Background
Robert Charles Wickliffe was born on January 6, 1819 at Bardstown, Ky. His father was Charles A. Wickliffe and his mother, Margaret (Cripps) Wickliffe, was the daughter of Col. Christian Cripps, the hero of many Indian fights.
Robert Charles Wickliffe was born on January 6, 1819 at Bardstown, Ky. His father was Charles A. Wickliffe and his mother, Margaret (Cripps) Wickliffe, was the daughter of Col. Christian Cripps, the hero of many Indian fights.
Wealth made possible a liberal education. After a stern discipline in the humanities under Louis Marshall, 1773-1866, of "Buckpond, " near Versailles, Ky. , his training was continued at the Jesuit institution of St. Joseph's College at Bardstown for a year, followed by two years at Augusta College at Augusta, Ky. , and was concluded with the last two years at Centre College in Danville, where he graduated in 1840. Removal of the family to Washington, when his father became postmaster-general, afforded him opportunity to study law with Hugh Legar, then attorney-general.
He returned to Bardstown for admission to the bar. Failing health interrupted his practice so that he removed to St. Francisville, La. , in 1846, where he engaged in cotton planting as well as in the practice of his profession. In 1851 he was sent to the state Senate from West Feliciana Parish, was twice reelected without opposition, and was chosen president of that body upon the death of the lieutenant-governor, William Farmer. So effective did the Democratic party find him in the campaign against the Know-Nothing party that it made him candidate for governor in 1855, and he carried it to success by a vigorous campaign. Firmly convinced that the South could remain honorably in the Union, he at first disapproved of secession, but, when he saw that the tide could not be stemmed, he endeavored to hasten separation. As a precautionary measure he urged removal of the free negroes from the state to eliminate their influence on the slaves. At the expiration of his gubernatorial term in 1860, he returned to his planting and legal practice. In 1866 he was elected to Congress but was denied admission, along with all representatives who refused to take the iron-clad oath. In 1876 he was an elector-at-large on the Tilden ticket and served as chairman of the Louisiana delegation at the National Democratic Convention. After a long retirement he last figured in state politics during the campaign of 1891-92, when he was nominated to the lieutenant-governorship on the McEnery ticket. With the defeat of the party he returned to his home and work with all of the energy of his earlier days.
He was twice married, in February 1843 to Anna Dawson, of Feliciana, and in 1870 to his cousin, Annie (Davis) Anderson of Brandenburg, Ky.
