|
Charles Anderson Wickliffe (June 8, 1788 – October 31, 1869) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky. He also served as Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, the 14th Governor of Kentucky, and was appointed Postmaster General by President John Tyler. Though he consistently identified with the Whig Party, he was politically independent, and often had differences of opinion with Whig founder and fellow Kentuckian Henry Clay. Wickliffe received a strong education in public school and through private tutors. He studied law and was part of a debate club that also included future U.S. Attorney General Felix Grundy and future Governor of Florida William Pope Duval. He was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1812. A vigorous supporter of the War of 1812, he served for a brief time as aide-de-camp to two American generals in the war. In 1823, he was elected to the first of five consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He returned to the state House in 1833, and was elected the tenth Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky in 1836. Governor James Clark died in office on October 5, 1839, and Wickliffe served as governor for the remaining nine months of Clark's term. President Tyler appointed Wickliffe as Postmaster General following Wickliffe's term as governor. While aboard a steamship in 1844, he was stabbed by a man who was later found to be insane. In 1845, President James K. Polk sent Wickliffe on a secret mission to report on British and French intents with regard to annexing Texas and to assess the feasibility of the United States undertaking such an action. Wickliffe's participation in this endeavor further distanced him from the Whigs. In 1861, Wickliffe was again elected to the U.S. House, serving a single term. He tried to avert the Civil War by serving as a delegate to both the 1861 Peace Conference and the Border States Convention. After war was declared, he sided with the Union cause. In 1863, he again sought the office of governor, but federal military forces interfered with the election, resulting in a landslide victory for Thomas E. Bramlette. Later in life, Wickliffe was crippled in a carriage accident and also went completely blind. He died on October 31, 1869, while visiting his daughter in Maryland. ==Early life== Charles Anderson Wickliffe was born June 8, 1788, in a log cabin near Springfield, Kentucky.〔Harrison, p. 950〕 He was the youngest of the nine children born to Charles and Lydia (Hardin) Wickliffe.〔Powell, p. 38〕 His family emigrated to Kentucky from Virginia in 1784.〔Allen, p. 104〕 Wickliffe attained his early education at the local schools of Springfield, then attended Wilson's Academy in Bardstown.〔 For a year, he received private instruction from James Blythe, acting president of Transylvania University, then read law with Martin D. Hardin, a cousin on his mother's side.〔〔''Encyclopedia of Kentucky'', p. 78〕〔Little, p. 203〕 In 1809, he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Bardstown.〔Biological Directory of the United States Congress〕 He and five other prominent lawyers of Bardstown formed a debate club called The Pleiades Club.〔Hibbs, p. 40〕 The club included six members: Wickliffe, John Hays, Ben Chapeze, Benjamin Hardin (another of Wickliffe's cousins), Felix Grundy, and William Pope Duval.〔 John Rowan and John Pope also participated in the debates, but were not members of the club.〔 In his early life, Wickliffe was known to gamble at cards. His friends considered his gambling excessive, and two of them – Duval and Judge John Pope Oldham – devised a scheme to break Wickliffe of his habit. The two knew that Wickliffe would be collecting several thousand dollars at the upcoming session of the Bullitt County court. They plotted to invite Wickliffe to play cards with them and agreed upon a secret system of signals to communicate about the strengths and weaknesses of the cards in their hands. In this way, they hoped to win all of Wickliffe's money, then return it to him in exchange for his promise to forsake the vice. On the night appointed, however, it was Wickliffe who won all the money wagered by Duval and Oldham, despite their schemes. When Wickliffe later learned of the designs of his friends, he agreed to give up gambling.〔Little, pp. 33–34〕 In 1813, Wickliffe married Margaret Cripps, and the couple had three sons and five daughters.〔〔 Most notable among the children was Robert, who became Governor of Louisiana.〔 The Wickliffes contracted with John Rogers, architect of St. Joseph's Cathedral in Bardstown, to construct their residence, which they dubbed "Wickland".〔Heck, p. 52〕 Later, Wickland was called "the home of three governors".〔 Besides Wickliffe and his son, J. C. W. Beckham, Wickliffe's grandson and future governor of Kentucky, occupied the residence.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles A. Wickliffe」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|