Aylett Hawes

Aylett Hawes
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the Culpeper district
In office
December 1, 1802 – December 3, 1806
Preceded byMoses Green
Succeeded byGeorge F. Strother
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 9th district
In office
March 4, 1811 – March 3, 1813
Preceded byJohn Love
Succeeded byJohn Hungerford
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 10th district
In office
March 4, 1813 – March 3, 1817
Preceded byJohn Dawson (U.S. politician)
Succeeded byGeorge F. Strother
Personal details
Born(1768-04-21)April 21, 1768
Culpeper County, Virginia Colony, British America
DiedAugust 31, 1833(1833-08-31) (aged 65)
Rappahannock County, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh, Scotland
ProfessionDoctor, planter, politician

Aylett Hawes (April 21, 1768 – August 31, 1833) was a nineteenth-century medical doctor, politician, planter and slaveholder from Virginia.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Born in Culpeper County in the Colony of Virginia, Hawes received a private classical education. He then studied medicine and finished his education in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Career

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Upon returning to Virginia, Hawes practiced medicine as well as bought several plantations in Culpeper County and what became Rappahannock County, Virginia, which he farmed using enslaved labor. He owned 25 slaves in Culpeper County in 1810.[3] A decade later, Hawes owned 49 slaves.[4] In the last census before his death, he owned 70 slaves.[5]

Culpeper County voters elected Hawes as one of their two representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates. He won re-election several times, serving from 1802 to 1806, all alongside John Roberts.[6]

In 1810, voters in what was then Virginia's 9th congressional district elected Hawes, who ran as a Democratic-Republican to the United States House of Representatives. However, the 1810 census necessitated redistricting, so in his re-election campaign, Hawes ran in Virginia's 10th congressional district, whose incumbent John Dawson was moved into Virginia's 11th congressional district, much as Hawes was moved from the 9th. Hawes won re-election twice before resigning to resume his medical practice and plantations in Culpeper and Rappahannock Counties. He was succeeded by fellow Democratic Republican George F. Strother, who had succeeded him in the Virginia House of Delegates about a decade earlier.

Death and legacy

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Hawes died on his farm in Rappahannock County, Virginia, on August 31, 1833, and was interred on another plantation, in Sperryville, Virginia. He was the uncle of Richard Hawes, Albert Gallatin Hawes and Aylett Hawes Buckner.

References

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  1. ^
    • United States Congress. "Aylett Hawes (id: H000361)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  2. ^ Weil, Julie Zauzmer; Blanco, Adrian; Dominguez, Leo (January 20, 2022). "More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation". Washington Post. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  3. ^ 1810 U.S. Federal Census for Culpeper, Culpeper County, Virginia
  4. ^ 1820 U.S. Federal Census for Culpeper County, Virginia
  5. ^ 1830 U.S. Federal Census for Culpeper County, Virginia
  6. ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978), pp. 227, 231, 235, 239
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 9th congressional district

March 4, 1811 – March 4, 1813
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 10th congressional district

March 4, 1813 – March 4, 1817
Succeeded by