George Wythe
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George Wythe (1726–June 8, 1806), was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Virginia and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He left the Convention early and did not sign the final version of the Constitution [1].
He was born in Elizabeth City County, Virginia and educated at home by his mother (his father had died when he was three). He attended the College of William and Mary but dropped out, unable to afford the fees. He read law at the office of Stephen Dewey and was admitted to the bar in Spotsylvania County in 1746. He was Clerk of the committee on Privileges and Elections of the House of Burgesses in 1746, and was appointed Attorney General by the Royal Governor of Virginia in 1753. He served in the House of Burgesses until its dissolution.
Wythe served as mayor of Williamsburg, Virginia from 1768 to 1769. He became a Professor of Law at William and Mary (which made him the first professor of Law in America earning him the title of "The Father of American Jurisprudence") in 1769, and famously taught Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, James Monroe, and John Marshall.
He 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 and was elected Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1777. In 1789 he became Judge of the Chancery Court of Virginia and later designed the seal of Virginia enscribed with the motto "Sic Semper Tyrannis," it is still in use today.
A slaveholder, he became an abolitionist, freeing his slaves and providing for their support. Wythe provided for his slaves in his will, and his other heir, his great-nephew, George Wythe Sweney, decided to avoid this dilution of his fortune by poisoning the slaves with arsenic. In the process, he accidentally killed Wythe as well, though Wythe lingered long enough to change his will to eliminate his bequest to his murderer.
It was the only punishment his killer received. Sweney was acquitted of murder in Virginia, primarily because of a law that forbade the testimony of black witnesses. Sweney was tried for forgery, and convicted, but that was overturned on appeal and Sweney 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.
Thomas Jefferson described his mentor and friend in stating: "He was 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's home in Williamsburg, Virginia has survived to the present day. It was acquired by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 1938 and is preserved as a museum.
Wythe County, Virginia, its county seat Wytheville, Virginia, and George Wythe High School, are named for George Wythe.
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