American lawyer and politician
William G. Brown Sr.
|
---|
|
|
|
In office
March 4, 1845 ? March 3, 1849
|
Preceded by
| Lewis Steenrod
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Alexander Newman
|
---|
|
In office
March 4, 1861 ? March 3, 1863
|
Preceded by
| Sherrard Clemens
|
---|
Succeeded by
| vacant
|
---|
|
In office
December 7, 1863 ? March 3, 1865
|
Preceded by
| n/a
|
---|
Succeeded by
| George R. Latham
|
---|
|
In office
December 3, 1832 ? December 1, 1833
|
Preceded by
| William B. Zinn
|
---|
Succeeded by
| William Carroll
|
---|
|
In office
December 1, 1840 ? February 14, 1844
|
Preceded by
| William Carroll
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Isaac Baldwin
|
---|
|
|
Born
| (
1800-09-25
)
September 25, 1800
Kingwood, Virginia (now West Virginia)
, U.S.
|
---|
Died
| April 19, 1884
(1884-04-19)
(aged 83)
Kingwood, West Virginia
, U.S.
|
---|
Political party
| Democrat
Unionist
|
---|
Spouse(s)
| Juliet Ann Roberts Byrne
Margaret P.Gay
|
---|
Children
| William Gay Brown Jr.
|
---|
Profession
| lawyer, politician, banker
|
---|
|
William Gay
[1]
Brown Sr.
(September 25, 1800 ? April 19, 1884) was a nineteenth-century
politician
and
lawyer
from
Virginia
, who was twice elected to the
Virginia General Assembly
and thrice to the U.S. House of Representatives. He also served at the
Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850
and later opposed secession at the
Virginia Secession Convention of 1861
. A leading
Unconditional Unionist
during the
American Civil War
, he became one of the founders of
West Virginia
.
[2]
Early and family life
[
edit
]
Born in
Kingwood, Virginia
(now
West Virginia
), on the
Northwestern Turnpike
to James Brown (1761-1837), a native of Scotland and his wife. W.G. Brown received a private education appropriate to his class as a child, then read law.
On July 3, 1828, he married Juliet Ann Roberts Byrne. She died in 1851 and the widower remarried in 1855, in
Monongalia County
to Margaret P. Gay. Their son
William Gay Brown Jr.
, born the following year also served in the U.S. Congress, representing West Virginia.
Career
[
edit
]
Admitted to the Virginia bar in 1823, Brown practiced in
Kingwood
, the
Preston County
seat. He owned slaves.
[3]
Voters elected him the Commonwealth attorney, so he served as the county prosecutor
[4]
until elected to the
Virginia House of Delegates
in 1832 (a part-time position). Brown lost his bid for re-election to William Carroll but in 1839 defeated Carroll and again served part-time in the House of Delegates from 1840 to 1843 (winning re-election once in the interim). In 1844 Congressman
Lewis Steenrod
decided not to seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives from
Virginia's 15th congressional district
, and Brown was elected to replace him. Likewise a
Democrat
, Brown won re-election to the
United States House of Representatives
and served from 1845 to 1849, being defeated in the Democratic primary of 1848 by
Alexander Newman
, who succeeded him.
Preston County voters nonetheless elected Brown as their delegate to the
Virginia Constitutional Convention in 1850
. A delegate to the
Democratic National Convention
in 1860 in both
Charleston, South Carolina
and
Baltimore, Maryland
, Brown was a presidential elector for losing candidate
Stephen A. Douglas
.
Preston county voters elected him as one of two delegates to represent them at the
Virginia Secession Convention of 1861
, where he spoke and voted against secession. However, after he and fellow Preston County delegate
James Clark McGrew
were in the minority during the second secession vote, they protested, and ultimately Preston County sent several representatives the following month to the
Wheeling Convention
, which wanted to remain part of the Union. On June 29, 1861, pro-secession delegates at the Virginia Convention voted to expel Brown and McGrew, although they were not actually present at the Wheeling Convention. On October 24, 1861, five Preston County men in a Confederate Camp in
Pocahontas County
replaced them with secessionist Preston County lawyers
Charles J. P. Cresap
and
Robert E. Cowan
.
[5]
In 1860 Congressman
Sherrard Clemens
of
Virginia's 10th congressional district
announced he would not seek re-election, although he like Brown would be elected as an anti-secessionist to the
Virginia Secession Convention of 1861
(from
Wheeling
. Voters again elected Brown to the U.S. House, this time as a
Unionist
, and he served (and was seated, unlike many Virginia secessionists) from 1861 to 1863. Upon the new state of
West Virginia
being admitted to the
Union
, voters re-elected Brown as an
Unconditional Unionist
, and he served for the last time in Congress representing
West Virginia's 2nd congressional district
from December 7, 1863 until March 3, 1865. Brown did not seek re-election as the war was ending and resumed his legal practice in Kingwood. Fellow Unionist Capt.
George R. Latham
succeeded him.
By 1870, Brown lived in
Rowlesburg, West Virginia
, Preston County's second largest town, with a major lumber industry and a
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
station, and convenient access to the
Cheat River
. The nearby B&O viaduct is featured on the West Virginia State Seal.
[6]
He continuing his legal practice in Kingwood (which remained the county seat). During at least some of this time Brown was president of a bank.
Death and legacy
[
edit
]
Brown died in Kingwood, West Virginia on April 19, 1884, and was interred there in Maplewood Cemetery. His widow remained in Kingwood until her death in 1913, and their son
William Gay Brown Jr.
would also represent West Virginia's 2nd congressional district for three terms until his death in 1916.
[7]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
The modern West Virginia Biographical Dictionary cited below indicates his middle name was "Gay", although the archived Encyclopedia Virginia (1901) indicates his middle name was "Guy".
https://archive.org/stream/encyclopediaofvi03tyleuoft/encyclopediaofvi03tyleuoft_djvu.txt
- ^
Onofrio, Jan (1999-01-01).
West Virginia Biographical Dictionary
. Somerset Publishers, Inc.
ISBN
978-0-403-09844-6
.
- ^
"Congress slaveowners"
,
The Washington Post
, 2022-01-19
, retrieved
2022-01-23
- ^
Hubbell, John T. (1995-09-14).
Biographical Dictionary of the Union: Northern Leaders of the Civil War
. Bloomsbury Academic.
ISBN
978-0-313-20920-8
.
- ^
"How Virginia Convention delegates voted on secession, April 4 and April 17…"
(PDF)
.
Union or Secession
. Library of Virginia
. Retrieved
4 June
2017
.
- ^
Rowlesburg NRIS Section 8 p. 30 available at
http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/preston/05001350.pdf
- ^
William Gay Brown, jr. (late a representative from West Virginia) Memorial addresses delivered in the House of representatives and the Senate of the United States, Sixty-fourth Congress. Proceedings in the House, April 16, 1916
. The Library of Congress. Washington [Govt. print. off.] 1917.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: others (
link
)
This article incorporates
public domain material
from the
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|