William Pinkney Whyte

Summary

William Pinkney Whyte (August 9, 1824 – March 17, 1908), a member of the United States Democratic Party, was a politician who served the State of Maryland as a State Delegate, the State Comptroller, a United States Senator, the 35th Governor, the Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, and the State Attorney General.

William Whyte
35th Governor of Maryland
In office
January 10, 1872 – March 4, 1874
Preceded byOden Bowie
Succeeded byJames B. Groome
United States Senator
from Maryland
In office
June 8, 1906 – March 17, 1908
Preceded byArthur Gorman
Succeeded byJohn Smith
In office
March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1881
Preceded byWilliam Hamilton
Succeeded byArthur Gorman
In office
July 13, 1868 – March 3, 1869
Appointed byThomas Swann
Preceded byReverdy Johnson
Succeeded byWilliam Hamilton
Attorney General of Maryland
In office
1887–1891
GovernorHenry Lloyd
Elihu Emory Jackson
Preceded byCharles Boyle Roberts
Succeeded byJohn Prentiss Poe
28th Mayor of Baltimore
In office
1881–1883
Preceded byFerdinand Claiborne Latrobe
Succeeded byFerdinand Claiborne Latrobe
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates
In office
1847-1849
Personal details
BornAugust 9, 1824
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
DiedMarch 17, 1908(1908-03-17) (aged 83)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Louisa Dorsey Hollingsworth
Mary McDonald Thomas
Children4

Early life and education edit

Whyte was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Joseph and Isabella White (he later changed his surname to Whyte following a family disagreement). His paternal grandfather was the physician and exiled United Irishman, John Campbell White.[1][2] His maternal grandfather, William Pinkney, had been a famous United States politician, administrator, and diplomat.

Whyte's early education involved instruction by a private tutor, who had been personal secretary to Napoleon Bonaparte.[citation needed] From 1842 to 1844, Whyte was unable to attend college as a result of his family's poor financial situation, and began work at the banking firm of Peabody, Riggs and Co. in Baltimore. He began to study law in Baltimore at the law office of Brown and Brune for one year before being admitted to the law school of Harvard University in 1844. Whyte returned to Baltimore in 1845 for further study, and was admitted to the Bar soon after in 1846.

Political career edit

From 1847 to 1849, Whyte served one term as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates. In 1850, Whyte was unsuccessful in a bid for election to the 32nd Congress. From 1853 to 1855, he served one term as Comptroller of the State Treasury of Maryland, for which he was credited for introducing a more simplified financial system to the State.

 
A later portrait of Whyte

In 1857, Whyte was again nominated to serve in Congress. He was defeated, but brought forth evidence before the House of Representatives of fraud and corruption regarding the election. The House did not concur on whether or not he should have been appointed, however.

After nearly a decade out of the political arena, Whyte was asked by then-governor Thomas Swann to fill the remainder of resigning senator Reverdy Johnson's term from July 13, 1868, to March 3, 1869. During his short tenure as senator, Whyte steadfastly supported the embattled President Andrew Johnson, and also supported easing the tension on the Southern states during Reconstruction. He chose not to be a candidate for re-election in 1868, however.

In 1872, Whyte was elected Governor of Maryland, defeating Republican challenger Jacob Tome. In the election of 1874, Whyte was elected by the legislature as a Democrat to the United States Senate and accordingly resigned from the position of governor. In 1874, in between his terms as governor and senator, he served as counsel for Maryland before the arbitration board in the boundary dispute between Virginia and Maryland. During this tenure as senator, Whyte opposed paying the nation's debt with silver and gold instead of solely gold, and served as the chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Printing (46th Congress). In the election of 1880, Whyte chose not to run for re-election, due to family illness and strife between him and his counterpart senator, Arthur P. Gorman.

Whyte was elected unopposed to be mayor of Baltimore in 1881. At the conclusion of his term in 1883, Whyte chose to go back to practicing law. From 1887 to 1891, Whyte was Attorney General of Maryland, and from 1900 to 1903, the Baltimore City Solicitor. In 1906, Whyte was appointed by Maryland Governor Edwin Warfield to fill the Senate seat vacancy caused by the death of Arthur P. Gorman. At 25 years, 3 months, 5 days since his last day in the chamber, Whyte's return set the all-time mark for the longest gap in service to the U.S. Senate.[3]

Whyte served as senator until his unexpected death in Baltimore, and is buried in Greenmount Cemetery.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Baltimore City History of Mayors - WILLIAM PINKNEY WHYTE". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  2. ^ "Founders Online: John Campbell White to Thomas Jefferson, 13 August 1816". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  3. ^ Ostermeier, Eric (December 4, 2013). "Bob Smith and the 12-Year Itch". Smart Politics.

Sources edit

  • United States Congress. "William Pinkney Whyte (id: W000435)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  • Frank F. White, Jr., The Governors of Maryland 1777-1970 (Annapolis: The Hall of Records Commission, 1970), 179–183.
  • William Pinkney Whyte, late a senator from Maryland, Memorial addresses delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate frontispiece 1909

Further reading edit

  • Tracy Matthew Melton, Hanging Henry Gambrill: The Violent Career of Baltimore's Plug Uglies, 1854-1860 (2005). Includes information on Whyte's early legal and political careers.
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Maryland
1871
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Henry E. Bateman
Comptroller of Maryland
1854–1856
Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Maryland
1872–1874
Succeeded by
Preceded by Mayor of Baltimore
1881–1883
Succeeded by
Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 1) from Maryland
1868–1869
Served alongside: George Vickers
Succeeded by
Preceded by
William Hamilton
U.S. senator (Class 1) from Maryland
1875–1881
Served alongside: George R. Dennis, James Groome
Succeeded by
Arthur Gorman
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 3) from Maryland
1906–1908
Served alongside: Isidor Rayner
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Maryland
1887–1891
Succeeded by