John Wickham (June 6, 1763 – January 22, 1839) was an American Loyalist, attorney and slaveholder. One of very few Loyalists to achieve any sort of national prominence in the United States after the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, Wickham may be best remembered for his role defending former

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Aaron Burr who was accused of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

but acquitted in 1807.

Early and family life

Born in the village of Cutchogue,

colony of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Unit ...

, John Wickham was the oldest son of Rev. John Wickham Sr. and his wife Mary Smith Fanning. His father was a minister in the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

and remained a Loyalist as many in the colonies grew dissatisfied with the British administration and additional taxes imposed to offset the cost of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

(which ended the year of Wickham's birth). His uncle Parker Wickham was also active in local New York government and a Loyalist. Following his move to Richmond, Virginia after the American Revolutionary War as discussed below, Wickham married his first cousin Mary Smith Fanning and had two children. After her early death, he married Elizabeth Seldon McClurg and had seventeen more children. McClurg was the daughter of Dr. James McClurg, who thrice served as Richmond's mayor, and was a delegate to the

Philadelphia Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention f ...

, which framed the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

in 1787.

American Revolutionary War loyalist

Although John Wickham was a

first cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

of Revolutionary War hero

Nathaniel Fanning Nathaniel Fanning (31 May 1755 – 30 September 1805) was an officer in the Continental Navy and later the United States Navy, who served aboard ''Bonhomme Richard'' during its 1779 battle with HMS ''Serapis''. Fanning was born in Stoningt ...

, he was heavily influenced by his uncle

Edmund Fanning Edmund Fanning (July 16, 1769 – April 23, 1841) was an American explorer and sea captain, known as the "Pathfinder of the Pacific." Life Born in Stonington in the British Crown Colony of Connecticut to Gilbert and Huldah Fanning, from ne ...

, who became a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

(later a general) in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. Wickham enlisted as an ensign in a unit Fanning raised and called the

King's American Regiment The King's American Regiment, also known as the "Associated Refugees", were a Loyalist regiment during the American Revolutionary War. The King's American Regiment was raised on Staten Island in the Province of New York in December 1776 by Colon ...

. While traveling through Virginia, Wickham was captured and put on trial as a spy, but acquitted. Wickham's uncle Parker Wickham was kidnapped by Connecticut patriots in 1777 and warned against further loyalist activities. Following Britain's withdrawal from New York in 1779, Parker Wickham was banished from

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

under an act of

attainder In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditar ...

. Despite vigorously declaring his innocence, Parker Wickham never received a trial and the legislation sentenced him to death if he returned to New York, so he lived the rest of his life in Connecticut. Wickham's own trial in Virginia and comparison with the unfairness of his uncle's expulsion from New York gave John Wickham a lifelong appreciation of the sanctity of a person's legal rights, regardless of their political affiliation.

Legal education and career

After the Revolutionary War, Wickham remained in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is ...

and earned a degree in law from the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

, where he became a close friend of John Marshall, later fourth Chief Justice of the U.S. After admission to the Virginia bar Wickham moved to Richmond and established a private legal practice. Helping British merchants collect debts from American businessmen proved profitable. Like Marshall, Wickham invested some of his profits and became a slaveholder, owning several enslaved people by the 1810 U.S. census, 15 enslaved people a decade later, and 23 enslaved people in the last federal census in his lifetime.1830 U.S. Federal Census for Richmond Madison Ward, Richmond (Independent City), Virginia pp. 39-40 of 42 Meanwhile, in 1807, Wickham was lead counsel for Aaron Burr in his trial for treason. Although

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

took an active role in trying to have his former Vice President executed, the jurors found Burr innocent. Wickham's old friend John Marshall was the presiding judge. In addition to leasing out slaves or operating a farm by means of enslaved labor, Wickham bred racehorses. The best and most famous of them all was

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, which Wickham lost in a card game. Boston became one of the greatest horses of his time, and sired the famous studhorse, Lexington.

Death and legacy

Wickham died in 1839 and was buried in Richmond's

Shockoe Hill Cemetery The Shockoe Hill Cemetery is a historic cemetery located on Shockoe Hill in Richmond, Virginia. History Shockoe Hill Cemetery, as it is presently called, was established in 1820, with the initial burial made in 1822. It was earlier known as the ...

. Many of his children intermarried with the

First Families of Virginia First Families of Virginia (FFV) were those families in Colonial Virginia who were socially prominent and wealthy, but not necessarily the earliest settlers. They descended from English colonists who primarily settled at Jamestown, Williamsbur ...

and many descendants became lawyers and politically active. His grandson Williams Carter Wickham owned a plantation in

Hanover County Hanover County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,979. Its county seat is Hanover Courthouse. Hanover County is a part of the Greater Richmond Region. History Located in the wester ...

through one such marriage and became the first descendant to serve in 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, 16 ...

. Though a Unionist in the 1861 Virginia Secession Convention, W. C. Wickham became a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

officer following the secession vote and rose to the rank of general. He would ultimately serve in both houses of the

(though as a Republican following the war) and also became president of the rebuilt Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (a Baltimore-based rival to Richmond railroads that failed to connect to the Ohio Valley before the Civil War). His son (John Wickham's great-grandson) Henry T. Wickham would continue the family's legal, military, business and political traditions and served more than four decades in the Virginia General Assembly (all but two years in the

Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

, in which he twice became speaker pro tempore). His granddaughter Charlotte Wickham married

William Henry Fitzhugh Lee William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (May 31, 1837 – October 15, 1891), known as Rooney Lee (often spelled "Roony" among friends and family) or W. H. F. Lee, was the second son of General Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Custis. He was a planter, a Confed ...

, the son of General Robert E. Lee. Wickham's residence, Wickham House, is now part of the Valentine Richmond History Center.

References

External links