William L. Sharkey

William Lewis Sharkey (* July 12, 1798 at Muscle Shoals, Sumner County, Tennessee; † March 30, 1873 in Washington DC ) was an American politician and in 1865, Governor of the State of Mississippi.

Early years and political rise

William Sharkey attended the public schools of his home in Tennessee and later in Mississippi. After studying law he was admitted in 1822 as a lawyer. Then he started in Warrenton to work in his new profession. Between 1828 and 1829 he was a delegate in the House of Representatives from Mississippi. He was a member of the Whig party. In 1832 he was district judge for a short time. After that, he was until 1851 a member of the Supreme Court of his State. In 1851 he declined an offer from President Millard Fillmore, who wanted to make him his minister of war. Instead, he was 1851-1853 American consul in Havana on the island of Cuba.

Between 1854 and 1856 he was involved in the revision of the laws of the State of Mississippi. In the years before the Civil War, Sharkey spoke decidedly against secession of his State of the Union. He was opposed in principle to the division of the American nation. This attitude he maintained even during the war. This he had with his neighbors in a difficult position and only his reputation as a lawyer protected him from hostile supporters of the Confederate States.

Governor of Mississippi and other CV

In 1865, Sharkey was sent by Governor Charles Clark as one of the negotiators of the State to President Andrew Johnson. In these soundings should be decided on the fate of the State of Mississippi after the defeat of the South. The President, in turn, appointed Sharkey for new provisional governor. A position he took up on 13 June 1865. In his short time a meeting to revise the State Constitution were drafted and announced new elections for all public offices. In this case, the new Governor Benjamin G. Humphreys was elected, who replaced Sharkey on 16 October 1865.

Sharkey himself was elected to the U.S. Senate. There his seat to him, however, was denied because the state of Mississippi did not ratify the 13th Amendment. Thereupon William Sharkey retired from politics. He died in April 1873 in Washington. With his wife Minerva Wren he had a child.