William Evelyn Cameron (November 29, 1842January 25, 1927) was a Confederate soldier who became a Virginia
lawyer,
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
, and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
. He served as the
39th Governor of Virginia
The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022.
Oath of office
On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...
from 1882–1886, elected as the candidate of the
Readjuster Party
The Readjuster Party was a bi-racial state-level political party formed in Virginia across party lines in the late 1870s during the turbulent period following the Reconstruction era that sought to reduce outstanding debt owed by the state. Readj ...
headed by
William Mahone
William Mahone (December 1, 1826October 8, 1895) was an American civil engineer, railroad executive, Confederate States Army general, and Virginia politician.
As a young man, Mahone was prominent in the building of Virginia's roads and railroa ...
.
Early life and education
William Evelyn Cameron was born in
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Econ ...
. His parents were cotton-broker Walker Anderson Cameron and Elizabeth Page Walker. He attended local private classical schools operated by Charles Campbell and Thomas D. Davidson before being sent to
Hillsboro, North Carolina
The town of Hillsborough is the county seat of Orange County, North Carolina, United States and is located along the Eno River. The population was 6,087 in 2010, but it grew rapidly to 9,660 by 2020.
Its name was unofficially shortened to "Hillsb ...
, to attend the
North Carolina Military Institute
North Carolina Military Institute was established in 1858. Daniel Harvey Hill was made superintendent of the school in 1859 and James H. Lane taught natural philosophy (physics) at the Institute until the start of the U.S. Civil War.Eicher, p. ...
in 1858. The following year he attended
Washington College
Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782. George Washington supported the founding of the college by consenting to have the "College at Chester" name ...
in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, then became a clerk on a
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
steamboat. Tutored By then Captain John F. Reynolds, Cameron received an appointment to the
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
at
West Point, New York
West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...
, but did not attend, choosing to fight for the Confederacy against the U.S. Army.
American Civil War
When 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 ...
started, Cameron became a drillmaster with the
Missouri Minute Men at Camp Jackson. On May 9, 1861, U.S. Army captain
Nathaniel Lyon
Nathaniel Lyon (July 14, 1818 – August 10, 1861) was the first Union general to be killed in the American Civil War. He is noted for his actions in Missouri in 1861, at the beginning of the conflict, to forestall secret secessionist plans of th ...
dispersed the secessionists during what became known as the
Camp Jackson affair, during which Cameron was captured but soon released.
Returning to Virginia on June 14, 1861, Cameron was elected as the
second lieutenant of Co D,
12th Virginia Infantry
The 12th Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment mostly raised in Petersburg, Virginia, for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, but with units from the cities of Norfolk and Richmond, and Greensville ...
, formerly a militia group in his native Petersburg. His militia company did not re-elect him during its reorganization. Instead, on May 1, 1862, he was promoted to first lieutenant and appointed regimental adjutant. Severely wounded at the
Second Battle of Bull Run on September 30, 1862, Cameron was temporarily promoted to captain and assistant adjutant general upon returning to duty in June 1863. He would serve under Brigadier General
William Mahone
William Mahone (December 1, 1826October 8, 1895) was an American civil engineer, railroad executive, Confederate States Army general, and Virginia politician.
As a young man, Mahone was prominent in the building of Virginia's roads and railroa ...
throughout the rest of the war, with his rank confirmed on November 2, 1863.
Marriage and family
After the war, Cameron returned to Petersburg, where he married Louisa Clarinda Egerton (1846–1908) on October 1, 1868. They had three children.
Lawyer and journalist
Cameron read the law under Judge
William T. Joynes and was admitted to the Virginia bar. Although Cameron began a legal practice, he also began a newspaper career, editing first the ''Petersburg Index'', then the ''Richmond Enquirer'' and ''Richmond Whig''.
In 1869, Cameron fought a duel with
Robert William Hughes after Cameron criticized Hughes in print for opportunism: he had changed his political views from pre-war Secessionist to post-war Republican. According to the writer
Frank Luther Mott
Frank Luther Mott (April 4, 1886 – October 23, 1964) was an American historian and journalist, who won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for History for Volumes II and III of his series, ''A History of American Magazines''.
Early life and education
Mott w ...
,
e parties met at Chester Station, on the Petersburg Railroad
The Petersburg Railroad ran from Petersburg, Virginia, south to Garysburg, North Carolina, from which it ran to Weldon via trackage rights over the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad (later eliminated with a new alignment).
History
Founding
In 183 ...
; but, before they could exchange a shot, the police made their appearance, and caused a flight of the parties. They passed into North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
, where they fought on the 12th of June with pistols. Cameron was hit in the breast at the first fire, the ball striking a rib and glancing. Hughes demanded another fire, but the surgeons declared that Cameron could not deliver another shot, and the affair ended 'to the satisfaction of all parties.'
Political career
Cameron became active in the
Readjuster Party
The Readjuster Party was a bi-racial state-level political party formed in Virginia across party lines in the late 1870s during the turbulent period following the Reconstruction era that sought to reduce outstanding debt owed by the state. Readj ...
led by his former commander, William Mahone. Petersburg voters elected him mayor and re-elected him several times, so he served from 1876 to 1882.
In
1881
Events
January–March
* January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans.
* January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The ...
, he was the gubernatorial candidate of the Readjuster Party and elected governor with biracial support defeating
John Warwick Daniel (who represented the state ''Funder'' faction, a group who wanted to pay the debt and its interest in whole) by nearly 6% of the vote. During his term from 1882–1886, he attempted to implement his party's debt reduction programs and racial integration in certain areas. In 1882 it led to the passage of legislation for a land-grant college for blacks, what is now
Virginia State University
Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of hi ...
in
Ettrick, near Petersburg.
On February 17, 1882, Cameron personally led a successful anti-
oyster pirate 300px, Oyster pirates on the Chesapeake Bay in 1884
Oyster pirate is a name given to persons who engage in the poaching of oysters. It was a term that became popular on both the West Coast of the United States and the East Coast of the United St ...
expedition of two boats and armed state militia in the ongoing
Oyster Wars
The Oyster Wars were a series of sometimes violent disputes between oyster pirates and authorities and legal watermen from Maryland and Virginia in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River from 1865 until about 1959.
Background
In ...
of the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
, capturing seven ships. The state had attempted to license and control traffic in the popular seafood, but 5,800 Virginia oyster boats often disregarded laws related to trying to preserve the harvest.
An attempt at a repeat raid the following year ended in Cameron's steamships unsuccessfully racing the "laughing lasses" of the pirate sailboat ''
Dancing Molly''.
His embarrassment was compounded by the fact that none of the alleged pirates captured in the second raid were convicted, but Cameron persevered and helped form the Board on the Chesapeake and its Tributaries to enforce oyster law.
After his term as governor ended in 1886, Cameron briefly left Virginia. He returned and resumed a career in politics, but as a conservative
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
. Cameron represented Petersburg in the
Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1901–1902. At this time, the Democrat-dominated legislature created a
disfranchising constitution and essentially ended black voting. The
Republican Party, which had made a brief and small comeback after the collapse of the Readjusters, ceased to be competitive in the state.
Cameron edited the
Norfolk ''Virginian-Pilot'' newspaper from 1906 to 1919.
Death and legacy
William Evelyn Cameron died on January 25, 1927, at the home of one of his sons in
Louisa County, Virginia. He was buried at
Blandford Cemetery
Blandford Cemetery is a historic cemetery located in Petersburg, Virginia. The oldest stone, marking the grave of Richard Yarbrough, reads 1702. It is located adjacent to the People's Memorial Cemetery, a historic African-American cemetery.
Alt ...
in Petersburg. His executive papers are held by the
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and ...
.
"A Guide to the Executive Papers of Governor William E. Cameron, 1882–1885"
The Library of Virginia
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, William E.
1842 births
1927 deaths
19th-century American lawyers
19th-century American male writers
19th-century American newspaper editors
19th-century American politicians
20th-century American newspaper editors
20th-century American politicians
American male journalists
Burials at Blandford Cemetery
Delegates to Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1901
Editors of Virginia newspapers
Governors of Virginia
Journalists from Virginia
Military personnel from Virginia
North Carolina Polytechnic Academy alumni
People of Virginia in the American Civil War
Mayors of Petersburg, Virginia
Readjuster Party state governors of the United States
Virginia lawyers
Washington University in St. Louis alumni