William Henry Washington, U.S. Congress

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Washington

William Henry Washington (7 February 1813 – 12 August 1860) was a Whig U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1841 and 1843.

Born near Goldsboro, North Carolina, he graduated from Yale College in 1834, where he was a member of Skull and Bones. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1835. Washington practiced law in New Bern. He was elected as a Whig to the 27th United States Congress in 1840, and served a single term before declining re-election.

Following his term in Congress, Washington served in the North Carolina House of Commons in 1843 and 1846 and in the North Carolina Senate in 1848, 1850, and 1852. After his time in politics, he returned to law and died in New Bern in 1860. He is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery.

William Henry Washington, lawyer, congressman, and politician, was born in Wayne County near Goldsboro, the son of Nicholson Washington. He studied law and, after being admitted to the bar in 1835, began to practice in New Bern. A Whig, he was a member of the Twenty-seventh Congress from 1841 to 1843. Declining to seek renomination, he served instead in the North Carolina House of Commons in 1844–45 and 1846–47 and in the North Carolina Senate in 1848–49, 1850–51, and 1852. From 1842 to 1858 he owned the Stevenson House, now a part of the Tryon Palace complex in New Bern.

In 1834 Washington played a significant role in securing passage of legislation to establish the North Carolina Railroad. He also was active in the creation of the New Bern Literary Society, organized in 1843, which he once headed. In an address to the society on one occasion, he contrasted the nature of the English and French as demonstrated by the difference in their revolutions.

On 12 Aug. 1835 in Christ Episcopal Church, New Bern, he married Caroline H. Blount, the second daughter of Dr. Frederick Blount of New Bern. They had two children, Frederick Nicholson and Anna Maria. Washington died in New Bern and was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery.