Background

John S. Wise, Sr. was born on December 27, 1846, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the son of Henry Alexander Wise, Sr. and Sarah Sergeant, the daughter of John Sergeant and sister-in-law of Gen. George Gordon Meade. The elder Wise returned in 1847 to his home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and John lived with him here and in the gubernatorial mansion in Richmond.

Education

After preparation in private schools, he entered the Virginia Military Institute in 1862 and remained two years. On May 15, 1864, he fought bravely with the cadets at New Market, Virginia, receiving a slight wound and shortly afterwards was commissioned drill master with the rank of second lieutenant in the Confederate army. He served in Virginia until the end of the war and was the bearer of the first news that reached Jefferson Davis at Danville, Virginia, of the impending surrender of Lee's army, experiences he described in The End of the Era (1899). In 1865 he entered the University of Virginia, where he was awarded a debater's medal and was graduated in law in 1867.

Career

Before he was twenty-one, he had begun the practice of law in Richmond, Virginia. Continuing his interest in military affairs, he was captain of the Richmond Blues from 1878 to 1882 and restored its old, distinctive uniform; he also served on the board of visitors of the Virginia Military Institute. In 1873 he began the political career which won him such unenviable notoriety. He accused the state Conservative party of corruption and became a leader of a so-called reform group in Richmond politics. After declining in 1878 a nomination for Congress in favor of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, he ran unsuccessfully in 1880 as a Readjuster, but in 1882, as the Republican and Coalition candidate, defeated the formidable "Parson" John E. Massey for congressman-at-large. In 1882 he had been appointed federal district attorney but resigned after his election to Congress. The Republican candidate for governor in 1885, he was defeated by Fitzhugh Lee, but contended that the Democrats won by improper methods. At that period even respectable people in the South were willing to employ or condone methods, ordinarily questionable, in order to control the ignorant negro vote. In 1888, seeking better business opportunity and a more friendly scene, he removed from Virginia to New York City. Early in his professional career he had been appointed counsel for the company, which built the first electric street railway in Richmond and had thus come into contact with Northern capitalists who were developing the infant electrical industry. He now became leading counsel in important litigation between street railway and other companies, and an international authority on law as applied to problems in the field of electricity. About six years before his death he became practically an invalid and returned to Northampton County, Virginia, where he lived "surrounded by his books, his dogs, and his memories. " John Wise, Sr. also wrote several books, most notably Diomed; The Life, Travels, and Observations of a Dog (1897), and Recollections of Thirteen Presidents (1906). He died on May 12, 1913, at the summer residence of Henry A. Wise, near Princess Anne, Maryland.

Achievements

• John Sergeant Wise, Sr. was an important lawyer and politician, who became a leader of a reform political group in Richmond, Virginia, and accused the state Conservative party of corruption. John S. Wise, Sr. was awarded a debater's medal at the University of Virginia.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Battle of New Market, Virginia:: An Address by John Sergeant Wise, Annotated

    (This book is based on a speech by John Sergeant Wise, a v...)

  • Diomed: The Life, Travels, And Observations Of A Dog

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Battle of New Market, Va., May 15th, 1864: An Address Repeated by John S. Wise, Esq. - Scholar's Choice Edition

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Battle of New Market, Va., May 15th, 1864: An Address Repeated by John S. Wise, Esq

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • The Lion's Skin: A Historical Novel And A Novel History

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • A Treatise on American Citizenship

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • End of an Era by John Sergeant Wise (2005-05-20)
  • Recollections of Thirteen Presidents

Politics

His affiliation with the Republican party and his tactless political utterances won him the hatred of many Virginians, and he received several challenges to duels. Undoubtedly he was more liberal than many of his opponents and more willing to adjust himself to new political conditions, but the impression remains that he was a political opportunist.

Views

Quotations: "Wealthy men, too, like several of those in our neighborhood, had so many slaves that they were compelled to buy other plantations on which to employ them. "

"It is true, there was no public-school system, and the reason for it was very plain. The wealth of the upper classes enabled them to have private tutors. "

Personality

Wise, Sr. was a man of unusual abilities. He was a most attractive speaker and raconteur, an excellent sportsman, and a gifted writer.

Connections

On November 3, 1869, John S. Wise married Evelyn Beverly Douglas of Nashville, Tennessee, daughter of Hugh Douglas, a Tennessee Unionist. The couple had nine children.

Father:

Henry Alexander Wise, Sr.

Henry Alexander Wise, Sr. was an American lawyer and politician from Virginia. On October 8, 1828, Henry A. Wise, Sr. married Ann Elizabeth Jennings, daughter of a Presbyterian minister. Anne died in 1837, leaving Henry with four children: two sons and two daughters. A fifth child died with her in a fire. In November 1840, he married Sarah Sergeant of Philadelphia. The couple had ten children, but only three survived infancy. Sarah Sergeant Wise died during childbirth in 1850. In November 1853, he married Mary Elizabeth Lyons, and the couple had no children.

Mother:

Sarah Wise (Sergeant)

Sister:

Margaretta Ellen Mayo (Wise)

half-sister:

Anne Jennings Hobson (Wise)

half-sister:

Nancy Mcarty (Wise)

half-sister:

Mary Elizabeth Garnett (Wise)

Half-brother:

George Washington Wise

Half-brother:

Henry Alexander Wise, Jr.

Half-brother:

Obadiah Wise

Wife:

Evelyn Beverly Wise (Douglas)

Daughter:

Eva Douglas Barney (Wise)

Daughter:

Margaretta Watnough Wise

Son:

John Sergeant Wise, Jr.

Son:

Hamilton Wise

Son:

John Sergeant Wise

John Sergeant Wise died in infancy.

Son:

Hugh Douglas Wise

Son:

Henry Alexander Wise

Son:

Jennings Cropper Wise

Son:

Byrd Douglas Wise

Brother:

Richard Alsop Wise

Richard Alsop Wise was an American educator and politician from Virginia.