The life of Henry A. Wise of Virginia, 1806-1876

Contents

PAOB

Barton Haxall Wise ix

Chapter I

The Eastern Shore Peninsula. The Wise Family. Birth of Henry A. Wise and School Days at Margaret Academy and Washington College. Attends Law School of Judge Tucker in Winchester 1

CHAPTER n

Marriage to Miss Jennings and Removal to Nashville. Visit to the "Hermitage" and Impressions of "Old Hickory." Practice of the Law and Return to Virginia ... 25

CHAPTER in

Political Views and Election to Congress. Personal Appearance. Duel with Richard Coke 34

CHAPTER IV

The Twenty-third Congress. The Debates over the Abolition

Petitions. John Quincy Adams 42

CHAPTER V

Advocates Building of an Ironclad. Opposes Van Buren's Election. A Reporter's Description of Wise. The Expunging Resolutions. Death of his Wife. Views on Temperance. Sargent S. Prentiss 63

CHAPTER VI The Graves-Cilley Duel 80 vi CONTENTS

CHAPTER Vn

PAOB

The Nomination of Harrison and Tyler. "The Union of the Whigs for the Sake of the Union." Campaign of 1840. Mr. Tyler's Administration. Annexation of Texas. Wise made Minister to Brazil. Parting Advice to his Constituents. Second Marriage 87

CHAPTER Vin

Trip to Brazil on Board the " Constitution." Life at Rio. The African Slave-trade. Visit of General Sherman. Events leading to Wise's Return 108

CHAPTER IX

Wise's Home on Onancock Creek. Resumes the Practice of

Law. Anecdotes of his Career ...... 120

CHAPTER X

The Movement leading to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850-51. The Mixed and White Basis. Wise's Part in the Convention. The Struggle for Equality of Representation in Virginia 129

CHAPTER XI

Third Marriage. Opinion of Old Bachelors. Address before the Virginia Colonization Society. " Africa gave to Virginia a Savage and a Slave, Virginia gives back to Africa a Citizen and a Christian ! " Views in Regard to the Negro and Slavery. Delegate to the National Democratic Convention of 1852 155

CHAPTER XII

The Virginia Campaign of 1855. The Overthrow of Know-nothingism in the South. " I have met the Black Knight with his Visor down and his Shield and Lance are broken " 165

CONTENTS vii

CHAPTER Xm

PAGE

Urged to become a Presidential Candidate. Inauguration as Governor. Advocates Buchanan for President. Conference at Raleigh. The Ceredo Colony in Virginia. Views as to Thanksgiving Day. Improvement and Material Development of Virginia, and Causes that had retarded it stated. Views on Subject of an Oyster Tax and State Insurance. State Arms, Finances, etc. .... 206

CHAPTER XIV

The John Brown Invasion. His Trial and Execution. Wise's Description of him and Message to the Legislature. The Report of the Legislative Committee. Unveiling of the Washington Monument at Richmond 240

CHAPTER XV

Purchases " RoUeston " near Norfolk. Declines to be a Candidate before the Charleston Convention. Supports Breckenridge and Lane. Opposes Secession and favors " Fighting in the Union." The Virginia Convention of 1861 and Wise's Part in it 262

CHAPTER XVI War. The Campaign in Western Virginia .... 282

CHAPTER XVII Roanoke Island 305

CHAPTER XVm

Writes to General Lee advocating the Construction of a Marine Battery by the Confederacy. Assignment to command a Brigade. Takes Part in Battle of Malvern Hill. Stationed at Chajffin's Bluff. Anecdotes of Generals Lee and Wise. Williamsburg Expedition. Ordered to South Carolina. A War-time Aurora Borealis 316

Vlll CONTENTS

CHAPTER XIX

PAQK

Ordered back to Virginia. Fight at Nottoway Bridge. The Battle of Drewry's Bluff. The First Day's Attacks on Petersburg 336

CHAPTER XX

The Battle of the Crater. Grant's Attacks on Lee's Right in March, 1865. The Retreat to Appomattox. Sailor's Creek. Surrender of Lee's Army. Wise paroled .... 357

CHAPTER XXI

Scenes at the Surrender. Generals Meade and Custer. "Wise visits his Son and Friends in South-side, Virginia. His Horse, Pair of Mules, and an Ambulance seized. Finds his Home in Possession of the Freedman's Bui-eau. Oil Paintings and Furniture stolen. Anecdote of General Butler. CoiTespondence with General Lee in regard to Proclamation of Amnesty. Indicted for Treason. Locates in Richmond and resumes Practice of Law. Correspondence with his Daughter and the Hon. Fernando Wood. Views of the Political Conditions in Virginia. Advice to the Young Men of the State 367

CHAPTER XXII

Habit of Swearing. Love of Paradox. Temperament and Characteristics. Estimate of him as a Public Man, and his Position with regard to the Slavery Question. Views on the Civil War. His Oratory. Fondness for Whittling and Good Living. Religious Views. Love of the Country. Sickness and Death. Tributes of Judge Crump and Others 402

BARTON HAXALL WISE

1865-1899

Barton Haxall Wise, the author of this volume, departed this life February 6, 1899, at the early age of thirty-three. He was the youngest and last surviving child of the marriage of the Rev. Henry A. Wise and Harriet Haxall, and grandson of Henry A. Wise, whose life he has written. He came into the world in troublous times. He was born at the crisis of the great civil strife, which threatened the existence of the Union ; and the brief span of his earthly journey was punctuated with more than the ordinary number of landmarks of domestic bereavement. His father, a brilliant young Episcopalian divine, was classmate at college with Phillips Brooks of Boston, Bishop Potter of New York, Bishop Randolph of Virginia, and many other distinguished graduates of the Virginia Theological Seminary. They counted him as their peer in learning, eloquence, manliness, and Christian zeal. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was in charge of a church in Philadelphia. Although a non-combatant, his sympathies were with his family and friends, and he returned to his native State. During the war he filled sundry parishes in Virginia, and several children were born to him. Soon after the restoration of peace, he was called to Christ Church in Baltimore, but fell a victim to disease, and died in 1868, just when his eloquence and piety were gaining rapid recognition.

X BARTON HAXALL WISE

He left a widow and two little boys, the younger of whom is the subject of this sketch.

The youth of the child was passed in Richmond, Virginia, amid scenes of change and mourning, which could not fail to make a deep impression upon him. His grandfather Wise, at whose house he was a frequent visitor, was no longer the fiery and impetuous Harry of by-gone days, but the boy knew him as an old and broken man, who, after a stormy and dramatic career, in which he had gained prominence and honor, had been overtaken by disasters, political and domestic, which had nearly conquered his indomitable spirit. Yet one strong trait was as prominent in his grandfather's old age as it had been throughout his life, and it is somewhat surprising that the book dwells so lightly upon it, for no man ever more thoroughly enjoyed the companionship of children, or possessed for them a greater fascination. My earliest recollection of Barton Wise was when, as a little boy, he came, with a brother a year or two older than himself, in charge of their mother, or a black mammy, to visit their grandfather Wise. They were handsome, sturdy children, and their coming was a sure, if temporary, antidote to the gloomy broodings into which, at times, in those days, the grandfather was wont to relapse.

The home of Governor Wise was not more attractive or happier than that of their grandfather Haxall, with whom they lived, but, on such occasions, it was a merrier and noisier spot. The hearty greetings which awaited them, the games and toys and romps provided for their diversion, made lifelong impressions upon the boy. Many a day their sports were ended by the tired little one clambering into his grandfather's lap and falling asleep encircled by his loving arms. Although the child had known both parents, and all his grandparents, he buried

BARTON HAXALL WISE XI

them and his only brother, one by one, before he was a man. To him there was beyond question a note of pathos in those sad lines of Praed reproduced near the end of the book, which his grandfather loved to repeat in his last days.

He received an excellent education. When he was a small boy he was placed in the Pampatike School, at the home of Colonel Thos. H. Carter, one of the few establishments which retained the character of the olden times, and he fell under the influence of a lovely woman, Mrs. Carter, who has stamped upon every boy attending the school, the impress of her singular refinement and high character. He afterward attended the University of Virginia, where he graduated in law, and then devoted several years to travel in Europe and in all parts of the United States, lovingly ministering to the wants of an invalid mother. After her death he made a brief essay in business in New York, but soon abandoned it for a residence in the beloved State of his birth, and devoted himself to the practice of the profession of law, for which he was best fitted. Although he was still a very young man he secured reasonable employment, and grew steadily and strongly in the esteem of his fellow-citizens. His practice and private means enabled him to consummate a happy marriage about five years before his death, and for the first time life seemed opening up to him cheerfully, with success and happiness in sight.

He was not a demonstrative or showy man, but one of deep affection, of clear perceptions, marked individuality, firm convictions, integrity, and high principles. Upon a recent occasion, and concerning a public issue, he proved his independence by refusing to cooperate with his party, denouncing its doctrines and arraying himself against its candidates, although well aware of the temporary unpopularity of such a course. He was a close analytical

Xll BARTON HAXALL WISE

student, and was scrupulously cautious about committing himself to any statement of fact until he had fully examined into it and was prepared to establish its truth. As a speaker and as a writer he was lucid, if not eloquent ; and as a lawyer he was painstaking, studious, growing, and watchful to a marked degree of the interests committed to his charge. These qualities are sure to impress themselves upon the community in which their possessor lives, and that they did so in his case was evidenced by the general and deep expressions of sorrow which greeted his unexpected death. Those who knew him best were foremost in attesting his moral and intellectual growth, since he renewed his residence in Richmond, and his death was mourned as the loss of a high-minded, valuable citizen.

Mr. Wise had a decided taste for literary and antiquarian pursuits. These he indulged by active participation in the affairs of the Virginia Historical Society, and by several memoirs which he wrote, particularly one on the life and services of his ancestor. General John Cropper. During his last years he became more and more absorbed in preparing this life of his grandfather. He felt, and felt keenly, that the career of that remarkable man had not been preserved in any fitting and connected record. After infinite toil and research, he has produced a thorough, faithful, and loving narrative, which will survive. The book reveals the intense interest of the writer, and a pardonable pride and loyalty to its subject. But it is singularly free from fulsome praise, and displays discrimination, breadth of view, and general reading, beyond the average author of to-day. His friends knew the keen anxiety with which he looked forward to the appearance of his work, and the honest pride he felt and joyous expectation which he indulged at the prospect of seeing the results of his labors in print. Then came the end — suddenly —

BARTON HAXALL WISE xiii

without much warning — contraiy to his own expectations and those of his family and friends. The first proofs of his loved book were lying upon his desk at the moment when his earthly work was ended.

His death was without dramatic incident, but it was sad, as is the death of the young. Sad, too, because he was loving and beloved, with much to live for ; and touching because, while he was prepared, he did not want to go. The past had been cheerless to him ; the present was bright and warm and hopeful ; and the future was opening up to him fair with every promise of what the past had lacked. The mournful task of placing the capstone upon his work is one bathed in tears.

The perusal of the book has revealed him as an abler and stronger man than even his best friends had known him to be. It draws nearer to him, than ever before, by the intense loyalty and admiration he displays for our common ancestor, one who loved that ancestor before the author of this book was born, and who still venerates his memory above that of all others.

The book itself fittingly embalms the grandfather's memory, and his fame will be henceforth linked with and preserve the name of his worthy descendant and biographer.

Moving out to life's firing line past the graves of the generation which preceded and followed, one almost feels that he is at last heir to the solitude which is the refrain of Praed's lament.

Yet there are those who still look upon them both as not dead. Those who love to fancy that, as of old, the boy, tired of life's toil, has only clambered up once more upon the old man's lap and lies there sweetly sleeping, enfolded in loving arms.

Jno. S. Wise.

New York, March, 1899.

CHAPTER I

THE EASTERN SHORE PENINSULA. THE WISE FAMILY. BIRTH OF HENRY A. WISE AND SCHOOL DAYS AT MARGARET ACAD- EMY AND WASHINGTON COLLEGE. ATTENDS LAW SCHOOL OF JUDGE TUCKER IN WINCHESTER

The peninsula formed by the Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic Ocean, and Delaware Bay includes the greater part of the State of Delaware, about one-third of Maryland, and two counties of Virginia. That portion at present embraced within the limits of the Old Dominion is about seventy miles in length, extending from the Pocomoke River to Cape Charles, and having a mean breadth of from eight to ten miles.

It is a flat and sandy tract, largely covered with pines, and swept by the breezes of the Atlantic and Chesapeake, whose waters lave it on either side. The Indians gave it the name of "Acchawmacke," or Accomack, which in our tongue signifies "land beyond the water," the meaning having reference to the location of the peninsula, separated as it is from the mainland of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay.

Captain John Smith in his voyage up the Chesapeake from Jamestown, in 1608, visited Kiptopeke, " the laughing King of Accomack," and has left us some account of the eastern shore and the Indians who inhabited it; but no settlement was planted there until grim Sir Thomas Dale founded a colony in 1612, for the purpose of catching fish and making salt, at a point a few miles above the cape, on the bay side, called "Dale's Gift." This settlement, although it languished for a while, on account of its remoteness from Jamestown, afterward became permanent and thrifty, and when, in the year 1634, Virginia came to be divided into shires, after the English manner, Accomack formed one of them.

Owing to its isolated situation, the eastern shore of Virginia has undergone less change than any other part of Virginia, and its people preserve to-day many of the characteristics of the seventeenth-century Englishmen, in habits and modes of speech. During Bacon's rebellion they harbored Sir William Berkeley, with whom they sympathized, and when a century later the storms of the Revolution broke, they sent their quota of men to join the standards of Washington; but at home naught ever happened to disturb the quiet of the little sea-girt land, and the life of its simple folk flowed in an even channel, broken by scarce a ripple.

The peaceful Indians, among whom the first inhabitants settled, had almost entirely disappeared by the end of the seventeenth century, and the dying out of the savage was followed by the coming of the negro.

Simple frame dwellings, inhabited by a body of primitive country people, in a land affording every delicacy of food and drink, characterized the peninsula at an early day as at present.

With their vessels coming from the West Indies, bringing goodly supplies of Jamaica rum, admirable for toddies, and with excellent peach brandy at home, and salt-water creeks about them abounding in the finest terrapin, crabs, and oysters in the world, the eastern shore men recked

THE WISE FAMILY 3

little of the outside world, and were a contented, happy people.

Despite its mild climate and other conditions which conduced to laissez-faire^ the eastern shore men were a more thrifty, shrewd people than were to be found elsewhere in tide-water Virginia, and the slaves were never so numerous as to deprive the peninsula of a class of hardy yeoman.

Like the contiguous portion of Maryland, however, but little of the spirit of modern progress has been felt, and it was not until the year 1884, nearly three centuries after the first settlement, that the sound of a locomotive was heard in Accomack, — communication with the outside world having been entirely by water.

John Wise, the progenitor of the Wise family in Virginia, sailed, according to Hotten, from Gravesend in the ship Transport, bound for Virginia, July 4, 1635, and settled on the eastern shore. He was then but eighteen years of age, and as far as can be ascertained was a member of the Devonshire family of that name. Henry A. Wise used to say that he was descended from Sir William Wise, knighted by Henry VIII. for his wit, and who, when asked by the king what Jleur-de-lis meant, replied, "It means French lice, Sire." This John Wise early figured in the records of Accomack and Northampton, which began as early as 1632. He married Hannah Scarburgh, daughter of Captain Edmund Scarburgh (or Scarborough), who had emigrated from Norfolk, England, and whose son of the same name afterwards became the Speaker of the House of Burgesses and Surveyor-General of the colony. With Calvert he ran the boundary line between Maryland and Virginia. Colonel Edmund Scarburgh was among the most picturesque of the colonial figures, and a haughty, domineering cavalier. He erected the first salt works in the colony, of which commodity he long enjoyed a monopoly, and on account of his influence over the Indians was given the name of "conjurer." In 1662 he conducted an expedition against certain rebellious Quakers, residing near the Maryland boundary, whom he required to subscribe to the oath of loyalty to the king's government, but upon any refusing he "set ye broad arrowe " above their door-posts.

John Wise purchased a tract of land on the Chesconnessex and Onancock creeks, the deed to which made by "Ekeekes," the Indian king of Onancock and Chesconnessex, may still be seen, and the real consideration of which, according to tradition, was seven Dutch blankets.

Sir William Berkeley, the governor, afterward in 1668, made a grant of 1060 acres to Wise, part of which was confirmatory of that previously purchased of the Indian kingf.

This John Wise was one of the justices of the Court and a man of consideration in his day and, it is said, noted for his piety. He died in 1695. He had an eldest son John Wise, but as if fearing this worthy might not survive, he named a second one John, " called Johannes for distinction sake." This first-named John, however, did perpetuate the name ; and from the landing of the emigrant in 1635, down to the subject of this biography, there were in all six generations of the family, the eldest son in every instance being named John Wise, and they continued to reside, as planters, on the family estate lying on the Chesconnessex Creek. John Wise, the fourth of the name, was a man of prominence on the peninsula and justice of the peace. He married Margaret Douglas, the daughter of George Douglas, a native of Scotland, who was the leading lawyer of his day in Accomack ; and their

]VLA.JOR JOHN WISE 6

son, John Wise, who was known as Major John Wise, from a commission held in the militia sevice, was the father of Henry A. Wise.

Major John Wise owned large tracts of land and a number of slaves and was a lawyer by profession, which he combined with planting. He was a man of high character and intelligence, greatly beloved by the people of his native county, and seems to have been one of those men to whom the inhabitants of a community naturally turn for guidance and advice. A likeness of him is extant, a delicately executed miniature, on ivory, which represents a handsome man, with large intelligent brown eyes, gentle expression of countenance, and clear-cut features. He is dressed after the fashion of the period, with high-collared blue coat, stock and muslin shirt, and powdered hair, queued behind. He married, first, Mary (called Polly) Henry, a daughter of Judge James Henry, a native of Accomack and a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, who settled in Northumberland County, was a member of the Continental Congress, and a judge of the Admiralty Court, formerly in existence, and hence of the first Court of Appeals. Judge Henry was a man of learning, whose opinions were respected. By his marriage with the daughter of Judge Henry, Major Wise had two sons, John James and George Douglas, who attained to manhood and inherited the family estates. Fort George and Clifton, on the Chesconnessex. The last named of these sons died without issue, but the former married and left the estates to his two sons, John James Henry and George Douglas Wise, in whose possession they remained until the year 1867, when they were sold to settle up the estate of the latter, who was the assistant inspector general in Wise's Brigade, Bushrod Johnson's Division, Anderson's Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, and who died from the effect of wounds received in June, 1864, in the trenches in front of Petersburg.

Major John Wise was a Washingtonian Federalist in politics and represented the county of Accomack in the House of Delegates for about ten years, beginning in 1790.

At the sessions of 1794-5-6 and 7 he was elected Speaker of that bod}^ and the year following, at the noted session which passed the celebrated resolutions of 1798, which were so strongly anti-Federalist, he was chosen Speaker over Wilson Cary Nicholas, a Republican and favorite of Jefferson. This circumstance aroused the indignation of jNIr. Jefferson, who roundly abused those of his followers who had forgotten their party allegiance at such a time and voted for a Federalist.

The year following. Major Wise, on account of his opposition to these resolutions, was defeated for reelection by Larkin Smith, of King and Queen County, John Stewart, the federal clerk being succeeded at the same time by William Wirt, and shortly after Wise retired from public life. He was at this period a widower, and having abandoned the turmoil of politics, his thoughts naturally enough reverted to the choice of a second helpmate and were dii'ected toward ]\Iiss Sallie Cropper, the daughter of General John Cropper, who resided with her father, at the ancestral seat. Bowman's Folly, on Folly Creek, a few miles from Accomack Court House : and the followinor correspondence, which has been preserved, will show with what result his addresses were received : —

John Wise to General Cropper Qivithout date).

" Feeling myself irresistibly impelled by inclination, and prompted by a sense of propriety, I have presumed now to address you upon a subject of importance and delicacy.

MAJOR JOHN WISE 7

" Having conceived an affection for your daughter CMiss vSally) I beg leave to solicit your permission to make my addresses to her, and at the same time, let me express a hope that should I be so fortunate as to succeed in obtaining her affections, my first -wishes may not be frustrated by your disapprobation, I have thought proper to make the application to you on the subject in this manner, rather than in person, because my character, (ii I have acquired any,) my condition and my situation in life are not altogether unknown to you, and if objections are to be made they can be more freely communicated in this than in any other way. I have hitherto proceeded no further with the lady than merely to obtain her permission to make this application, and Sir, I now pledge you the honor of a Gentleman, that in case you have objections, of an insuperable nature, to the proposed union, whatever may be the chagrin, regret and mortification which I may feel upon the occasion, I will not disturb the quiet of a parent anxiously solicitous, no doubt, for the happiness of a beloved daughter, by persisting any further with her.

" Permit me to assure you that I am with much consideration and respect, your obedient servant,

"John Wise."

"Bowman's Folly, 11 of May. 1797.

" SiE : — Although the application made by letter of this day was unexpected, yet my reflections heretofore on that subject have prepared me to answer : That however solicitous I may be for the temporal felicity of my daughter and future respectability of my daughter and future respectability of my child, she is the only proper Judge of the person best calculated to make her happy. Respect and impartiality ought to be shown by me to you or any gentleman that might make his address to my daughter, and I confide in your candor and justice.

" I am, sir, with due respect,

" Your obedient servant,

"John Cropper."

The reader, however he may smile, will not be surprised to learn that, in consequence of this formal exchange of epistles, Miss Sarah Corbin Cropper became, on the 18th day of April, 1799, the bride of Major John Wise. She is said to have been a handsome blonde, of a high-strung nervous temperament, and a temper of her own, and received her education at the celebrated school of Mrs. Valeria Fullerton, on Mulbury Street, Philadelphia, where she formed the friendship of Maria Jefferson, her schoolmate; and where, also, she had a love-affair with Mr. Thomas Sergeant, a nephew of her schoolmistress, and brother of the distinguished lawyer John Sergeant. This match was broken off on account of some objection raised by her father, and singularly enough, as if by way of illustrating the old saying that a marriage interfered with between two families in one generation will occur in a succeeding one, many years afterward, the son of Major Wise, by his union with Miss Cropper, married a niece of her old sweetheart.

Owing to its geographical position, the intercourse of the eastern shore, both commercial and social, was with the North almost entirely, and especially with Philadelphia, and in this already famed city Sallie Cropper had formed something of a taste for fashionable society, so that it could not have been remarked of her, as the English peasant said of Lady Canning, that " when fortune made her a fine lady, she spoiled the bonniest farmer's wife old

BIRTH OF HENRY A. WISE 9

England ever saw," for it is related that she was even better fitted for the city than a country life.

Major Wise had changed his residence, prior to his second marriage, from his estate on the Chesconnessex, to the little village of Drummondtown, the county seat, where he was for some time Commonwealth's attorney, and later on for a number of years clerk of the Court, and an honored member of that representative body of old-time Virginians.

His wife bore him six children, of whom three died young. Henry Alexander Wise, the fifth child of this marriage, was born at Drummondtown, Accomack County, Virginia, December 3, 1806, and was called by his mother after a Mr. Alexander FuUerton of Philadelphia, the husband of her old schoolmistress, and the name of Henry was given in compliment to Judge James Henry, to whom Major Wise was much attached. The house in which he was born, a large old-fashioned frame dwelling, with dormer windows, located opposite the Court green, in after years became and was, until a short time past, the village tavern; on the porch of which the bucolic sons of the peninsula would gather to talk over politics and county affairs, or to play " seven-up " and " back-gammon," from which pastimes they would adjourn from time to time, to regale the inner man with the cup which both cheers and inebriates.

Major John Wise died in 1812, and the year following his widow passed away, thus leaving the subject of this biography an orphan at the age of six years. It is related of the wife of Major Wise that as she lay upon her death-bed she turned to a woman attendant, seated by her, and looking her in the face, asked if she thought that she would ever rise from her bed again, to which query the servant, with tears in her eyes, answered "No," whereupon the invalid sprang from her bed calling out, "I'll show you, you hussy," and as a result of this exertion died soon after.

After the death of his mother, young Wise was taken to the home of his maternal grandfather, General Cropper, who had been appointed his guardian, and under whose roof-tree at Bowman's Folly he remained for the next two years. Bowman's Folly is located on what is there known as the sea side of the peninsula, the terms " sea side " and " bay side " on the eastern shore of Virginia and Maryland being understood to designate localities, the waters of which flow into the Atlantic or Chesapeake respectively.