William H. Wisener
| William H. Wisener | |
|---|---|
| Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives | |
|
In office 1853 – 1855 |
|
| Preceded by | Jordan Stokes |
| Succeeded by | Neill S. Brown |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 22, 1812 Bedford County, Tennessee, United States |
| Died | December 24, 1882 (aged 70) Shelbyville, Tennessee |
| Resting place | Willow Mount Cemetery Shelbyville, Tennessee |
| Political party |
Whig Know Nothing Opposition Republican |
| Profession | Attorney |
William H. Wisener (April 22, 1812 – December 24, 1882) was an American politician, active primarily at the state level in Tennessee during the mid-19th century. He served four terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives (1847–1849, 1851–1855, and 1859–1861), including one term as Speaker (1853–1855). A Southern Unionist, he led the opposition to secession in the House on the eve of the Civil War. After the war, he served in the Tennessee Senate, where he introduced the 13th Amendment for ratification in April 1865.
Wisener was the Republican nominee for governor in 1870, but was defeated by the Democratic candidate, John C. Brown.
Wisener was born in what is now Marshall County, Tennessee, which at the time was still part of Bedford County. He studied law, and moved to the county seat of Bedford, Shelbyville, in April 1835. He joined the burgeoning Whig Party around this time, and began publishing a pro-Whig newspaper, The People's Advocate, in 1836. He sold this paper in 1838 to focus on his law practice.
In 1847, Wisener ran for Bedford's seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives, and won by a narrow margin. As Bedford was almost evenly divided between Whigs and Democrats, all of Wisener's electoral victories prior to the Civil War were by margins of less than 200 votes out of about 3,000 cast. He did not seek a second consecutive term in 1849, but ran again in 1851, having received his party's nomination over former congressman Daniel L. Barringer, and was reelected in the general election. In his 1853 reelection bid, he defeated his Democratic challenger, E.N. Bobo, 1,278 votes to 1,103. He was elected Speaker in October 1853, defeating William Wallace of Blount County by a vote of 43-30.
...
Wikipedia