Wilkins, William

Dickinson class of 1802, Wilkins became a wealthy lawyer and banker in Pittsburgh. By 1834, he was a Pennsylvania senator prominent enough to be considered for vice-president. As Tyler's Secretary of War in 1844, he strenuously advocated western expansion. In retirement, he was a vocal advocate of the Union and in the war was an octogenarian major-general in the Pennsylvania Home Guard.
Life Span
to
Dickinson Connection
Class of 1802
    Full name
    William Wilkins
    Place of Birth
    Burial Place
    Birth Date Certainty
    Exact
    Death Date Certainty
    Exact
    Gender
    Male
    Race
    White
    Sectional choice
    North
    Origins
    Free State
    No. of Spouses
    2
    Family
    Catherine Holmes (first wife), Matilda Dallas (second wife)
    Education
    Dickinson (Carlisle College)
    Occupation
    Politician
    Attorney or Judge
    Businessman
    Relation to Slavery
    White non-slaveholder
    Political Parties
    Democratic
    Other Political Party
    Jacksonian
    Government
    Harrison/Tyler Administration (1841-45)
    US Senate
    US House of Representatives
    State legislature
    State judge
    Other state government
    Military
    Union Army

    William Wilkins (Congressional Biographical Dictionary)

    Reference
    WILKINS, William, a Senator and a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Carlisle, Pa., December 20, 1779; attended Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa.; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1801 and commenced practice in Pittsburgh, Pa.; assisted in organizing the Pittsburgh Manufacturing Co. in 1810; first president of the Bank of Pittsburgh; president of the common council 1816-1819; member, State house of representatives 1820; appointed judge of the fifth judicial district of Pennsylvania 1821-1824; judge of the United States District Court for western Pennsylvania 1824-1831; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1826 to the Twentieth Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-first Congress, but resigned before qualifying; elected as a Jacksonian to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1831, to June 30, 1834, when he resigned; chairman, Committee on the Judiciary (Twenty-second Congress), Committee on Foreign Relations (Twenty-third Congress); appointed United States Minister to Russia 1834-1835; unsuccessful candidate for election to the Twenty-seventh Congress in 1840; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth Congress and served from March 4, 1843, to February 14, 1844, when he resigned; chairman, Committee on the Judiciary (Twenty-eighth Congress); appointed Secretary of War by President John Tyler 1844-1845; member, State senate 1855-1857; major general of the Pennsylvania Home Guards in 1862; died in ‘Homewood,’ near Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pa., June 23, 1865; interment in Homewood Cemetery, Wilkinsburg, Pa., a town named for him.
    “Wilkins, William,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000475.
    How to Cite This Page: "Wilkins, William," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/6861.