Thomas Watkins Ligon

Thomas Watkins Ligon ( born May 10, 1810 Prince Edward County, Virginia; † January 12, 1881 in Ellicott City, Maryland ) was an American politician and 1854-1858 Governor of Maryland. Between 1845 and 1849 he represented his state in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early years

Thomas Ligon attended until 1830, the Hampden - Sydney College and then for a year, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. After a subsequent study of law at Yale University, he was admitted in 1833 as a lawyer. He then worked until 1853 as an attorney in Baltimore and other cities in Maryland.

Political rise

Ligon was a member of the Democratic Party. Between 1843 and 1845 he sat in the House of Representatives from Maryland, from 1845 to 1849, he completed two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington. There he experienced under President James K. Polk, the outbreak of the Mexican - American War and the annexation of the Republic of Texas and other large areas in the southwest of the present-day United States. After the end of his time in Congress Ligon was working as a lawyer again, before he was elected as a candidate of his party for the new governor of his state on November 2, 1853. Ligon was the first governor of Maryland, was elected under the new constitution adopted in 1851. This looked to four -year terms of the governor, while the old Constitution had prescribed three -year terms.

Governor of Maryland

Thomas Ligon took up his new post on January 11, 1854. His tenure was marred by political bickering not only at national level between the North and South, but also within Maryland. There Ligon had to deal with an opposition majority in the legislature. After it had come in local elections in Baltimore irregularities, it came in this city riots. Politically, this issue culminated in an open quarrel between Governor Ligon and Thomas Swann, the Mayor of Baltimore, which should also be governor later.

Further CV

After the end of his tenure, Ligon retired from the public service. He later held office as President of the Patapsco Female Institute in Ellicott City. Ex - Governor Ligon died in January 1881. He was married twice and had three children.