William Armisted Burwell (March 15, 1780 – February 16, 1821) was a nineteenth-century Virginia politician and planter who served as presidential secretary and 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 ...

in the

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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

Early and family life

Born near Boydton, Mecklenburg County to Thacker Burwell and his wife, the former Mary Armistead, Burwell was descended from 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 ...

. He had an elder brother Edwin, who would move abroad. Burwell graduated 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 ...

. He married Letitia McCreery (variously spelled McCreary, McCroory or McCrury) of Baltimore, who bore a son, William McCreery Burwell (1809-1888) before Burwell died at age 40.

Career

After moving to

Franklin County, Virginia Franklin County is located in the Blue Ridge foothills of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 54,477. Its county seat is Rocky Mount. Franklin County is part of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

in 1802, Burwell became involved in politics and thrice won election to represent Franklin County in the

, serving in that part time position from 1804 to 1806 alongside Henry T. Callaway before being succeeded by John Callaway after his election to the U.S. Congress. During that period, Meriwether Lewis retired as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

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 ...

's private secretary to make his famous westward expedition, and Burwell would succeed him and move to Washington, D.C. Burwell then sought election to the U.S. House of Representatives, and was elected as a

to the

to fill a vacancy. Burwell won re-election several times, serving from 1806 until his death. In the 1810 census, Burwell owned 63 slaves in Franklin County and a decade later the household included 71 enslaved and 5 free colored persons about double the number owned by his cousin William Burwell of Frederick County to the north (son of

Nathaniel Burwell Nathaniel Burwell (April 15, 1750 – March 29, 1814) was an American politician and plantation owner. Perhaps the most distinguished of five men of that name to serve in the Virginia General Assembly before the American Civil War (as distin ...

). Oddly, after his death in 1821, this William A. Burwell still shows up in the 1830 census as owning 96 slaves, probably because his only child would not reach majority until November 1 In her 1974 biography of Jefferson, Fawn M. Brodie repeats a clergyman's claim that Burwell was an atheist and that he was expelled from New Jersey College for this reason and for "infidelity."

Death and legacy

Burwell died on February 16, 1821, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and was interred in the

Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...

. His Franklin County home, the Burwell-Holland House, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2002. His son William M. Burwell was born in

Botetourt County Botetourt County ( ) is a US county that lies in the Roanoke Region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Located in the mountainous portion of the state, the county is bordered by two major ranges, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Mou ...

, and spent some time as an editor in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

before returning to Virginia, where he followed his father's planter and politician traditions and married an heiress from Bedford County. Ten times (with gaps), Bedford County voters elected William M. Burwell as one of their two representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates. Although he owned far fewer slaves than his father (only owning 11 slaves in 1860), he continued to serve as a legislator through the American Civil War. The younger Burwell secured subsidies for the

Virginia and Tennessee Railroad The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was an historic gauge railroad in the Southern United States, much of which is incorporated into the modern Norfolk Southern Railway. It played a strategic role in supplying the Confederacy during the American ...

, which passed through his Avenel farm in the county seat (then called Liberty, but which would expand after the American Civil War onto that property). William M. Burwell had four daughters and vigorously supported the Confederacy. His eldest, Letitia M. Burwell (1831-1905), wrote two books supporting the

Lost Cause The Lost Cause of the Confederacy (or simply Lost Cause) is an American pseudohistorical negationist mythology that claims the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was just, heroic, and not centered on slavery. Firs ...

, the most famous being ''A Girl's Life in Virginia Before the War''.

Other relatives

Another William A. Burwell, distantly related, owned slaves in and represented

Patrick County, Virginia Patrick County is a county located on the central southern border of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,608. Its county seat is Stuart. It is located within both the rolling hills and valleys of the Pi ...

in the Virginia House of Delegates after the death of this Congressman.

References

External links

William A. Burwell
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...