William McComas (1795 – June 3, 1865) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the Virginia Senate,

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and voted against secession in the

Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 The Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 was called in Richmond to determine whether Virginia would secede from the United States, to govern the state during a state of emergency, and to write a new Constitution for Virginia, which was subsequent ...

. 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 ...

, although some of his sons enlisted on opposing sides and West Virginia was created, he continued to serve as a federal judge in Union-held territory.CongBio, M000352

Early and family life

Born near Pearisburg in

Giles County, Virginia Giles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia on the West Virginia state line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,787. Its county seat is Pearisburg. Giles County is included in the Blacksburg- Christiansburg, VA M ...

in 1795 to Elisha McComas (1770 - 1849) and his wife Ann French McComas (1776 - 1850), McComas was descended from long-established Virginia families who had helped fight in the American Revolutionary War. He had several brothers and sisters. McComas attended local private schools, then

Emory and Henry College Emory & Henry College (E&H or Emory) is a private liberal arts college in Emory, Virginia. The campus comprises of Washington County, which is part of the Appalachian highlands of Southwest Virginia. Founded in 1836, Emory & Henry College is ...

, in

Emory, Virginia Emory is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washington County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,251 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kingsport– Bristol (TN)– Bristol (VA) Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a com ...

. He married twice. His first wife, Mildred Ward McComas bore at least six sons and two daughters who survived to adulthood. After his first wife's death, he married Sarah V. Wentz Derton.

Career

After graduating from college, McComas became Methodist minister, as well as read law and was admitted to the Virginia bar. He moved his young family westward in Virginia along the

Midland Trail The Midland Trail, also called the Roosevelt Midland Trail, was a national auto trail spanning the United States from Washington, D.C. west to Los Angeles, California and San Francisco, California ('' though the Lincoln Highway guide published i ...

, establishing his own farm and legal practice in

Cabell County Cabell County is located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,350, making it West Virginia's fourth most-populous county. Its county seat is Huntington. The county was organized in 1809 and named for ...

near the confluence of the

Mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

and

Guyandotte River The Guyandotte River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 166 mi (267 km) long, in southwestern West Virginia in the United States. It was named after the French term for the Wendat Native Americans. It drains an area of ...

Political career

McComas served one term as member of the Virginia state senate (a part-time position) in 1830–1833. Elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress, McComas won re-election, but as an Anti-Jacksonian, to the Twenty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837). He then resumed his farming and legal career, and continued his ministry. Although his former district had been eliminated after the post-1840 census redistricting, McComas again ran for Congress in 1848. He lost, and so did not attend the Thirty-first Congress. His eldest son, Elisha W. McComas (1822-1890), who had served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War, won election as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in the following decade, but resigned because of how Governor John S. Wise handled the aftermath of

John Brown's raid John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

on Harper's Ferry. Elisha McComas then moved to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to continue his legal practice, then moved again to

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. Meanwhile, as tensions grew concerning slavery, especially after the 1860 U. S. Presidential Election,

voters elected William McComas as one of their delegates to the

. Although McComas consistently voted against the secession ordinance, it passed and was approved in a statewide referendum. Some northwestern Virginia delegates then held the

Wheeling Convention The 1861 Wheeling Convention was an assembly of Virginia Southern Unionist delegates from the northwestern counties of Virginia, aimed at repealing the Ordinance of Secession, which had been approved by referendum, subject to a vote. The first ...

to prevent secession and eventually established the

Restored Government of Virginia The Restored (or Reorganized) Government of Virginia was the Unionist government of Virginia during the American Civil War (1861–1865) in opposition to the government which had approved Virginia's seceding from the United States and joini ...

and the new state. However, McComas neither attended, nor participated in West Virginia's creation. His family divided. His second son, Dr. William Wirt McComas, who had enlisted in the Confederate artillery, died on April 19, 1862. On September 4, 1862, his third son, Hamilton Calhoun McComas (1831-1883, and another lawyer) enlisted in the Union Army in Illinois, and served for several months before resigning. His youngest son, Benjamin McComas (1836-1894), enlisted in the 30th Virginia Sharpshooters, a Confederate unit, but survived the war. William McComas continued to serve as judge of the United States district court during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, residing in the portion which remained loyal to the Union (first as the

and then the new state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

beginning in June 1863).

Death and legacy

McComas died on his farm near

Barboursville, Virginia Barboursville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Orange County, Virginia, United States. It is the birthplace of renowned American military commander and president Zachary Taylor. It also contains Barboursville, ...

(now West Virginia) on June 3, 1865.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McComas, William 1795 births 1865 deaths People from Barboursville, West Virginia Virginia Secession Delegates of 1861 Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia 19th-century American politicians National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia People from Pearisburg, Virginia 19th-century Methodist ministers American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law Virginia lawyers Virginia state senators Burials in West Virginia 19th-century American judges