Hugh W. Sheffey (April 12, 1815 – April 8, 1889) was a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

politician, lawyer and judge. He represented

Augusta County Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. Its county ...

in both houses of the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

before and during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, and served as the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1863 until 1865, when he was elected a judge. Removed from office during Congressional Reconstruction because he could not sign a required loyalty oath, Sheffey returned to his legal practice and became an adjunct professor at

Washington & Lee University School of Law The Washington and Lee University School of Law (W&L Law) is the professional graduate law school of Washington and Lee University. It is a private American Bar Association-accredited law school located in Lexington in the Shenandoah Valley reg ...

from 1875 to 1885.

Early life, education and family life

Son of Henry L. and Margaret Sheffey, Hugh Sheffey was born in Wythe County, Virginia on April 12, 1815, and named for his mother's brother. His father died when he was 8 or 9 years old, and since his mother had already died, he was adopted by his paternal uncle, U.S. Congressman Daniel Sheffey (1770-1830), a Federalist and lawyer who had moved to Staunton. Hugh Sheffey entered

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

at the end of the freshman year, after his uncle's death. Graduating in 1835, Hugh Sheffey taught for a few years in Southside Virginia, as well as read law with the Hon. Thomas S. Gholson in Brunswick. Hugh was the middle of five brothers. His eldest brother Daniel Henry Sheffey (1812-1871) was blind and traveled extensively with a black companion; his next eldest brother Dr. James White Sheffey Sr. (1813-1876) remained in southwest Virginia, became a delegate to the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 and later the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

; his younger brother Dr. Lawrence Brengeler Sheffey Sr. (1818-1866) practiced in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

; his youngest brother Robert Sayers Sheffey (1820-1902) became a prominent and idiosyncratic circuit-riding Methodist evangelist in Appalachia. On December 23, 1847, Hugh Sheffey married Louisa Cole (1820-1889) of

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. Their marriage lasted more than four decades and they had at least two daughters: Sara Louisa Sheffey (b. 1850): and Margaret (Maggie) Sheffey (b. 1851). Widowed, Louisa Sheffey survived her husband by less than a month. In 1877

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...

awarded Hugh Sheffey an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws; his alma mater did likewise in 1880.

Career

In 1840 Sheffey began practicing law in Staunton. In 1846 Augusta county voters elected him to the

as one of their two delegates. During the next decades he remained in public life (part-time). He was repeatedly re-elected as delegate until 1850, when he became one of the five members of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850 jointly representing Augusta, Rockbridge and Highland Counties (alongside future governor John Letcher, David E. Moore, Adam Stephenson Jr. and David Fultz. In 1851, Sheffey successfully ran for the Virginia Senate, but was not re-elected in 1853, losing to Clement R. Harris. In 1860, Sheffey owned eight enslaved persons: 3 men, 3 women, a three-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl. In 1861 Augusta County voters again elected Sheffey to the House of Delegates, where he served alongside William M. Tate and James Walker. Re-elected two years later fellow delegates elected him their Speaker during Virginia's secession. Sheffey was originally a

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

man, and unlike his elder brother Dr. James W. Sheffey, Hugh Sheffey had declined to stand for election to the convention which had passed the ordinance of

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

. However, when Virginia's voters approved secession, Sheffey stood by his state. After Virginia conceded defeat, fellow legislators elected Sheffey a judge of the local Circuit Court, and he continued on the bench until the winter of 1869, when he was removed during Congressional Reconstruction because he could not take the "iron-clad" oath required by the federal government. Sheffey then resumed his legal practice and remained in Staunton until his death. He was very active in Trinity Episcopal Church. Beginning in 1868, Sheffey served as one of Virginia's delegates to the General Convention and was prominent in the councils of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the

Diocese of Virginia The Diocese of Virginia is the largest diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing 38 counties in the northern and central parts of the state of Virginia. The diocese was organized in 1785 and is one of the Episco ...

Death

Hugh White Sheffey died in Augusta County on April 8, 1889 at the age of 74, survived for four weeks by his longtime wife Louise. They are both buried in Staunton's Thornrose Cemetery, in the Newtown Historic District.Find a Grave no. 62026319

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheffey, Hugh W. Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates People from Staunton, Virginia 1815 births 1889 deaths People from Wythe County, Virginia People of Virginia in the American Civil War Yale College alumni Virginia state senators Washington and Lee University School of Law faculty 19th-century American legislators