William Wade Hampton (1854–1928) was one of the first
attorneys in
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...
. He and his brother Edwin moved to Gainesville from
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
in 1875. Wade and his brother Edwin founded the town's first paper, the
Gainesville Times' in 1876. This paper later became ''
The Gainesville Sun
''The Gainesville Sun'' () is a newspaper published daily in Gainesville, Florida, United States, covering the North-Central portion of the state. The paper is published by Lynni Henderson, the paper's Executive Editor is Douglas Ray and the edi ...
''.
Wade and his brother Edwin founded the town's first law firm, Hampton and Hampton and he was the first president of the Florida Bar. Wade was the first of three generations of Wade Hamptons who practiced law in Gainesville from 1875 until 2006.
Wade Hampton was a leader in the efforts to bring the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
to Gainesville in 1906.
Wade and his wife Minna Jordan Hampton lived in a house in the Northeast Historic district of Gainesville, but it was torn down in the 1970s. His son's house (Wm Wade Hampton jr) is one of the oldest in the
Gainesvillebr>
Northeast Historic District
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, William
1854 births
1928 deaths
Florida lawyers
19th-century American lawyers