William G. Whiteley - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

William Gustavus Whiteley (August 7, 1819 - April 23, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as U. S. Representative from Delaware, Mayor of Wilmington, and Associate Judge of the Superior Court of Delaware.

Early life and family

Whiteley was born near Newark, Delaware, attended Bullock's School at Wilmington and was graduated from Princeton College in 1838. He studied law, was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1841 and began apractice in Wilmington.

Professional and political career

He was the prothonotary

Prothonotary

The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. prothonotarius , from Greek protonotarios "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine Empire, from Greek protos "first" + Latin notarius ; the -h-...

of New Castle County from 1852 to 1856, and was elected as a Democrat to the 35th and 36th Congresses, serving from March 4, 1857 to March 4, 1861. While in Congress he was chairman of the Committee on Agriculture in the 35th Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1860 and resumed his occupation as prothonotary of New Castle County from 1862 to 1867.

Whiteley was mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

of Wilmington from 1875 to 1878 and was a member of a commission to settle fishery disputes between New Jersey and Delaware in 1877. He was census enumerator for Delaware in 1880, and was appointed as associate judge of the Superior Court

Superior court

In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases...

of Delaware from March 31, 1884 until his death.

Death and legacy

Whiteley died at Wilmington and is buried in the Old Broad Street Presbyterian Church Cemetery at Bridgeton

Bridgeton, New Jersey

Bridgeton is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States, in the south part of the state, on the Cohansey River, near Delaware Bay. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 25,349. It is the county seat of Cumberland County...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

Almanac

Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1st. U.S. Representatives took office March 4th and have a two year term.

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=8 style="background: #ccccff;" |Public Offices
|-
| Office
| Type
| Location
| Began office
| Ended office
| notes
|-
| U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

| Legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

| Washington

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

|Executive

Executive (government)

Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...

|Wilmington

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

|1875
|1878
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|-
|Associate Justice

Associate Justice

Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...

|Judiciary

Judiciary

The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...

| March 31, 1884
| April 23, 1886
|Superior Court

Delaware Superior Court

The Delaware Superior Court is the state trial court of general jurisdiction in the state of Delaware. It has original jurisdiction over most criminal and civil cases...

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=8 style="background: #ccccff;" |United States Congressional service
|-
! Dates
! Congress
! Chamber
! Majority
! President
! Committees
! Class/District
|-
|1857-1859
|35th

35th United States Congress

The 35th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1857 to March 3, 1859, during the first two years of James...

|U.S. House

United States House of Representatives

|Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

|James Buchanan

James Buchanan

James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....

|
|at-large

Delaware's At-large congressional district

Delaware's At-large congressional district is a congressional district that includes the entire U.S. state of Delaware.It is currently represented by Democrat John C. Carney, Jr., the former Lieutenant Governor of Delaware.-Voting:-History:...

|-
|1859-1861
|36th

36th United States Congress

The Thirty-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1859 to March 4, 1861, during the third and fourth...

|U.S. House

United States House of Representatives

|Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

|James Buchanan

James Buchanan

|
|at-large

Delaware's At-large congressional district

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=12 style="background: #ccccff;" |Election results
|-
|Year
|Office
|
|Subject
|Party
|votes
|%
|
|Opponent
|Party
|votes
|%
|-
| 1856
|U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

Democratic Party (United States)

| | 8,111
| | 56%
|
| | Elisha D. Cullen

Elisha D. Cullen

Elisha Dickerson Cullen was an American lawyer and politician from Georgetown, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the American Party, who served as U. S...

| | American
| | 6,360
| | 44%
|-
| 1858
|U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

Democratic Party (United States)

| | 7,868
| | 51%
|
| | William R. Morris
| | American
| | 7,452
| | 49%

Places with more information

Delaware Historical Society
Delaware Historical Society
The Delaware Historical Society began in 1864 as an effort to preserve documents from the Civil War. Since then, it has expanded into a state-wide historical institution with several venues and a major museum in Wilmington and the historic Read House & Gardens in New Castle.The society...

; website; 505 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801; (302) 655-7161
University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

; Library website; 181 South College Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19717; (302) 831-2965

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.