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William Temple
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromDelaware'sat-large district
In office March 4, 1863 – May 28, 1863
Preceded by	George P. Fisher
Succeeded by	Nathaniel B. Smithers
35thGovernor of Delaware
In office May 6, 1846 – January 19, 1847
Preceded by	Joseph Maull
Succeeded by	William Tharp
Member of theDelaware Senate
In office January 7, 1849 – January 2, 1855
Member of theDelaware House of Representatives
In office January 7, 1845 – May 7, 1846
Personal details
Born	(1814-02-28)February 28, 1814 Queen Anne's County, Maryland
Died	May 28, 1863(1863-05-28) (aged 49) Smyrna, Delaware
Party	Whig Democratic
Spouse	Sarah Ann Ringgold
Residence	Smyrna, Delaware
Occupation	Merchant

William Temple (February 28, 1814 – May 28, 1863) was an American merchant and politician fromSmyrna, inKent County, Delaware. He was a member of theWhig Party, and later theDemocratic Party, who served in theDelaware General Assembly, asGovernor of Delaware, and asU.S. Representative from Delaware. He is the youngest governor to serve in Delaware in all of its history.

Temple was born inQueen Anne's County, Maryland, the son of George Temple. The Temples had lived in the area since the mid-1700s.Templeville, on the borders ofQueen Anne andCaroline counties and near the Maryland-Delaware line, is most likely named for the Temple family. William had five brothers and a sister. At the age of 18 he moved toSmyrna, Delaware and began his work as a merchant there. He married Sarah Ann Ringgold, daughter of William Ringgold ofKenton, in 1838 and they had three children, Sarah Louisa, Emma Frances, and William George. Both his daughters died as infants, and his wife, Sarah, died in 1851 at 33 years of age. It is believed they lived at the northeast corner of Main and Mt. Vernon Streets and were members of St. Peter's Episcopal Church inSmyrna.

Throughout the 19th century Delaware politics was characterized by a conservative downstate, agrarian and small business majority, in opposition to aWilmington based industrialist minority. This majority was led into theWhig Party byJohn M. Clayton, but when that party broke up over the issue of slavery, generally moved over to a conservativeDemocratic Party. As the sectional issues intensified with the coming of theCivil War, this majority became impossibly conflicted between its certain loyalty to theUnion and its equally certain view that decisions about property, including slaves, belonged with the states. The result was first an effort by many to find a non-existent middle ground, and then, with a much diminished majority, entry into constant and bitter conflict with theRepublican minority centered inWilmington and supported by theFederal government.

As a successful and popular conservative businessman, Temple reflected the majority views well. Temple was elected to the State House in the fall of 1844. He became Speaker in January 1846. After the successive deaths in office of the elected governor,Thomas Stockton, and his constitutional successor, the Speaker of the State Senate,Joseph Maull, Temple surprisingly became governor himself on May 6, 1846, the third governor in two years. At 32 years of age, he was the youngest Delaware governor ever and only served the remainder of the term, until January 19, 1847. No sooner had he inherited the job than he received a call fromPresidentJames K. Polk to raise troops for theMexican–American War. Much of his short tenure was spent on this task.

Following his time as governor, Temple was elected to theDelaware Senate and served in three sessions, from the 1849–1850 session through the 1853–1854 session. With the demise of theWhig Party, he was too conservative to support the agenda ofStephen A. Douglas, but too fearful of disunion to support theRepublican Party or the eventual candidacy ofJohn C. Breckinridge. In theelection of 1860, Temple sought the elusive middle ground, and was one of the Delaware leaders of the short livedConstitutional Union Party. This party supported the right of each state to decide the slavery question, but argued that somehow that right could be preserved within the Union.

After the election ofAbraham Lincoln and thesecession of the Confederate states, Temple took a position opposing the enforced restoration of the Union, and joined theDemocratic Party. After presiding over a futile "Peace Convention" in Dover in June 1861, he became theDemocratic candidate for theU.S. House of Representatives in the hotly contested and controversial 1862 election. Temple's opponent was the incumbentRepublicanGeorge P. Fisher, who had served asSecretary of State when Temple was governor. Now, Fisher was convinced that there were various schemes being planned to prevent a legitimate election. Accordingly, he requested thatAbraham Lincoln leave the Delaware troops in theU.S. Army home until after the election, and that he send additional Federal troops to supervise the polls on election day. The Democrats were outraged and managed to narrowly elect Temple and a majority in the General Assembly, although losing the governorship. While officially a member of theU.S. House from March 4, 1863, Temple died before the December convening of the House, and consequently never actually served. He was forty-nine years old. In a subsequent special election,RepublicanNathaniel B. Smithers won the seat due to aDemocratic Party boycott of the election in protest of the continuing presence of Federal troops at the polling places.

Temple died atSmyrna. He is buried in the St. Peter's Episcopal Church Cemetery. The grave was unmarked until 1979 when a stone was placed where he is believed to have been buried. The plaque on the stone simply reads, "William Temple 1814–1863 Legislator Elected to CongressGovernor of Delaware 1846–1847". His grandson, William G. Temple, was an ordained priest in theRoman Catholic Church and was the first priest at St. Elizabeth's Parish inWilmington. An obituary reads:

He was emphatically a man of the world, possessing those rare qualities calculated to win every man and repel none. Frank, generous, familiar and courteous, he possessed the key to unlock the hearts of men and blend their interests with his in the prosecution of the public interest. Certainly he was a very pure minded, honorable man, a man of soul and feeling, a friend of all and a great help to many in times of need.^[1]

His house atSmyrna is acontributing property in theSmyrna Historic District.^[2]

Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1. Members of the General Assembly take office the first Tuesday of January. State senators have a four-year term and state representatives have a two-year term. The governor takes office the third Tuesday of January and has a four-year term.U.S. Representatives take office March 4 and have a two-year term.

• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)

• Conrad, Henry C. (1908).History of the State of Delaware. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Wickersham Company.
• Hancock, Harold Bell (1961).Delaware During the Civil War. Wilmington, Delaware:Historical Society of Delaware.ISBN 0-924117-24-9.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Martin, Roger A. (1984).A History of Delaware Through its Governors. Wilmington, Delaware: McClafferty Press.
• Martin, Roger A. (1995).Memoirs of the Senate. Newark, Delaware: Roger A. Martin.
• Martin, Roger A. (2003).Delawareans in Congress. Middletown, Delaware: Roger A. Martin.ISBN 0-924117-26-5.
• Scharf, John Thomas (1888).History of Delaware 1609-1888. 2 vols. Philadelphia: L. J. Richards & Co.ISBN 0-87413-493-5.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Wilson, Emerson. (1969).Forgotten Heroes of Delaware. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Deltos Publishing Company. p. 129.

• Hall of Governors Portrait Gallery;Portrait courtesy of Historical and Cultural Affairs, Dover.

• Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Delaware’s Governors
• William Temple atFind a Grave
• The Political Graveyard
• Delaware Historical Society;websiteArchived 1996-12-31 at theWayback Machine
• University of Delaware;Library website

• 1814 births
• 1863 deaths
• 18th-century American Episcopalians
• People from Smyrna, Delaware
• People of Delaware in the American Civil War
• Businesspeople from Delaware
• Delaware Whigs
• Democratic Party members of the Delaware House of Representatives
• Democratic Party Delaware state senators
• Democratic Party governors of Delaware
• Burials in Kent County, Delaware
• Whig Party state governors of the United States
• Democratic Party United States representatives from Delaware
• People from Queen Anne's County, Maryland
• 19th-century American businesspeople
• 19th-century American Episcopalians
• 19th-century members of the Delaware General Assembly
• 19th-century United States representatives

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