William West (politician)

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William West (* around 1733 in North Kingstown , Rhode Island , † 1814 in Rhode Island) was an American officer , lawyer and politician . He was a militia general during the Revolutionary War , a judge on the Rhode Island Supreme Court , lieutenant governor of the State of Rhode Island, and an anti- federalism leader. The first judgment of the United States Supreme Court in 1791 was against him ( West v. Barnes ).

Early years

William West, son of Alice Sweet and John West, a great grandson of the pilgrim George Soule , was born in North Kingstown during the reign of George II . His father was a large landowner and his mother sold Johnnycakes during the War of Independence. It has long been believed that West was a descendant of Francis West of Duxbury. Modern DNA analyzes have shown, however, that he must have belonged to a completely different branch of the family. West married Eleanor Brown around 1755. During that time he served in the Seven Years War . He then eventually moved from North Kingstown to Scituate, Rhode Island, where he acquired a 200  acre farm that previously belonged to Colonial Governor Stephen Hopkins . In 1758 he built a flourishing inn there. He worked as a farmer and molasses dealer. Shortly after moving to Scituate, he was elected a member of parliament. He was also a member of the town in the General Assembly, which met on September 26, 1786 in East Greenwich . Between 1760 and 1785, West served as MP 12 times.

War of Independence

At the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1775 he was deputy commander of the Rhode Island Militia under Esek Hopkins and held the rank of colonel . Between 1775 and 1777 he was then Brigadier General . West had command of Rhode Island (Aquidneck Island) in Narragansett Bay from January to March 1776 , which was then besieged by the British. As a general, his main task was to track down the Tories who were supplying the British with supplies. In March, he joined because of his anger at the Rhode Iceland legislature from his command in Newport back since being released several imprisoned Tory leader in Newport, including Joseph Wanton junior .

When the British Army finally occupied Newport in December 1776, West withdrew with the militia to Bristol . During the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778, General West commanded the Rhode Island militia in the unsuccessful invasion of Aquidneck Island. His troops served as reserves for the regular troops and gave them cover during the retreat.

West played an active role in the affairs of his town during the Revolutionary War. On May 4, 1776, West, as an MP for Scituate, signed the Declaration of Independence from Rhode Island, which preceded the United States' Declaration of Independence two months . He was responsible for raising troops in Scituate in 1777 and served on various committees relating to the British blockade, army blankets, salt rationing and firearms. West was reappointed brigadier general in the Providence County Brigade in 1779 . Reportedly, General West was also involved in buccaneer activities during the war. In this context, two loads were lost and his finances suffered.

West was also chosen to be the town's moderator several times for allegedly being a man of intelligence, and a marked degree of enterprise . During the war he was elected lieutenant governor of Rhode Island - a post he held from May 1780 to May 1781. During this time he sat on the committee that was instrumental in the formation of the state of Vermont . Westfield (Vermont) was named after Lieutenant Governor West in 1780. West was also given land in Vermont for political engagement, which he sold in 1785 because of financial difficulties.

Supreme Court judges and anti-federalism leaders

West served as a judge on the Rhode Island Supreme Court from 1787 to 1789, then known as the Superior Court of Assize and General Gaol Delivery . During this time he was also leader of the rural resistance to the passage of the Constitution known as the Country Party (Rhode Island) . The group supported the introduction of paper money as a means of payment and was in power from 1786 to 1790. West led nearly 1,000 rural armed men to Providence to protest the reading of the constitution on July 4, 1788, which was to be held at a roast ox festival. Shortly before, the ninth state ratified the constitution. Fortunately, a compromise was struck between the federalists and anti-federalists, which averted civil war. The federalists agreed to celebrate independence but not to adopt the constitution. However, resistance to the constitution remained strong. Rhode Island was therefore the last of the 13 colonies to ratify the constitution in 1790.

Financial difficulties

Although West was a large landowner before the war, the depreciation of the continental currency ruined him financially. In his first judgment West v. Barnes by 1791, the United States Supreme Court ruled that William West could not use continental currency to repay his mortgage for procedural reasons. West was then forced to sell his farm to his sons-in-law: Gideon Smith, Jeremy Phillips, Job Randall and Joseph Battey. This led to further litigation after his death ( West v. Randall ). West was imprisoned for a period and died in relative poverty in 1814. He was buried on his farm in Scituate off the Danielson Highway. There are no images of West. But he was described as:

"A man rather above the middle height, a bony, sinewy man, long favored, with a prominent nose."

literature

  • History of Scituate, History of the State of Rhode Island with Illustrations, Philadelphia: Hong, Wade & Co., 1878
  • Columbian Centinel Pennsylvania Packet (July 5, 12, 16, and 23, 1788), July 30, 1788

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Timothy W. Larson: West v. Barnes: The First Supreme Court Decision, Rhode Island Bar Association Journal, July / August 2010, pp. 13-15
  2. ↑ Thomas Vernon, Harrison Ellery, and George Sears Greene: The Diary of Thomas Vernon: A Loyalist, Banished from Newport by the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1776 , SS Rider, 1879
  3. ^ West Family Group 20
  4. ↑ a b c C.C.Beaman: An Historical Sketch of Scituate, RI, Phenix Capron and Cambell, Steam Book and Job Printers, 1877
  5. ^ A b c d Daughters of the American Revolution: The American Monthly Magazine , Volume 7, RR Bowker Company, 1895, p. 247
  6. ↑ a b West, George M .: William West of Scituate, RI: farmer, soldier, statesman , St. Andrews, FL: Panama City Publishing, 1919
  7. ^ Rhode Island Historical Society Collections , 1843, p. 332
  8. ^ A b Maeva Marcus and James R. Perry: The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1800 , Volume 6, Columbia University Press, 1998, ISBN 9780231088732 , pp. 9, 22f
  9. ↑ United States, Circuit Court (1st Circuit), William Powell Mason: Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit Court of the United States , Wells and Lilly, 1824, pp. 181-208
  10. ↑ George West: William West of Scituate, RI, 1919, p. 23

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Jabez Bowen Lieutenant Governor of the State of Rhode Island
1780–1781 		Jabez Bowen
personal data
SURNAME West, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American officer, lawyer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH around 1733
PLACE OF BIRTH North Kingstown , Rhode Island
DATE OF DEATH 1814
Place of death Rhode Island