George Wythe, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

George Wythe

first American law professor, a noted classics scholar and Virginia judge, as well as a prominent opponent of slavery

Date of Birth: 03-Dec-1726

Place of Birth: Elizabeth City County, Virginia, Virginia, United States

Date of Death: 08-Jun-1806

Profession: judge, lawyer, jurist, university teacher

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius


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About George Wythe

  • George Wythe (;December 3, 1726 – June 8, 1806) was the first American law professor, a noted classics scholar, and a Virginia judge.
  • The first of the seven Virginia signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence, Wythe served as one of Virginia's representatives to the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention.
  • Wythe taught and was a mentor to Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Henry Clay and other men who became American leaders. Born into a wealthy Virginia planter family, Wythe established a legal career in Williamsburg, Virginia after studying under his uncle.
  • He became a member of the House of Burgesses in 1754 and helped oversee defense expenditures during the French and Indian War.
  • He opposed the Stamp Act of 1765 and other British taxes imposed on the Thirteen Colonies.
  • He became increasingly alienated from British rule, and represented Virginia in the Second Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence.
  • He was also a delegate to Virginia's 1776 constitutional convention and helped design the Seal of Virginia.
  • Wythe was a delegate to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention and served on a committee that established the convention's rules and procedures.
  • He left the convention before signing the United States Constitution to tend to his dying wife.
  • He was elected to the Virginia Ratifying Convention and helped ensure that his home state ratified the Constitution. Wythe served as a judge for much of his life, first as a justice of the peace and then on the Virginia Court of Chancery.
  • He was also a prominent law professor at the College of William & Mary and took on several notable apprentices.
  • He remained particularly close to Jefferson, and left Jefferson his substantial book collection in his will.
  • Wythe became increasingly troubled by slavery in his later years and emancipated 4 of his slaves before his death.
  • After Wythe's death in 1806, his grand-nephew was tried and acquitted for Wythe's murder.

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