Wilson Miles Cary

Last updated
Wilson-Miles Cary
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates for Elizabeth City County
In office
1796–1797
ServingwithMiles King

Born into the First Families of Virginia, probably in Warwick county, his mother Sarah was the daughter of John Blair at the time president of the Governor's Council and also long associated with the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, the colony's capital. His father (and his wife's cousin), lawyer and planter Wilson Cary was the son of Miles Cary II, a powerful politician who owned plantations in Warwick County and Elizabeth City County. The family included another son and three daughters. Cary received an education appropriate to his class, including at the College of William and Mary. [3]

Career

Cary began his public career in 1757, when he became one of the justices of the peace for Warwick County, as well as won election to the Warwick parish vestry. [4] The next year he accepted the position of lieutenant colonel in the local militia, and in 1761 succeeded his father as naval officer for the lower district of the James River (a lucrative customs post). [3]

In 1762, Cary moved his family eastward on the major road connecting Williamsburg and the great Hampton Roads port, into Elizabeth City County. They resided at what was called Ceelys plantation (after a family that owned it in the late 17th century). Cary became a justice of the peace for that county's court, and would serve for nearly four decades (the justices collectively ruling counties in that era). Cary also became colonel of its militia. In 1767 Cary won election to the Elizabeth City parish vestry. [3] The main church of the parish is now known as St. John's Church in Hampton, the county seat.

During Virginia's Long Assembly, Elizabeth City County voters elected Cary to succeed burgess William Wager, and Cary served alongside his probable teacher George Wythe until 1669, when James Wallace succeeded Wythe, then Cary and Wallace jointly served as Elizabeth City's burgesses until 1772. [5] Cary resumed his legislative service during the American Revolutionary War, serving in the final revolutionary convention May 6-July 6, 1776 alongside Henry King, then King and Cary jointly represented Elizabeth City County in the first session of the Virginia House of Delegates that began on October 7, 1776. [6] Then as Wythe became speaker of the House of Delegates, Cary began representing newly created Fluvanna County, and was re-elected along with Thomas Napier until 1778. [7] After a year of no legislative service for Cary, Elizabeth City County voters elected him in 1780 as one of their delegates, but he was declared ineligible because of nonresidence. [8] In 1783, Warwick County voters elected Cary as one of their delegates, and he won re-election twice, serving alongside two different neighbors until succeeded by his son (who did not win re-election). [9] Cary again won re-election as one of Elizabeth City County's delegates in 1795 and re-election. [10] Although his most recent biographer notes this man's usual hyphenation of his non-surnames, the hyphen is also absent from some contemporary records, including surviving Warwick County records. [11] His great-grandson of the same names (who fought as a captain in the Confederate States Army and who later donated papers to the University of Virginia Library's Special Collections) did not hyphenate his name. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Wythe</span> American Founding Father, legal scholar, and judge (1726–1806)

George Wythe was an American academic, scholar and judge who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The first of the seven signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence from Virginia, Wythe served as one of Virginia's representatives to the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention and served on a committee that established the convention's rules and procedures. He left the convention before signing the United States Constitution to tend to his dying wife. He was elected to the Virginia Ratifying Convention and helped ensure that his home state ratified the Constitution. Wythe taught and was a mentor to Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Henry Clay and other men who became American leaders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endview Plantation</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Endview Plantation is an 18th-century plantation, including a park and historic home now operated by the independent city of Newport News, Virginia, located on Virginia State Route 238 in the Lee Hall community.

Thomas Ludwell Lee, Sr. was a Virginia planter and politician who served in the House of Burgesses and later the Virginia Senate, and may be best known as one of the editors of the Virginia Declaration of Rights.

Bartholomew Dandridge was an early American planter, lawyer and patriot. He represented New Kent County in the House of Burgesses, all five Virginia Revolutionary Conventions, and once in the Virginia House of Delegates before fellow legislators selected him as a judge of what later became known as the Virginia Supreme Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Carter Nicholas Sr.</span> American legislator and judge

Robert Carter Nicholas was a Virginia lawyer, patriot, legislator and judge. He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and its successor, the Virginia House of Delegates. He became the last treasurer of the Colony of Virginia, and sat on the first High Court of Chancery, one of the predecessors of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Burwell Bassett, Jr. was an American planter and politician from New Kent County and for two decades from Williamsburg in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Like his father, he served in both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly, and in addition won election several times to the United States House of Representatives, where he served for more than a decade in three different districts, because of census-required reorganizations.

George Nicholas was an American lawyer, planter, patriot, military officer and politician who helped to write the first Kentucky constitution and became the first professor of law at Transylvania University. He also briefly served as Attorney General of Kentucky, and several terms in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Thomson Mason was an American lawyer, planter and jurist. A younger brother of George Mason IV, United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention, Thomson Mason would father Stevens Thomson Mason, and was the great-grandfather of Stevens T. Mason, first Governor of Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Prentis</span> American politician and judge

Joseph Prentis was a Virginia politician. He represented Williamsburg in the Virginia House of Delegates, and served as that body's Speaker from 1786 until 1788. From 1788 until his death, Prentis was a judge in the General Court of Virginia.

James Innes was an American attorney, officer in the American Revolutionary War and politician. The second Attorney General of Virginia after independence, he served a decade before resigning for health reasons. He also served in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Ratification Convention at various times representing Williamsburg or nearby James City County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burwell Bassett Sr.</span> American politician (1734–1793)

Burwell Bassett Sr. was an American planter, patriot and politician from New Kent County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, who served in both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly, and in the Virginia Ratification Convention in 1788.

William Armistead was a Virginia planter and politician in Elizabeth City County, Virginia, which he represented in the House of Burgesses for multiple terms. Complicating matters, several relatives shared the same name in the colonial era, and four more men of the same name would serve in the Virginia House of Delegates following the Revolutionary War, the first of them being William Armistead of New Kent County.

Archibald Blair was a Scottish-born physician, merchant, planter and politician. Born in Roxburghshire, he moved to the English colony of Virginia in the 1690s. Blair served in the House of Burgesses multiple times, alternately representing the colony's capital and surrounding county. He may be confused with a distant collateral relative, Archibald Blair, who became clerk of the Virginia Governor's Council in 1776 and served for more than 25 years.

William Clayton was Virginia planter, officer, patriot and politician who served as the clerk of New Kent County, Virginia for decades, and also represented the county in the House of Burgesses (1766–1771), in the final Virginia Revolutionary Convention and first session of the Virginia House of Delegates, and in the 1788 Virginia convention to ratify the United States Constitution.

John Grymes or Grimes was a Virginia planter and politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, first representing Middlesex County in the House of Burgesses(1718-1722) and on Virginia Governor's Council(1726-1748).

Dudley Digges was a Virginia attorney, planter, military officer and politician who served in the House of Burgesses (1752-1776) and all the Virginia Revolutionary conventions representing York County. Possibly the most famous of three related men of the same name who served in the Virginia legislature during the 18th century, this man was the third son of Yorktown merchant Cole Digges who served in both houses of the Virginia legislature.

Cole Digges (1691-1744) was a Virginia merchant, planter and politician who helped establish Yorktown, Virginia, and served more than two decades on the Virginia Governor's Council after representing Warwick County in the House of Burgesses.

William Digges was a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia, who represented Warwick County, Virginia in the House of Burgesses from 1752 until 1771.

Edward Digges was a Virginia merchant, planter and politician who represented York County in the House of Burgesses.

William Harwood was a landowner and politician in the Colony of Virginia,who thrice represented Warwick County in the House of Burgesses.

References

  1. ↑ Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (1915), vol. 1 p. 206
  2. ↑ John Frederick Dorman, Adventures of Purse and Person, vol. 3 p. 312
  3. 1 2 3 4 Peter V. Bergstrom, " Cary, Wilson-Miles (1733 or 1734-25 November 1817)" in Dictionary of Virginia Biography vol. 3, pp. 117-118
  4. ↑ Richard Dunn (ed.), Warwick County, Virginia: Colonial Court Records in Transcription (rev.ed.) Willamsburg: The Jones House Association 2002) p. 458 (for example)
  5. ↑ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly, 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 94, 97, 99
  6. ↑ Leonard pp. 119, 122
  7. ↑ Leonard pp. 125, 129
  8. ↑ Leonard p. 137n3
  9. ↑ Leonard pp. 151, 155, 158
  10. ↑ Leonard pp. 199, 203
  11. ↑ See Dunn (ed.), p. 458 (for example)
  12. ↑ "Amnesty Oath".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.