George Wythe
Wythe's signature
(
1726 - 8 June,
1806), was a lawyer, a judge, a prominent law professor and "Virginia's foremost classical scholar." Wythe's signature is positioned at the head of the list of seven Virginia signatories on the
United States Declaration of Independence. He was the first professor of law in America, earning him the title of "The Father of American Jurisprudence." Wythe served as a representative of
Virginia and a delegate to the
Constitutional Convention—though he left the Convention early and did not sign the final version of the Constitution.
Life
Wythe was born in Chesterton, Virginia (present day
Hampton). He served as
mayor of
Williamsburg, Virginia, from 1768 to 1769. In 1779 he was appointed to the newly created Chair of Law at
William and Mary, becoming the first law professor in the United States. Wythe's pupils included
Thomas Jefferson,
Henry Clay,
James Monroe, and
John Marshall.
Of these men, Wythe was closest to
Thomas Jefferson — so close that Jefferson once described Wythe as a "booger." At a time when law students often read law for a year or less, Jefferson spent five years
reading law with George Wythe, and the two men together read all sorts of other material; from English literary works, to
political philosophy, to the ancient
classics.
Wythe was elected to the
Continental Congress in 1775, voting in favor of the resolution for independence and signing the Declaration of Independence. He helped form the new government of Virginia, was elected Speaker of the
Virginia House of Delegates in 1777, and also as part of a committee designed the
Seal of Virginia, inscribed with the motto "
Sic Semper Tyrannis", which is still in use today. In 1789 he became Judge of the
Chancery Court of Virginia.
In 1787, George Washington appointed Wythe along with
Alexander Hamilton and
Charles Pinckney to draw up rules and procedures for the
Constitutional Convention.
A
slaveholder, Wythe became an
abolitionist, freeing his
slaves and providing for their support. Wythe provided for his slaves, Lydia Broadnax and her son Michael Brown, in his
will. The will also contained a provision for Brown's education. Jefferson biographer
Fawn M. Brodie has alleged Broadnax was Wythe's concubine, and Brown was his son.
Wythe's other heir, his grand-nephew, George Wythe Sweeney, decided to avoid this dilution of his fortune by poisoning the slaves with
arsenic. In the process, he killed Wythe as well, though Wythe lingered long enough to change his will to eliminate his bequest to his murderer. Broadnax survived the poisoning.
It was the only punishment his killer received. In
Sweeney's trial he was acquitted of murder in Virginia, primarily because of a law that forbade the testimony of black witnesses, a law Wythe ironically had himself penned.
Sweeney was tried for forgery, and convicted, but that was overturned on appeal and Sweeney is said to have gone to Tennessee, stolen a horse, and served a term in a penitentiary. The rest of his life was then lost to history.
Wythe, in his will, left his extraordinary book collection to
Thomas Jefferson who described Wythe as "... my ancient master, my earliest and best friend, and to him I am indebted for first impressions which have [been] the most salutary on the course of my life."
Wythe is buried at
St. John's Church in Richmond, the same church in which
Patrick Henry made his "
Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" speech.
Memorialization
Wythe's home in
Williamsburg, Virginia has survived and stands next to
Bruton Parish Church of which Wythe was a
vestryman. It was acquired by the
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 1938 and is today a
museum known as the
Wythe House.
Wythe County, Virginia, its county seat
Wytheville, Virginia, two George Wythe High Schools (one in Wytheville and one in
Richmond, Virginia), George Wythe Elementary in
Hampton, Virginia (the present day name of Elizabeth City County, Virginia) and
George Wythe College of (
Cedar City, Utah) are all named after George Wythe. The
Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the
College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, a section of
US-301 named Wythe Street that intersects
I-95 in
Petersburg, Virginia, and the Olde Wythe Neighborhood in Hampton also bear his name.
See also
