Robert C. Wickliffe | |
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| 15th Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office January 22, 1856 – January 23, 1860 | |
| Lieutenant | Charles Homer Mouton William F. Griffin |
| Preceded by | Paul Octave Hebert |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Overton Moore |
| 4th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office 1854–1856 | |
| Governor | Paul Octave Hebert |
| Preceded by | William W. Farmer |
| Succeeded by | Charles H. Mouton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1819-01-06)January 6, 1819 Bardstown, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | April 18, 1895(1895-04-18) (aged 76) Kentucky, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Anna Dawson (2) Anna Davis Anderson |
| Relations | Father ofRobert Charles Wickliffe Son ofCharles A. Wickliffe |
| Children | |
| Alma mater | St. Joseph's College Augusta College Centre College |
Robert Charles Wickliffe (January 6, 1819 – April 18, 1895) was the fourth lieutenant governor and the15th governor of Louisiana from 1856 to 1860.
He was born inBardstown, Kentucky atWickland to Governor (and laterU.S. Postmaster General),Charles A. Wickliffe. His maternal grandfather was the famedColonel Crips, an Indian fighter in Kentucky. Wickliffe attended several schools includingSt. Joseph's College in Bardstown andAugusta College. He graduated fromCentre College in Danville, Kentucky in 1840 and resided in Washington, DC during his father's tenure as Postmaster General in theTyler Administration. He studied law underUnited States Attorney GeneralHugh S. Legaré and was admitted to the Kentucky bar."He was the owner of more slaves than any other person in Kentucky and likely anyone in the United States"[1]
In 1843, Wickliffe married Anna Dawson, the daughter of Louisiana CongressmanJohn Bennett Dawson and niece of Louisiana GovernorIsaac Johnson. In 1846, the Wickliffes moved toSt. Francisville, Louisiana so Robert could recover frompneumonia at his wife's family's plantation, Wyoming.
Wickliffe ran for the Louisiana State Senate in 1851 as aDemocrat and won. Reelected in 1853, he is appointed Chairman of the Commission on Public Education, and becamePresident Pro Tempore of the Louisiana Senate whenW. W. Farmer became Lieutenant Governor. When Farmer died in office in 1854, Wickliffe, as President Pro Temp, became Lieutenant Governor.
In 1855, Wickliffe was nominated as the Democratic candidate for Governor of Louisiana. He went on to defeat Charles Derbigny, son of former GovernorPierre Derbigny, who was running on theKnow Nothing ticket. In winning, Wickliffe drew 3,000 more votes than Derbigny and carried 31 of 48 parishes.
In his inaugural address inBaton Rouge, Governor Wickliffe advocated a united Democratic South to protect state's rights and he championed the expansion of American power to the Caribbean, Mexico, Cuba and Central America in order to protectslavery in the United States. His administration continued the trend of railroad building, but critics claimed he ignored public education. ThePanic of 1857 caused unrest and depression throughout the country and Louisiana was hard hit. Governor Wickliffe blamed a loosely managed Board of Currency in Louisiana. As a consequence, he ordered banks to make weekly statements to the Board of Currency. The unrest changed to violence in New Orleans, which was under Know Nothing control, and Wickliffe was forced to dispatch the militia to ensure the validity of the 1858 elections.
After his term as Governor ended, Wickliffe returned to planting and the practice of law in St. Francisville. In the presidential election of 1860, Wickliffe joined SenatorPierre Soulé in backingStephen A. Douglas. The other Louisiana Senator,John Slidell, backed formerVice PresidentJohn C. Breckinridge from Kentucky. Wickliffe was selected to be a delegate for Douglas at theDemocratic National Convention inBaltimore, Maryland.
In 1861, Wickliffe did not actively supportsecession and during theCivil War he tried to act as an intermediary between the Confederacy and the Union. After the war was over, in 1865, Wickliffe was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives representingLouisiana's 3rd congressional district. He was not seated as Louisiana was deemed "not reconstructed."
Wickliffe married his second wife, Anna Davis Anderson in 1870. He was elected a delegate to the Democratic National Convention supportingSamuel J. Tilden in 1876 and in 1884 was delegate supportingGrover Cleveland. In 1892, he reentered electoral politics when he was nominated for Lieutenant Governor by the Louisiana Lottery faction of the Democratic Party. Wickliffe lost to anti-lottery Democrats led byMurphy James Foster. Wickliffe died while visiting relatives in Kentucky on April 18, 1895.
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Louisiana 1855 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana 1854–1856 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Louisiana 1856–1860 | Succeeded by |
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