Andrew Stevenson
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Andrew Stevenson (January 21, 1784 – January 25, 1857) was an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. He represented
Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
in the
Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...
and eventually became its speaker before being elected to the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
; its members subsequently elected him their Speaker. Stevenson also served in the Jackson administration for four years as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom before retiring to his
slave plantation A slave plantation is an agricultural farm that uses enslaved people for labour. The practice was abolished in most places during the 19th century. Slavery Planters embraced the use of slaves mainly because indentured labor became expensive ...
in Albemarle County. He also served on the board of visitors of the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
and briefly as its rector before his death.


Early life

Andrew Stevenson was born in
Culpeper County, Virginia Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is ...
on January 21, 1784. He was the son of James Stevenson (1739–1809) and Frances Arnette (née Littlepage) Stevenson (1750–1808). He received a private education appropriate to this class, then attended the
College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...
where he studied law.


Career

Admitted to the Virginia bar in 1809, Stevenson practiced in
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
.


Legislator

Richmond voters elected Stevenson as a member of the
Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...
, and he served in that part-time position from 1809 to 1816 and 1818 to 1821. Fellow members elected him as Speaker of the House of Delegates during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
and he served from 1812 to 1815. In both 1814 and 1816, Stevenson unsuccessfully sought a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.


U.S. Congress

In
1820 Events January–March *January 1 – A constitutionalist military insurrection at Cádiz leads to the summoning of the Spanish Parliament to meet on March 7, becoming the nominal beginning of the "Trienio Liberal" in History of Spain (1 ...
, Stevenson won election to the 17th U.S. Congress as a
Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...
. When the party fragmented during the contentious 1824 presidential election, he first aligned himself with the Crawford faction during the 18th Congress, and then, for the remainder of his time in Congress, identified with the Jacksonians. He was elected
Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...
on December 3, 1827, the opening day of the 20th Congress. Reelected three times (
1829 Events January–March * January 19 – August Klingemann's adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's '' Faust'' premieres in Braunschweig. * February 27 – Battle of Tarqui: Troops of Gran Colombia and Peru battle to a draw. * Marc ...
,
1831 Events January–March * January 1 – William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing '' The Liberator'', an anti-slavery newspaper, in Boston, Massachusetts. * January 10 – Japanese department store, Takashimaya in Kyoto estab ...
and
1833 Events January–March * January 3 – The United Kingdom reasserts British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. * February 6 (January 25 on the Greek calendar) – Prince Otto Friedrich Ludwig of Bavaria arr ...
) he served until his resignation on June 2, 1834.


Minister to the United Kingdom

In June 1834, Stevenson resigned from Congress to accept appointment from Andrew Jackson as Minister to the United Kingdom. In June of that year, the
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
denied him confirmation by a vote of 23 to 22. Jackson's opponents in Congress argued that Jackson had offered Stevenson the appointment in 1833, and that when Congress convened later that year, Stevenson had organized the House, including committee assignments and chairmanships, in accordance with Jackson's preferences. In the Anti-Jacksonian view, this amounted to a ''
quid pro quo ''Quid pro quo'' (Latin: "something for something") is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: " ...
'' that allowed executive branch interference with the prerogatives of the legislative branch. Following his denial by the Senate, he returned to Virginia and resumed the practice of law and in addition, he presided over the 1835 Democratic National Convention. In February 1836,
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
renominated Stevenson for Minister to the United Kingdom. The second time around, he was confirmed 26 votes to 19, and served from 1836 to 1841. His term as Minister to the United Kingdom was marked by controversy: the
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
cause was growing in strength, and some sections of public opinion resented the choice of Stevenson, who was a slaveowner, for this role. The Irish statesman
Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...
was reported to have denounced Stevenson in public as a ''slave breeder'', generally thought to be a more serious matter than simply being a slaveowner. Stevenson, outraged, challenged O'Connell to a
duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...
, but O'Connell, who had a lifelong aversion to dueling, refused, and suggested that he had been misquoted. The controversy became public and the repeated references to slave breeding caused Stevenson a good deal of embarrassment; there was a widespread view that if O'Connell's charges were false Stevenson would have done better to simply ignore them rather than engaging in a public squabble.


Later life

In 1846, Stevenson purchased the Blenheim estate in
Albemarle County, Virginia Albemarle County is a United States county (United States), county located in the Piedmont region of Virginia, Piedmont region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, Virginia, Charlottes ...
. an
''Accompanying photo''
In the 1850 U.S. Federal Census, the last of his lifetime, Stevenson owned 63 enslaved people in Albemarle County. He had owned eight enslaved people in Richmond during the 1820 federal census, and 1830 federal census. Stevenson presided over the 1848 Democratic National Convention. In 1845 he was elected to the board of visitors of the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
, and from 1856 to 1857, he served as the university's rector.


Personal life

Stevenson married three times. In 1809, he married Mary Page White, a granddaughter of
Carter Braxton Carter Braxton (September 10, 1736October 10, 1797) was a Founding Father of the United States, signer of the Declaration of Independence, merchant, and Virginia planter. A grandson of Robert "King" Carter, one of the wealthiest and most powerf ...
, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
. She died during childbirth in 1812, giving birth to: * John White Stevenson (1812–1886), a Congressman, U.S. Senator, and who also served as
Governor of Kentucky The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; sinc ...
after the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. During his father's lifetime, e married Sibella Winston (1823–1904) in 1843. The marriage produced five children (this man's grandchildren): Sally C. (Stevenson) Colston, Mary W. (Stevenson) Colston, Judith W. (Stevenson) Winslow, Samuel W. Stevenson, and John W. Stevenson.Morton gives both Mary and John Stevenson's middle initials as "D." instead of "W." She also omits Samuel W. Stevenson from the list of children, including instead Andrew Stevenson of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She later writes that his son John White Stevenson was survived by six children, despite having previously listed only five names. Vaux (p. 14) lists sons Andrew and John, although he states that Andrew lives in Montana. Vaux also mentions three unnamed daughters. In 1816, Stevenson married his second wife, Sarah "Sally" Coles (1789–1848), who was a cousin of
Dolley Madison Dolley Todd Madison (née Payne; May 20, 1768 – July 12, 1849) was the wife of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. She was noted for holding Washington social functions in which she invited members of b ...
and a sister of
Edward Coles Edward Coles (December 15, 1786 – July 7, 1868) was an American abolitionist and politician, elected as the second Governor of Illinois (1822 to 1826). From an old Virginia family, Coles as a young man was a neighbor and associate of presi ...
, who served as
Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...
. She died in 1848. In 1849, he married for the third and final time to Mary Schaff.


Death and legacy

Stevenson died at his Blenheim estate on January 25, 1857. He was buried at Enniscorthy Cemetery in Keene, Virginia. His firstborn son, John White Stevenson, followed his father's career path into law and politics, serving as Congressman during his father's lifetime, then as Governor of Kentucky following the American Civil War and later as U.S. Senator. Appleton's Cyclopedia, vol. 5, p. 680 Stevenson's manor house, Blenheim, remains today, having been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1976.


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Andrew 1784 births 1857 deaths 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century American lawyers Ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom College of William & Mary alumni Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Jackson administration personnel Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Lawyers from Richmond, Virginia Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves Politicians from Culpeper County, Virginia Politicians from Albemarle County, Virginia Speakers of the United States House of Representatives Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates Tyler administration personnel University of Virginia faculty Van Buren administration personnel William Henry Harrison administration personnel 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives