George Wythe

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George Wythe (1726-1806), American jurist and law teacher, was one of the foremost legal authorities of the Revolutionary period.

George Wythe was born into a prominent Virginia planting family. At his father's death in 1729 the family estate went to an elder brother, and George did not enjoy the advantages of considerable wealth until his brother died in 1755. George's education was therefore largely informal; he learned Latin and Greek from his mother and studied law while working with an attorney.

Wythe served briefly in 1754 as attorney general of the colony of Virginia and held political office almost continuously from then until 1778. He repeatedly served in the House of Burgesses and was its clerk from 1769 to 1775. As the crisis between the Colonies and Great Britain developed, Wythe protested against the new imperial policies. He was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1775 and signed the Declaration of Independence. On the state level he was a member of the committee that designed Virginia's official seal. The Virginia Legislature appointed him to work with Thomas Jefferson, Edmund Pendleton, and others on the revision and codification of the state's laws. This work resulted in the elimination of feudal land practices from the law.

Wythe's contributions to the history of American jurisprudence were especially significant. He taught law to Jefferson and to many lawyers of future importance in the new republic. In 1779 Wythe was appointed professor of law in the College of William and Mary, the first such position in any American educational institution; he held the post for 11 years. From 1778 until his death he was also a judge in the Virginia chancery (or equity) court. On at least one occasion, he gave early voice to the distinctive American doctrine of judicial review-the power of courts to require that actions of government, particularly legislative enactments, conform to basic or constitutional law.

On June 8, 1806, Wythe died in Richmond-not of natural causes. He had no direct descendants and wrote a will leaving the bulk of his estate to a grandnephew. The grandnephew, in financial difficulties, used arsenic in an attempt to eliminate a coheir. The attempt was successful, but Wythe also consumed a fatal dose of the poison. He lived long enough to disinherit his murderer, who was never convicted as the only substantial evidence against him was the word of a black cook. Because of the cook's race his evidence was not admissible in the Virginia courts of the time.

Further Reading

There is no biography of Wythe. He is discussed in David Mays, Edmund Pendleton (1952); Charles S. Sydnor Gentlemen Freeholders (1952); Alf J. Mapp, Jr., The Virginia Experiment: The Old Dominion's Role in the Making of America, 1607-1781 (1957); and Clifford Dowdey, The Golden Age: A Climate for Greatness, Virginia 1732-1775 (1970).

Additional Sources

Blackburn, Joyce., George Wythe of Williamsburg, New York: Harper & Row, 1975.

Brown, Imogene E., American Aristides: a biography of George Wythe, Rutherford N.J: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1981.

Dill, Alonzo Thomas., George Wythe, teacher of liberty, Williamsburg, Va. (Box JF, Williamsburg 23185): Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1979.

Kirtland, Robert Bevier., George Wythe: lawyer, revolutionary, judge, New York: Garland, 1986.

George Wythe was an attorney, judge, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and first professor of law in the United States. A mentor to Thomas Jefferson, Wythe educated a number of men who went on to achieve prominence in law and politics.

Wythe was born in 1726 in Elizabeth City, Virginia. After his admission to the Virginia bar in 1746, Wythe settled in Williamsburg, then the seat of government in the colony. He became active in politics, serving as a member of the House of Burgesses from 1754 to 1755 and from 1758 to 1768. He later served as clerk of the house from 1769 to 1775. An ardent supporter of independence, Wythe drafted a fiery motion opposing the Stamp Act of 1764. However, the house was compelled to rewrite the motion and adopt a softer tone. Wythe attended the Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776 and signed the Declaration of Independence.

During these years of politics and revolution, Wythe maintained a successful law practice. Many students sought his counsel, including Jefferson, who studied law with Wythe in the 1760s and viewed him as his mentor. As Jefferson rose in stature and power, Wythe became part of his circle. In 1776 Wythe, Jefferson, George Mason, and Edmund Pendleton revised the Virginia Code.

Jefferson used his influence to have Wythe appointed the first law professor in the United States. Wythe taught at the College of William and Mary from 1779 to 1789. One of his first students was John Marshall, later chief justice of the United States. While teaching, Wythe also pursued a judicial career and presided as a judge in the Virginia Chancery Court from 1778 to 1788. In 1789 he was appointed chancellor of Virginia, which required him to move to Richmond. Wythe established a private law school there and had as one of his pupils the future U.S. senator from Kentucky, Henry Clay. Wythe resigned as chancellor in 1792. He published a selection of his court decisions in Decisions of Cases in Virginia by the High Court of Chancery in 1795.

Wythe died on June 8, 1806, in Richmond, Virginia, of poisoning. His grandnephew and heir, George Wythe Sweeney, was acquitted of the murder. At trial the only witness was an African American, who was disqualified from testifying under the laws of Virginia. X

George Wythe

Wythe's signature

George Wythe (1726 - 8 June, 1806), was a lawyer, a judge, a prominent law professor and "Virginia's foremost classical scholar."^[1] Wythe's signature is positioned at the head of the list of seven Virginia signatories on the United States Declaration of Independence. He was the first professor of law in America,^{[citation needed]} earning him the title of "The Father of American Jurisprudence."^{[citation needed]} Wythe served as a representative of Virginia and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention—though he left the Convention early and did not sign the final version of the Constitution.^[2]

Contents 1 Life 2 Memorialization 3 See also 4 Notes 5 External links

Life

Wythe was born in Chesterton, Virginia (present day Hampton). He served as mayor of Williamsburg, Virginia, from 1768 to 1769. In 1779 he was appointed to the newly created Chair of Law at William and Mary, becoming the first law professor in the United States. Wythe's pupils included Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, James Monroe, and John Marshall.^[3]

Of these men, Wythe was closest to Thomas Jefferson — so close that Jefferson once described Wythe as a "second father."^{[citation needed]} At a time when law students often read law for a year or less, Jefferson spent five years reading law with George Wythe, and the two men together read all sorts of other material; from English literary works, to political philosophy, to the ancient classics.

Wythe was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775, voting in favor of the resolution for independence and signing the Declaration of Independence. He helped form the new government of Virginia, was elected Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1777, and also as part of a committee designed the Seal of Virginia, inscribed with the motto "Sic Semper Tyrannis", which is still in use today. In 1789 he became Judge of the Chancery Court of Virginia.

In 1787, George Washington appointed Wythe along with Alexander Hamilton and Charles Pinckney to draw up rules and procedures for the Constitutional Convention.

In John Trumbull's famous painting, The Declaration of Independence, Wythe is shown in profile farthest to the viewer's left. Trumbull's painting can also be found on the back of the U.S. $2 bill, but Wythe's image is cut off in that depiction.^[4]

A slaveholder, Wythe became an abolitionist, freeing his slaves and providing for their support. Wythe provided for his slaves, Lydia Broadnax and her son Michael Brown, in his will. The will also contained a provision for Brown's education. Jefferson biographer Fawn M. Brodie has alleged Broadnax was Wythe's concubine, and Brown was his son.

Wythe's other heir, his grand-nephew, George Wythe Sweeney, decided to avoid this dilution of his fortune by poisoning the slaves with arsenic. In the process, he killed Wythe as well, though Wythe lingered long enough to change his will to eliminate his bequest to his murderer. Broadnax survived the poisoning. ^[5]

It was the only punishment his killer received. In Sweeney's trial he was acquitted of murder in Virginia, primarily because of a law that forbade the testimony of black witnesses, a law Wythe ironically had himself penned. ^[6] Sweeney was tried for forgery, and convicted, but that was overturned on appeal and Sweeney is said to have gone to Tennessee, stolen a horse, and served a term in a penitentiary. The rest of his life was then lost to history. ^[7]

Wythe, in his will, left his extraordinary book collection to Thomas Jefferson who described Wythe as "... my ancient master, my earliest and best friend, and to him I am indebted for first impressions which have [been] the most salutary on the course of my life."

Wythe is buried at St. John's Church in Richmond, the same church in which Patrick Henry made his "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" speech.

Memorialization

Wythe's home in Williamsburg, Virginia has survived and stands next to Bruton Parish Church of which Wythe was a vestryman.^[8] It was acquired by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 1938 and is today a museum known as the Wythe House.

Wythe County, Virginia, its county seat Wytheville, Virginia, two George Wythe High Schools (one in Wytheville and one in Richmond, Virginia), George Wythe Elementary in Hampton, Virginia (the present day name of Elizabeth City County, Virginia) and George Wythe College of (Cedar City, Utah) are all named after George Wythe. The Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, a section of US-301 named Wythe Street that intersects I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia, and the Olde Wythe Neighborhood in Hampton also bear his name.

See also

• George Wythe House
• Founding Fathers of the United States

Notes

1. ^ Online site for Colonial Williamsburg
2. ^ usconsitution.net Notes on the Constitution
3. ^ Courthouse History, U.S. District Court, Washington, DC.
4. ^ americanrevolution.org Key to Trumbull's picture
5. ^ Kappman (ed), Edward W. (1994). Great American Trials. Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press. pp. 75-77. ISBN 0-8103-9134-1. 
6. ^ Stephen G. Christianson (1999). "George Sweeney Trial: 1806 - Sweeney Poisons Wythe And Is Tried For Murder". http://law.jrank.org/pages/2424/George-Sweeney-Trial-1806-Sweeney-Poisons-Wythe-Tried-Murder.html. Retrieved 2007-12-01. 
7. ^ Bruce Chadwick, "The Mysterious Death of George Wythe", American History Feb. 2009, pp.36-41
8. ^ Williamsburg site, supra

External links

• Philosophy and Biography on Wythe at the George Wythe College website
• Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856
• George Wythe at Find a Grave

Political offices
Preceded by James Cocke	Mayor of Williamsburg, Virginia 1768-1769	Succeeded by James Blair, Jr.

v • d • e Colonial Williamsburg HISTORY Battle of Williamsburg • Colonial Williamsburg History • Historic Triangle • Middle Plantation STRUCTURES Alexander Craig House • Bassett Hall • Bruton Parish Church • Capitol • Charlton House • Courthouse • DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum • Governor's Palace • James Semple House • John Crump House • Nicolson Store • Palmer House • Peyton Randolph House • Raleigh Tavern • St. George Tucker House • Wetherburn's Tavern • Williamsburg Sampler • Wren Building • Wythe House PEOPLE W. A. R. Goodwin • The Rockefellers • Abby Aldrich Rockefeller • John D. Rockefeller, Jr. • Richard Taliaferro • DeWitt Wallace • George Wythe GEOGRAPHY Williamsburg • Hampton Roads • Virginia OTHER Carter's Grove Country Road • Carter’s Grove Plantation • The College of William & Mary • Grand Illumination • Merchants Square • National Historic Landmark • National Trust for Historic Preservation

v • d • e Signers of the Declaration of Independence J. Adams • S. Adams • Bartlett • Braxton • Carroll • Chase • Clark • Clymer • Ellery • Floyd • Franklin • Gerry • Gwinnett • Hall • Hancock • Harrison • Hart • Hewes • Heyward • Hooper • Hopkins • Hopkinson • Huntington • Jefferson • F. Lee • R. Lee • Lewis • Livingston • Lynch • McKean • Middleton • L. Morris • R. Morris • Morton • Nelson • Paca • Paine • Penn • Read • Rodney • Ross • Rush • Rutledge • Sherman • Smith • Stockton • Stone • Taylor • Thornton • Walton • Whipple • Williams • Wilson • Witherspoon • Wolcott • Wythe

v • d • e Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates Pendleton · Wythe · B. Harrison · Lee · Tyler · B. Harrison · Prentis · Mathews · Wise · Smith · E. Harrison · Holmes · Johnston · Nelson · Barbour · Stevenson · Stanard · Banks · Gilmer · Southall · Holleman · Southall · Goode · Jones · Strother · H. Hopkins · G. Hopkins · Crutchfield · Kemper · Sheffey · Baldwin · Turner · Hanger · Allen · Lacy · Fowler · Stuart · R. Cardwell · Ryan · Saunders · Ryan · W. Cardwell · Byrd · Cox · Houston · Brewer · Ozlin · Brown · Dovell · Stanley · Massenburg · Moore · Cooke · Philpott · Moss · Wilkins · Howell ·

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