Peter Dinwiddie Wigginton (September 6, 1839 – July 7, 1890) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a
U.S. representative from
California during the 1870s.
Biography
Born in
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
, Wigginton moved to
Wisconsin with his parents in 1843.
He completed preparatory studies and attended the
University of Wisconsin–Madison.
He studied law.
He was
admitted to the bar in 1859 and practiced.
He was editor of the Dodgeville (Wisconsin) Advocate.
He moved to
Snelling, California, in 1862, and continued the practice of law.
He served as district attorney of Merced County 1864–1868.
Congress
Wigginton was elected as a
Democrat to the
Forty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877).
He successfully contested the election of
Romualdo Pacheco to the
Forty-fifth Congress (February 7, 1878 – March 4, 1879).
He settled in San Francisco in 1880 and resumed the practice of law. In 1886, Wigginton founded the American Party, a nativist third party.
He would go on to be nominated by the party as its candidate for Vice President in the
1888
In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). The next year that also has 13 digits is the year 2388. The record will be surpassed as late ...
in place of James R. Geer.
Death
He died in
Oakland, California, July 7, 1890.
He was interred in Mountain View Cemetery.
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigginton, Peter Dinwiddie
1839 births
1890 deaths
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California
California Know Nothings
1888 United States vice-presidential candidates
19th-century American politicians