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.
Early life and career
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.Centennial Celebration, 4 July 1876, at Shelbyville, Bedford County, Tennessee (W.I. Crandall, 1877), p. 29. He sold this paper in 1838 to focus on his law practice.Congressional testimony in the case of C.A. Sheafe vs. Lewis Tillman (11 February 1870), Congressional Record (1870), pp. 247-252.
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."Election Returns," Loudon (TN) Free Press, 5 August 1853, p. 2. He was elected Speaker in October 1853, defeating William Wallace of Blount County by a vote of 43–30.Legislative," Athens (TN) Post, 7 October 1853, p. 2.
Wisener supported funding for internal improvements, judicial reform,"Tennessee Legislature, Nashville Union and American, 1 November 1853, p. 3. and tax reduction."Tennessee Legislature," Nashville Union and American, 3 February 1854, p. 2. He voted in favor of a failed prohibition measure in February 1854,"Tennessee Legislature," Nashville Union and American, 12 February 1854, p. 2. and delivered a speech in support of a bill that would sell state-owned lands to fund public schools that same month."Tennessee Legislature," Nashville Union and American, 16 February 1854, p. 2. In March 1854, he voted for a resolution expressing the legislature's support for the Kansas-Nebraska Act."The Presidential Campaign in Tennessee," Nashville Union and American, 20 September 1856, p. 2.
Following the collapse of the Whig Party, Wisener, like many Tennessee Whigs, threw his support behind the American Party (Know Nothings). Though he didn't run for reelection after his third term in the House, he served as the 6th district elector for American Party presidential candidate Millard Fillmore in the 1856 presidential election. In May 1857, Wisener presided over the state's American Party convention in Nashville."Proceedings of the American State Convention", Daily Nashville Patriot, 2 May 1857, p. 2.
Secession and the Civil War
In March 1859, Wisener represented Bedford County at the state convention of the Opposition Party, which had been formed by Unionists and former Whigs to oppose the rising separationist sentiments among Southern Democrats."Opposition State Convention," Nashville Patriot, 30 March 1859, p. 2. That year, he once again sought Bedford's seat in the state house, and defeated his Democratic opponent by a slim margin."Bedford," Nashville Patriot, 11 August 1859, p. 2. His assignments included the House Committee on Banks and the House Judiciary Committee."Standing Committees," The Athens Post, 14 October 1859, p. 2.
Although bank reform dominated the first few days of the 1859 state legislative session, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in October 1859 thrust the issue of slavery back to the forefront. While the pro-Union faction of the legislature was increasingly outnumbered, Wisener provided persistent opposition to secessionist initiatives throughout most of his term. In late November 1859, he attempted to amend a House resolution condemning Northern Republicans for destabilizing the Union to extend the blame to "disunionists" and "secessionists," arguing they were equally at fault."Tennessee Legislature," Nashville Union and American, 27 November 1859, p. 1. He "occupied nearly the whole of the morning session" on December 1 speaking in favor of this amendment, but it was eventually tabled."Tennessee Legislature," Nashville Patriot, 2 December 1859, p. 2."The Proceedings of the Legislature Upon Mr. Bayless' Resolutions," Nashville Union and American, 7 December 1859, p. 2. In January 1860, Wisener opposed a bill expelling free men of color from the state."Tennessee Legislature," Nashville Union and American, 13 January 1860, p. 2. In March 1860, he introduced a bill instructing the state's two U.S. senators to procure land in Mexico for the expelled free men of color, which failed."Tennessee Legislature," Nashville Union and American, 13 March 1860, p. 2.
The election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in November 1860 increased calls for secession, and the Tennessee state legislature called for a convention to consider secession in January 1861. Wisener was one of just five representatives to vote against holding this convention."Tennessee Legislature," Nashville Union and American, 10 January 1861, p. 2. He introduced a series of resolutions on January 8, 1861, stating that secession was unconstitutional and "a remedy for no existing evil.""Tennessee Legislature," Nashville Union and American, 9 January 1861, p. 2. He argued the United States government was adequate for the protection of Southern states' rights.
While Tennessee voters rejected the secession convention in a statewide referendum in February 1861, the Battle of Fort Sumter reignited the debate. In late April, Wisener was one of six representatives to vote against a resolution approving of Governor Isham G. Harris's refusal to comply with President Lincoln's call for troops to put down the rebellion, and one of seven to vote against a bill authorizing Harris to raise three regiments for Confederate forces. Wisener attempted (unsuccessfully) to amend the latter bill to require that the troops be used specifically for the defense of the state."Defense of the Hon. W.H. Wisener," Nashville Daily Union, 23 April 1865, p. 1. In May 1861, he voted against forming a military league with the Confederacy."Convention Between the State of Tennessee and the Confederate States of America," Nashville Union and American, 8 May 1861, p. 2. After the state voted to secede on June 8, 1861, Wisener attempted to leave the legislature, but Governor Harris refused to accept his resignation. In subsequent days, Wisener voted for a number of measures that sustained the pro-Confederate actions of the state, including a bill that would provide a pay raise for the state's troops, and a bill authorizing the governor to arm and equip the new regiments. Though later assailed for these votes by political opponents, he defended them, arguing he was simply voting the will of Bedford County, which had become overwhelmingly secessionist.
After his tumultuous term ended in August 1861, Wisener returned to his home in Bedford County. When the Union Army regained control of Nashville in early 1862, Wisener spoke at a Union rally in the city, where he endorsed the state's new military governor, Andrew Johnson."Traitors' Convention At Nashville," Memphis Daily Appeal, 25 May 1862, p. 1. In November 1862, Wisener organized a rally for the state's "Union refugees" living in Nashville."Rally of Union Citizens and Union Refugees," Nashville Daily Union, 14 November 1862, p. 3. During the presidential campaign of 1864, Wisener canvassed the state as an at-large elector for President Lincoln."Electoral Ticket," Nashville Daily Union, 5 October 1864, p. 2.
Tennessee Senate
In January 1865, Wisener spoke at a statewide Unionist convention that had been called for the purpose of reestablishing a state government."Union State Convention," Nashville Daily Union, 15 January 1865, p. 2. In March, he was elected to the state senate seat for Bedford and Marshall counties without campaigning. On April 5, 1865, Wisener introduced the bill in the state senate ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which passed unanimously."Tennessee Legislature," Nashville Daily Union, 6 April 1865, p. 1. Wisener resigned his seat after just four weeks in office.
Wisener was among the candidates considered for one of the state's two U.S. Senate seats in May 1865. His record in the days following the Ordinance of Secession in 1861 came under scrutiny, and he was accused by opponents of "providing aid and comfort" to the enemy for his votes in favor of several pro-Confederate measures. Wisener dismissed the charges, and the Nashville Daily Union and a group of pro-Union Bedford Countians came to his defense."From Bedford," Nashville Daily Union, 30 April 1865, p. 1. Nevertheless, his bid for the senate seat failed, with the legislature instead choosing Joseph S. Fowler.The Papers of Andrew Johnson: May-August 1865 (University of Tennessee Press, 1989), p. 14n.
Wisener was reelected to the state senate in 1867. He served as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,Senate Journal of the First Session of the Thirty-Fifth General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, (S.C. Mercer, 1868), p. 69, e.g. and was one of three members of a special committee that investigated the burgeoning Ku Klux Klan.The Papers of Andrew Johnson: September 1868-April 1869, (University of Tennessee Press, 1999), pp. 45-50. Wisener supported the use of the state guard and federal troops to quell the Klan's rising influence. He also supported Governor William G. Brownlow's controversial decision to throw out hundreds of votes in the 4th district to aid his political ally, Samuel Arnell, arguing the Klan had interfered in the election.
Wisener opposed the state's 1870 constitution, arguing it wasn't strong enough in its recognition of Tennessee as a perpetual part of the Union. He was particularly opposed to the inclusion of a poll tax in the final document."Radical Convention," Nashville Union and American, 23 September 1870, p. 1.
1870 campaign for governor
Wisener was nominated for the Tennessee Supreme Court on the Republican ticket in July 1870, but with former Confederates reenfranchised, he was badly defeated in the August general election (though he garnered the most votes of any Republican candidate)."Judicial Election," Memphis Public Ledger, 3 September 1870, p. 2. At the state Republican Party convention a month later, Wisener was nominated by fellow Bedford Countian James Mullins as the party's candidate for governor. The other potential nominees, among them Horace Maynard, John Trimble, and David Alexander Nunn, withdrew their names, allowing Wisener to win the nomination. Democrats nominated as their candidate former Confederate general John C. Brown.
The Republican platform endorsed the policies of President Ulysses S. Grant, called for the establishment of public schools, supported policies that encouraged immigration, opposed the repudiation of the state's debt, and demanded the enforcement of rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments. In his acceptance speech, Wisener attacked the 1870 constitution, and stated he would enforce all federal laws and would bring in federal soldiers if necessary. He also vowed to crush the Ku Klux Klan.