Richard Henry Wilde (September 24, 1789 – September 10, 1847) was a
United States representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
and lawyer from
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
Biography
Wilde was born in
Dublin, Ireland, in 1789 to Richard Wilde and Mary Newitt, but came to America at age eight
[Old New Haven]
, Juliet Lapidos, '' The Advocate'', March 17, 2005 and moved to
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...
, in 1802. His brother was Judge John W. Wilde, a judge of Augusta, Georgia. He was a businessman and studied law. After gaining admittance to the state
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
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* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
in 1809, Wilde practiced law in Augusta. He served as the solicitor general of the superior court of
Richmond County, Georgia
Richmond County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 200,549. It is one of the original counties of Georgia, created February 5, 1777. Following an election in 1995, the city of Augusta ...
, and was also the attorney general of Georgia from 1811 to 1813 as a result of holding the Richmond County position.
In 1814, Wilde was elected as a
Democratic-Republican
The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...
Representative to the
14th United States Congress
The 14th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in the Old Brick Capitol in Washingto ...
and served one term from March 4, 1815, until March 3, 1817, as he lost his reelection campaign in 1816. Upon
Thomas W. Cobb's resignation, Wilde successfully ran as a Crawford Republican to fill that seat in the
18th Congress and served only a month from February 7, 1825, to March 3, 1825. After several more unsuccessful Congressional campaigns in 1824 and 1826, Wilde ran again in 1827 as a Jacksonian to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
John Forsyth and won election to fill that term. He was reelected to three additional terms (
21st,
22nd and
23rd Congresses) in that seat and served from November 17, 1827, to March 3, 1835.
Wilde lost his reelection campaign in 1834 and traveled in Europe from 1835 to 1840. In Italy he associated with
Edward Everett
Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Mass ...
,
Horatio Greenough
Horatio Greenough (September 6, 1805 – December 18, 1852) was an American sculptor best known for his United States government commissions '' The Rescue'' (1837–50), ''George Washington'' (1840), and '' The Discovery of America'' (1840– ...
,
Hiram Powers
Hiram Powers (July 29, 1805 – June 27, 1873) was an American neoclassical sculptor. He was one of the first 19th-century American artists to gain an international reputation, largely based on his famous marble sculpture ''The Greek Slave''. ...
and
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...
.
In 1843, Wilde moved to
, returned to the practice of law and served as a professor of constitutional law at the University of Louisiana at New Orleans (current-day
Tulane University
Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...
). Wilde died in New Orleans on September 10, 1847, and was interred in a vault in a cemetery in New Orleans. In 1854, he was reinterred at Sand Hill family burying ground near Augusta and then reinterred an additional time in 1886 in Augusta's City Cemetery.
Writings
Wilde wrote a well known poem ''
Hesperia'' about the
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
and
topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...
of the United States.
His
magnum opus
A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
was an unfinished poem called "My life is like the Summer Rose" that he wrote to remember his brother, James Wilde, who was killed in a
duel.
He wrote several other works, prompting
Rufus Wilmot Griswold
Rufus Wilmot Griswold (February 13, 1815 – August 27, 1857) was an American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic. Born in Vermont, Griswold left home when he was 15 years old. He worked as a journalist, editor, and critic in Philadelphia, New Y ...
to consider including him in one of his influential anthologies. Though he did provide several pieces for Griswold to include, Wilde responded, "As literature does no good for an advocate's reputation, I should be pleased if you will give my place... to somebody else."
The only complete book-length work published in his lifetime was ''Conjectures and Researches concerning the Love, Madness, and Imprisonment of
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' ( Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...
'' (1842). Two works left incomplete were ''Life and Times of
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...
'' and ''Specimens of the Italian Lyric Poets''.
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References
Further reading
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External links
*
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Duellist's Grave
historical marker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilde, Richard Henry
1789 births
1847 deaths
Members of the Georgia House of Representatives
Georgia (U.S. state) state senators
Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers
Politicians from Augusta, Georgia
Politicians from Dublin (city)
Tulane University faculty
19th-century American poets
American male poets
Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
American slave owners
19th-century American politicians