William Cabell Rives | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theConfederate Congress fromVirginia's 7th district | |
| In office May 2, 1864 – March 2, 1865 | |
| Preceded by | James Philemon Holcombe |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Delegate fromVirginia to theProvisional Confederate Congress | |
| In office February 4, 1861 – February 17, 1862 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| 13th and 18thUnited States Minister to France | |
| In office 1849–1853 | |
| Appointed by | Zachary Taylor |
| Preceded by | Richard Rush |
| Succeeded by | John Y. Mason |
| In office 1829–1833 | |
| Appointed by | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | James Brown |
| Succeeded by | Levett Harris |
| United States Senator fromVirginia | |
| In office January 18, 1841 – March 3, 1845 | |
| Preceded by | Himself |
| Succeeded by | Isaac S. Pennybacker |
| In office March 4, 1836 – March 3, 1839 | |
| Preceded by | John Tyler Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Himself |
| In office December 10, 1832 – February 22, 1834 | |
| Preceded by | Littleton W. Tazewell |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin W. Leigh |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's10th district | |
| In office March 4, 1823 – 1829 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas L. Moore |
| Succeeded by | William F. Gordon |
| Member of theVirginia House of Delegates fromAlbemarle County | |
| In office 1822-23 Serving with William F. Gordon | |
| Preceded by | Charles Cocke |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Mann Randolph |
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates fromNelson County | |
| In office 1817–1820 Serving with Thomas McCleland, John P. Cobbs and Joseph Shelton | |
| Preceded by | Joseph Shelton |
| Succeeded by | John P. Cobbs |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1793-05-04)May 4, 1793 Amherst County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | April 25, 1868(1868-04-25) (aged 74) |
| Party | Democratic, Whig |
William Cabell Rives (May 4, 1793 – April 25, 1868) was an American lawyer, planter, politician anddiplomat fromVirginia. Initially aJackson Democrat as well as member of theFirst Families of Virginia, Rives served in theVirginia House of Delegates representing firstNelson County, thenAlbemarle County, Virginia, before service in both theU.S. House andSenate (his final term as aWhig). Rives also served two separate terms as U.S. Minister toFrance. During theAndrew Jackson administration, Rives negotiated a treaty whereby the French agreed to pay the U.S. for spoliation claims from theNapoleonic Wars. During theAmerican Civil War, Rives became a Delegate to theProvisional Confederate Congress and theConfederate House of Representatives.[1]
Rives was born at "Union Hill", theJames River plantation estate of his grandfather,Col. William Cabell, in what was thenAmherst County, Virginia and is nowNelson County. His parents were Robert Rives (1764–1845) and the former Margaret Cabell (c. 1770–1815). Robert Rives ofSussex County had served in the patriot army during the final Yorktown campaign, then became a commission merchant (first operating as Robert Rives and Company and later as Brown, Rives and Company), withThomas Jefferson as one of his clients. He built a plantation, Oak Ridge Plantation,[2] in Nelson County in 1802, where he would bury his wife, and later be buried. On his death in 1845, the personal estate of Rives Sr. would be valued at $100,000 (~$3.19 million in 2024) and included lands inAlbemarle,Buckingham,Campbell and Nelson Counties.[3] Three of their sons, including William C. Rives would serve as legislators. Others includedRobert Rives Jr. (1798–1869) and future Virginia Court of Appeals and U.S. District JudgeAlexander Rives. His distant nephewAlexander Brown wrote books about the early history ofVirginia as well asThe Cabells and their Kin.[4]
After private tutoring appropriate to his station, W. C. Rives attendedHampden-Sydney College, followed by theCollege of William & Mary inWilliamsburg. He then studied law withThomas Jefferson atMonticello in nearer home.
During theWar of 1812, he joined the local militia, which defended the Commonwealth.[5]
In 1819, Rives married Judith Page Walker (1802–1882), the daughter ofFrancis Walker, and likewise of the First Families of Virginia. Their eldest son, Francis Robert Rives (1821–1891) followed his father's path into the law and diplomacy, but after returning from his foreign service in 1845, marriedThomas Henry Barclay's granddaughter, Matilda Antonia Barclay and lived inManhattan as well asDutchess County, New York, with his firstborn sonGeorge Lockhart Rives (1849–1917) following family tradition by becoming a lawyer and diplomat (but not owning slaves). This Rives' second son, William C. Rives Jr. (1826–1890), likewise began a legal career and also operated Virginia plantations using enslaved labor. The junior Rives owned the still-standingCobham Park Estate near Charlottesville,[6] and his son, also William Cabell Rives (1850–1938) donated the Peace Cross and supported building theWashington National Cathedral.[7] The youngest son,Alfred Landon Rives, became a prominent engineer (working on the U.S. Capitol and later for railroads), and his granddaughterAmélie Rives became a novelist, best known forThe Quick or the Dead? (1888).[8] The Rives also had daughters Grace Rives (1822–), Amelia Rives Sigourney (1832–1873) and Emma Rives (1835–1892).[9]
In 1814, Rives was admitted to the bar atRichmond. He began his law practice in Nelson County, but after his marriage moved to her estateCastle Hill, nearCobham in Albemarle County. This remained his primary residence for the rest of his life.
Like his father and other family members, Rives operated his plantations using enslaved labor. In the 1830 federal census, he owned 26 enslaved men and 26 enslaved women in Albemarle County.[10] In the 1850 federal census, he owned 54 slaves in Albemarle County.[11] A decade later, Rives owned 68 slaves and his son William C. Rives Jr. owned 24 slaves in Albemarle County.[12] His brother or nephew Robert Rives Jr. owned 43 slaves in Albemarle County in 1850.[13] and 70 slaves a decade later.[14]
Rives' political career began by as one of Nelson County's delegates in the state constitutional convention of 1816.[5] Rives then won election and re-election as one of Nelson County's delegates (part time) in theVirginia House of Delegates (serving 1817–19), then won election as one of Albemarle County's delegates in 1822.[15] During that session, his younger brother Robert Rives Jr., also served, as one of the Nelson County delegates.
Rives did not seek re-election to the Virginia legislature because in November 1822, voters inVirginia's 10th congressional district (which included both counties) elected him to represent them in theUnited States House of Representatives. He also won re-election and served from 1823 to 1829. In 1829 PresidentAndrew Jackson nominated Rives to become Minister toFrance.
When Rives took office, compensation demands for captured American ships and sailors, dating from theNapoleonic era, caused strained relations between theAmerican andFrench governments. TheFrench Navy had captured and sent American ships to Spanish ports while holding their crews captive, thus forcing them to labor without any charges or judicial rules. Secretary of StateMartin Van Buren, considered relations between the U.S. and France "hopeless."[16] Yet, Rives was able to convince the French government to sign a reparations treaty on July 4, 1831, that would award the U.S. ₣ 25,000,000 ($5,000,000) in damages.[17] However, the French government fell behind in its payments due to internal financial and political difficulties, but after firm insistence from the United States, payments were finally made in February 1836.[16]
Rives was presented as a candidate for the Democratic vice presidential nomination in 1835, but the nomination went toRichard M. Johnson, in spite of having been presidential nomineeMartin Van Buren's preferred candidate.
After Rives returned from France, Virginia legislators elected (and twice re-elected) him to theUnited States Senate. He replaced conservativeLittleton Tazewell. In 1834, Rives resigned because he disagreed the proposed senatorial censure of President Jackson's removal of government deposits from the Bank of the United States. However, the next legislature again elected Rives as Senator, this time to replaceJohn Tyler (thus he did not succeed himself). During his third term, Rives had become a member of theWhig Party and voted to expunge record of the censure from Senate records.[5]
Rives also served on the Board of Visitors for theUniversity of Virginia from 1834 to 1849, and for many years as president of theVirginia Historical Society.
In 1849, Rives once again accepted an appointment (and the Senate confirmed him) as Minister to France. He served until 1853, when he returned to his Virginia plantations. In 1831, Rives was elected as a member of theAmerican Philosophical Society.[18]
Rives published several books and pamphlets, including theLife and Character ofJohn Hampden (1845),Ethics of Christianity (1855) andLife and Times of James Madison (4 vols., Boston, 1859–68). His wife also published several volumes:The Canary Bird (1835), Epitome of the Holy Bible (1846),Tales and Souvenirs of a Residence in Europe (1842),Home and the World (1857),[5]
In 1860, Rives endorsed the call for aConstitutional Union Party Convention. He received most of Virginia's first ballot votes for president. Rives then became one of Virginia's unofficial delegates to the February 1861Peace Conference inWashington, which sought to prevent theAmerican Civil War by preserving slavery. Although Rives spoke out against secession, he was loyal to Virginia when it seceded.[8] He served in theProvisional Confederate Congress from 1861 to 1862 and theSecond Confederate Congress from 1864 to 1865.
Rives died atCastle Hill in 1868 and was buried in the family cemetery at Castle Hill. Rives is the namesake of the town ofRivesville, West Virginia.[19]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 10th congressional district 1823–1829 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Virginia 1832–1834 Served alongside:John Tyler Jr. | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Virginia 1836–1839 Served alongside:Richard E. Parker,William H. Roane | Succeeded by Himself |
| Preceded by Himself | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Virginia 1841–1845 Served alongside:William S. Archer | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by New creation | Delegate to theProvisional Confederate Congress from Virginia April 29, 1861 – February 16, 1862 | Succeeded by Office abolished |
| Confederate States House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theC.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 7th congressional district February 17, 1864 – March 7, 1865 | Succeeded by Office abolished |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | Minister to France Mid-1829–1832 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister to France 1849–1853 | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 | ||
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Armed Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| Military Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | | |
| Naval Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | ||
| Armed Services Committee (1947–present) | ||
| Envoys to France (1776–1779) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Ministers Plenipotentiary to France (1778–1815) | ||
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France (1816–1893) | ||
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France (1893–present) | ||
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