William C. Somerville
William Clarke Somerville[1](March 25, 1790 – January 5, 1826) was an author, historian, diplomat, American plantation owner and militia officer in theWar of 1812.
Life and career
[edit]William Clarke Somerville was born inSt. Mary's County, Marylandon March 25, 1790.[2]His family had been prominent incolonial Maryland,and his father William Somerville (1755-1806) was amilitiaofficer before and during theAmerican Revolution,and served in theMaryland House of Delegatesand asJudgeof the countyOrphans Court.[3]
The younger Somerville was educated by his parents and became involved in managing his family'splantations.At different times in his life he owned:Mulberry Fields,which he inherited from his father;Sotterley,which he won from his brother in law in a dice game; andStratford Hall,the birthplace ofRobert E. Lee.He later renamedMulberry FieldstoMontalbino.[4][5]
During the War of 1812 Somerville served in the 12th Regiment of Maryland Militia, based in St. Mary's County, and attained the rank ofMajor.[6]
Following the war Somerville made an extended tour ofEurope,and established several friendships with political, military and society figures that he maintained until the end of his life.[7]As a result of his time in France, he penned a history, entitledLetters from Paris, on the Causes and Consequences of the French Revolutionwhich was first published in Baltimore in 1822.[8]
To capitalize on Somerville's contacts, in 1825PresidentJohn Quincy Adamsappointed him to beMinister to Sweden[9]and directed him to carry out a diplomatic assignment inGreecebefore proceeding toStockholm.[10]
While en route to Greece, Somerville became ill while staying atChâteau de la Grange-Bléneau,the estate of theMarquis de LafayetteinCourpalay,France.He died there on January 5, 1826 and was buried on the estate.[11]
Personal life
[edit]Somerville never married. He was first engaged to Sarah Conyers, who died in the 1811Richmond Theatre fire.[12]He was later engaged to Coralie (Cora) Livingston (1806-1873), the daughter ofEdward Livingston,but died without marrying her.[13]
William C. Somerville's will, which Lafayette sent to Somerville's family, named William's brother Henry V. Somerville as beneficiary. William Somerville's assets consisted chiefly of the plantations he still owned and theslaveswho worked on them. (Before the War of 1812 he had owned nearly 50.) In his will William Somerville left detailed instructions for the gradualmanumissionof his slaves, and provisions for one to immediately purchase his freedom from Henry Somerville.[5]
References
[edit]- ^"Somerville, William C. (William Clarke), 1790-1826".U.S. Library of Congress.Retrieved2013-03-13.
- ^Edwin Anderson Alderman,The Library of Southern Literature,Part 15, 2005, page 410
- ^Charles Bernard Tiernan,The Tiernan Family in Maryland,1898, page 120
- ^Maryland Inns,Historic Inns & Famous Homes of Maryland: St. Mary's County,accessed March 6, 2013
- ^abArchives of Maryland,Biography, William C. Somerville,accessed March 6, 2013
- ^Maryland State Archives,Maryland Historical Trust nomination of Mulberry Fields to National Register of Historic Places,1972, page 1
- ^Somerville's Letters on France,The North American Review,Volume 19, July 1824, page 50
- ^Wm. C. Somerville.Letters from Paris, on the Causes and Consequences of the French Revolution.Baltimore: Edward J. Coale, 1822.
- ^United States Department of State,Biographic Register of the Department of State,1874, page 101
- ^Henry Merritt Wriston,Executive Agents in American Foreign Relations,1929, page 437
- ^Hezekiah Niles,Niles' National Register,Volume 30, 1826, page 48
- ^Charles Bernard Tiernan,The Tiernan Family in Maryland,1898, page 92
- ^Henry Clay,The Papers of Henry Clay: Secretary of State, 1825,Volume 4, 1972, page 334
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