XCV.
XCV. LITTLETON WALLER TAZEWELL.
XCV. Governor.
XCV. March, 1834, to April 30, 1836.
Littleton Waller Tazewell, son of Judge Henry
Tazewell and Dorothea Waller Tazewell, was born December
17, 1774. The founder of his family was of English origin.
William Tazewell, lawyer, the first settler in Virginia, arrived
in the Colony in 1715, and made his home in Accomac County.
His second son, Littleton, was the father of Judge Henry
Tazewell, in whose honor the County of Tazewell, Virginia
(formed in 1799 from Russell and Wythe), was named. Littleton
Waller Tazewell, his son, enjoyed peculiar advantages
in childhood, having lived with his grandfather, Judge Benjamin
Waller, who superintended his studies and taught him
English and Latin himself. When Judge Waller was dying
he committed young Tazewell to the care of his life-long
friend, the distinguished George Wythe. This threw him
into very intimate and improving relations with the man who
presided over the courts which Tazewell attended in later
years in Richmond.
Littleton Waller Tazewell graduated at William and Mary
College, and subsequently studied law, receiving his license
to practice, May 14, 1796. He at once developed great
ability in his profession. In the spring of 1796 he was
returned to the House of Delegates from James City County,
and continued a member of that body until 1800, when, at the
age of twenty-five, he was elected to the United States House
of Representatives. At the close of his Congressional term,
Mr. Tazewell returned to his home and entered upon the
active practice of his profession in the City of Norfolk, which
he now made his residence, and where, in 1802, he married
Anne Stratton, daughter of Colonel John Nivison.
In 1816, during an absence from home, and without his
knowledge, Mr. Tazewell was elected by the people of Norfolk
to the House of Delegates. In 1820, he was one of the
Commissioners under the Florida treaty, and in 1824, he was
elected to the United States Senate. Here he took his seat
in January, 1825, and performed an active and conspicuous
part in senatorial affairs. In 1829 he was re-elected to the
same high and responsible office, and whilst in attendance on
the Senate, was elected by the Norfolk district a member of
the Convention which assembled in Richmond, October 5,
1829, to revise the first Constitution of Virginia. Here Mr.
Tazewell made the opening speech and took a leading part in
that memorable body. In 1829, he was also tendered the
mission to England, but declined the honor. He continued
in the Senate until 1833, serving as Chairman of the Committee
on Foreign Relations, and as President pro tem. of the
body during a portion of the twenty-second Congress. In
January, 1834, he was elected Governor of Virginia, and
entered upon the duties of this office March 31 ensuing. He
resigned April 30, 1836, before the expiration of the term,
upon a disagreement with the State Legislature. That body
had passed resolutions instructing the Senators from Virginia
to vote for the resolutions to expunge from the journal of the
Senate the resolutions censuring General Jackson. These
instructions Governor Tazewell declined to approve, and he
resigned his office, never afterwards appearing in public service.
He is said to have been a very finished speaker, adding
to consummate logic, the force of an address that was singularly
pleasing and effective. His appearance in youth was
handsome, in middle age striking, but in his latter days it
might have been called almost majestic, with his commanding
stature, his massive features, and hair of silvery whiteness,
which fell in ringlets about his neck. He died in Norfolk,
May 6, 1860. He was the author of a "Review of the
Negotiations between the United States and Great Britain
respecting the commerce between the two countries."
