds, both events were
occasions of great pleasure and festivity.