Wilson Cary Nicholas
Wilson Cary Nicholas (January 31, 1761 – October 10, 1820) was an American politician who served in the U.S. Senate from 1799 to 1804 and was the 19th Governor of Virginia from 1814 to 1816.
Nicholas was born in Williamsburg, Virginia. He attended the College of William and Mary. According to Nicholas's entry in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, he served in the American Revolutionary War as commander of George Washington's Life Guard until the unit disbanded in 1783. This appears to be an error: his entry in American National Biography states that "he commanded Virginia volunteer units from the fall of 1780 until the following fall, but there is no evidence that he was actually involved in battlefield action."[1]
After the war, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates 1784-1789 and a delegate to the ratifying convention of 1788 which approved the Federal Constitution.
During the deliberations, on June 6, 1788, Nicholas countered Patrick's Henry's objection that correcting defects in the new national Constitution by way of the Article V convention would be excessively difficult. Said Nicholas: "The conventions which shall be so called will have their deliberations confined to a few points; no local interest to divert their attention; nothing but the necessary alterations. They will have many advantages over the last Convention. No experiments to devise; the general and fundamental regulations being already laid down."[2]
During the years 1794-1800, Nicholas served again in the State house of delegates. He was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry Tazewell and served from December 5, 1799, until May 22, 1804, when he resigned to become collector of the port of Norfolk 1804-1807. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the Tenth and Eleventh Congresses and served from March 4, 1807, until his resignation November 27, 1809. Nicholas was chosen to be Governor of Virginia and served in that position 1814-1817.
Nicholas also served as president of the Richmond branch of the Second Bank of the United States. His speculations in western lands put him in serious debt during the Panic of 1819. Having convinced Thomas Jefferson to endorse two of his notes for $10,000 each, he also plunged Jefferson into debt.[3]
He died at Tufton, near Charlottesville, Virginia. As his son had married Jefferson's granddaughter, Nicholas was a Jefferson relation. Thus, he was interred in the Jefferson burying ground at Monticello, near Charlottesville.
Nicholas County, Virginia (now West Virginia) was formed in 1843 and named in honor of Nicholas.
[edit] References
- ^ Dennis Golladay. "Nicholas, Wilson Cary". American National Biography Online, February 2000.
- ^ Eliot's Debates, vol. 3, p. 102, quoted in Russell L. Caplan, Constitutional Brinksmanship, Amending the Constitution by National Convention (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), p. 139.
- ^ Herbert E. Sloan, Principle and Interest: Thomas Jefferson and the Problem of Debt (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2001), p. 219
[edit] External links
| United States Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henry Tazewell |
United States Senator (Class 2) from Virginia December 5, 1799 - May 22, 1804 Served alongside: Stevens T. Mason, John Taylor, Abraham B. Venable |
Succeeded by Andrew Moore |
| United States House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by Thomas M. Randolph, Jr. |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 21st congressional district March 4, 1807 - November 27, 1809 |
Succeeded by David S. Garland |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by James Barbour |
Governor of Virginia December 1, 1814 - December 1, 1816 |
Succeeded by James P. Preston |
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