George Wythe

George Wythe (1726-1806), American jurist and law teacher, was one of the foremost legal authorities of the Revolutionary period.

George Wythe was born into a prominent Virginia planting family. At his father's death in 1729 the family estate went to an elder brother, and George did not enjoy the advantages of considerable wealth until his brother died in 1755. George's education was therefore largely informal; he learned Latin and Greek from his mother and studied law while working with an attorney.

Wythe served briefly in 1754 as attorney general of the colony of Virginia and held political office almost continuously from then until 1778. He repeatedly served in the House of Burgesses and was its clerk from 1769 to 1775. As the crisis between the Colonies and Great Britain developed, Wythe protested against the new imperial policies. He was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1775 and signed the Declaration of Independence. On the state level he was a member of the committee that designed Virginia's official seal. The Virginia Legislature appointed him to work with Thomas Jefferson, Edmund Pendleton, and others on the revision and codification of the state's laws. This work resulted in the elimination of feudal land practices from the law.

Wythe's contributions to the history of American jurisprudence were especially significant. He taught law to Jefferson and to many lawyers of future importance in the new republic. In 1779 Wythe was appointed professor of law in the College of William and Mary, the first such position in any American educational institution; he held the post for 11 years. From 1778 until his death he was also a judge in the Virginia chancery (or equity) court. On at least one occasion, he gave early voice to the distinctive American doctrine of judicial review-the power of courts to require that actions of government, particularly legislative enactments, conform to basic or constitutional law.

On June 8, 1806, Wythe died in Richmond-not of natural causes. He had no direct descendants and wrote a will leaving the bulk of his estate to a grandnephew. The grandnephew, in financial difficulties, used arsenic in an attempt to eliminate a coheir. The attempt was successful, but Wythe also consumed a fatal dose of the poison. He lived long enough to disinherit his murderer, who was never convicted as the only substantial evidence against him was the word of a black cook. Because of the cook's race his evidence was not admissible in the Virginia courts of the time.

Further Reading

There is no biography of Wythe. He is discussed in David Mays, Edmund Pendleton (1952); Charles S. Sydnor Gentlemen Freeholders (1952); Alf J. Mapp, Jr., The Virginia Experiment: The Old Dominion's Role in the Making of America, 1607-1781 (1957); and Clifford Dowdey, The Golden Age: A Climate for Greatness, Virginia 1732-1775 (1970).

Additional Sources

Blackburn, Joyce., George Wythe of Williamsburg, New York: Harper & Row, 1975.

Brown, Imogene E., American Aristides: a biography of George Wythe, Rutherford N.J: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1981.

Dill, Alonzo Thomas., George Wythe, teacher of liberty, Williamsburg, Va. (Box JF, Williamsburg 23185): Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1979.

Kirtland, Robert Bevier., George Wythe: lawyer, revolutionary, judge, New York: Garland, 1986. □

WYTHE, GEORGE

"There is no country in the world … such as the United States itself—in which capital, management, labor and resources may be joined together for more production, to the mutual advantage of all concerned."
—George Wythe

George Wythe was an attorney, judge, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and first professor of law in the United States. A mentor to thomas jefferson, Wythe educated a number of men who went on to achieve prominence in law and politics.

Wythe was born in 1726 in Elizabeth City, Virginia. After his admission to the Virginia bar in 1746, Wythe settled in Williamsburg, then the seat of government in the colony. He became active in politics, serving as a member of the House of Burgesses from 1754 to 1755 and from 1758 to 1768. He later served as clerk of the house from 1769 to 1775. An ardent supporter of independence, Wythe drafted a fiery motion opposing the stamp act of 1764. However, the house was compelled to rewrite the motion and adopt a softer tone. Wythe attended the continental congress in 1775 and 1776 and signed the declaration of independence.

During these years of politics and revolution, Wythe maintained a successful law practice. Many students sought his counsel, including Jefferson, who studied law with Wythe in the 1760s and viewed him as his mentor. As Jefferson rose in stature and power, Wythe became part of his circle. In 1776 Wythe, Jefferson, george mason, and Edmund Pendleton revised the Virginia Code.

Jefferson used his influence to have Wythe appointed the first law professor in the United States. Wythe taught at the College of William and Mary from 1779 to 1789. One of his first students was john marshall, later chief justice of the United States. While teaching, Wythe also pursued a judicial career and presided as a judge in the Virginia Chancery Court from 1778 to 1788. In 1789 he was appointed chancellor of Virginia, which required him to move to Richmond. Wythe established a private law school there and had as one of his pupils the future U.S. senator from Kentucky, henry clay. Wythe resigned as chancellor in 1792. He published a selection of his court decisions in Decisions of Cases in Virginia by the High Court of Chancery in 1795.

Wythe died on June 8, 1806, in Richmond, Virginia, of poisoning. His grandnephew and heir, George Wythe Sweeney, was acquitted of the murder. At trial the only witness was an African American, who was disqualified from testifying under the laws of Virginia.

further readings

Brown, Imogene E. 1981. American Aristides: A Biography of George Wythe. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press.

Callahan, Dennis J. 2003. "America's First Law Professor Played Unsung Role in Marbury." Student Lawyer 31 (February).

Carrington, Paul D. 1997. "A Tale of Two Lawyers." Northwestern University Law Review 91 (winter).

Kirtland, Robert Bevier. 1986. George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge. New York: Garland.