William S. Archer

William Segar Archer ( born March 5, 1789 Amelia County, Virginia; † March 28, 1855 ibid ) was an American politician ( Whig Party ), who represented the state of Virginia in both houses of Congress.

Archer, whose uncle Joseph Eggleston sat 1798-1801 for Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives, was initially taught privately and then in 1806 sent his degree at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg. He then studied the law, was admitted to the bar in 1810 and practiced then in Amelia County and in Powhatan County.

His political career began in the House of Representatives from Virginia, where he served from 1812 to 1819. On January 3, 1820 Archer then moved into the House of Representatives in Washington; there he joined the successor to the retiring James Pleasants. He was subsequently re-elected six times and retained his seat until March 3, 1835. During this time, he served as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He was also the Special Committee to which was entrusted with the Constitution of the Missouri Compromise, and had great influence on its formulation. In 1834 he ran again but was defeated John Winston Jones.

1840 Archer was then selected for the Whigs in the Senate of the United States. There he spent between 4 March 1841 to the March 3, 1847 a complete legislature and was also in this house of Parliament Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Marine Committee.

After he had failed in the attempt to re-election at Robert M. T. Hunter, Archer again worked as a lawyer. He died in 1855 at his country house "The Lodge " in Amelia County.