Wickham House: Elizabeth Wickham
Elizabeth Wickham (1781-1853), second wife of John Wickham, spent nearly 30 years bearing their 17 children.
By Laura Byrd Earle
Interpretive Resources Coordinator
By Jacqueline Drayer
City Historian
Elizabeth Wickham, originally Elizabeth Selden McClurg, was born December 25, 1781, in Williamsburg, Virginia, where her father Dr. James McClurg was a prominent physician. Her family moved to Richmond around 1783. Dr. McClurg became involved in politics, serving as mayor of the City of Richmond in 1797, 1800 and 1803, and attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. He left the convention, however, without signing the final document. Learn more about Dr. McClurg.
Portrait of Elizabeth Selden McClurg Wickham, attributed to Gilbert Stuart, around 1800, V.80.226, The Valentine.In 18th-century Virginia, Elizabeth’s life was governed by a doctrine known as “coverture.” This English common law doctrine said that once a woman was married, any property she brought into the marriage, such as a dowry, or incomes/wages she earned, legally belonged to her husband. As a young woman, Elizabeth Selden McClurg befriended Edwin Burwell, a young man slightly older than her who had been ill for some time. When he died in March 1798, he left half of his estate to her in his will, leaving the other half to his brother William Armistead Burwell. William Armistead Burwell wrote impassioned letters to Elizabeth, but they never married. He wished to marry her so that he would regain control over the entire estate.
In March 1800, the 18–year–old Elizabeth married John Wickham, a widowed attorney. John Wickham was 36 and had recently lost his first wife Mary Smith Fanning, mother of Wickham’s two sons, aged 6 and 3. Elizabeth Wickham gave birth to 17 children that we know of – her first at age 19 and her last at age 43.
John and Elizabeth Wickham’s children
Julia Wickham Leigh (1801- 1883)
James McClurg Wickham (1802-1850)
John Henry Wickham (1803-1891)
Walter McClurg Wickham (1805-ca. 1835)
Elizabeth Wickham (1806-1807)
Frances “Fanny” Wickham Graham (1808-1895)
Gabriella “Ella” Wickham Leigh (1809-1851)
Cary Selden Wickham (1811-1831)
Ann Fisher Wickham (1812-1813)
McClurg “Maclurg” Wickham (1814-1900)
Elizabeth Selden Wickham (1815-1853)
George Wickham (1817-1841)
Susan Decatur Wickham (1818-1831)
Louisa Maria Wickham (1820-1822)
Littleton Waller Tazewell Wickham (1821-1909)
Charles Wickham (b. 1823)
John Wickham (1825-1902)
One of Elizabeth Wickham’s responsibilities as the mistress of the household was to arrange for the education of her children. The public education system in Virginia had yet to be created, so the privileged Wickham children were primarily educated by private tutors. The Wickhams had eight girls and nine boys. Many of their sons went on to attend the University of Virginia.
With the Enlightenment movement and the American Revolution came changing attitudes about female education. In the 18th century, many endorsed the idea of “Republican Motherhood,” which asserted that women, as mothers and caretakers of children, were responsible for carrying on and nurturing patriotic, or republican, ideals in the next generation. Mothers, even without the ability to vote, were seen as politically active as they were responsible for raising their children to be upstanding citizens.
In 1815, the lives of many Wickham family members changed. On June 28, when Elizabeth Wickham was pregnant with her daughter Bettina, she and several family members, including Elizabeth’s mother (Mrs. Elizabeth McClurg) were involved in a carriage accident in downtown Richmond. The horses driving the carriage were suddenly spooked, threw the driver from the carriage, and began running down a hill. The carriage crashed into a nearby building, and Mrs. McClurg was killed at the scene. Elizabeth Wickham was seriously injured but survived, as did her baby.
After this tragedy, Dr. McClurg moved into the Wickham home with his daughter and her family. Four months later, Elizabeth’s baby was born. The girl was named Elizabeth Selden Maclurg Wickham after her mother and late grandmother (and nicknamed Bettina or Betsy). Learn more about Elizabeth Selden Maclurg Wickham.
After John Wickham’s death in 1839, Elizabeth Wickham did not inherit his wealth or property. John Wickham’s will directed the estate executors, his oldest son and a son-in-law, to “permit my dear wife during her widowhood to have the use and occupation of the house… but as alterations in buildings are frequently expensive and injurious this devise is on condition that she do not make any such.” She also received a share of the income from her husband’s many rental properties in Richmond.
After John died, Elizabeth Wickham remained in the home with her children for 14 years. In 1850, her daughters Fanny and Bettina lived here as did her youngest son, John. The family was served by enslaved workers as well as a white housekeeper, Mary McQuery. In 1853, her daughter Bettina noted “I read aloud to Mamma a good deal; & very glad I am to be able to give her the pleasure she takes in hearing me; but I have much less time for writing than formerly as the hours I was at liberty to pass in writing are now spent in what Mary calls ‘The Athenea’ in Missis’ room’.” Elizabeth Wickham died on August 10, 1853, and is buried in the family plot in Shockoe Hill Cemetery. Learn more about John Wickham.
Consider This…
- How much control did Elizabeth Wickham have over her own life?
- How did republican motherhood support the development of the new nation?
Sources
- Tamara Eichelberger, “Who is James McClurg?” Colonial Williamsburg, May 22, 2020 (Accessed December 21, 2023), https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/learn/deep-dives/who-james-mcclurg/.
- “Shocking Accident,” Virginia Patriot, July 1, 1815;
- “Most Distressing!” Virginia Argus, July 1, 1815
- John Wickham, letter to Littler Waller Tazwell (Library of Virginia Tazwell Family Collection Box 8, 1830).
- Virginia Museum of History and Culture Call Number: Mss1W6326 a FA2
- Title: “The Wickham Family Papers, 1766-1945.” Box: 5-8 Folder: Elizabeth Selden Maclurg Wickham Folder 7 (1852-1853)
- “The Wickham Family Papers, 1754-1977.” Box: 2 Folder: John Wickham (1763-1839) Estate: Copies of Wills (Estate Folder 1 of 16) Folder: John Wickham Estate: Will of John Wickham (1763-1839).
- “Coverture,” Women & the American Story, New York Historical Society Museum & Library, https://wams.nyhistory.org/settler-colonialism-and-revolution/settler-colonialism/coverture/..
- 1850 Federal Census.
Need to cite this?
| Authors | Laura Byrd Earle, Jacqueline Drayer |
|---|---|
| Work Title | Wickham House: Elizabeth Wickham |
| Website | https://thevalentine.org |
| Published | October 21, 2024 |
| Updated | November 18, 2024 |
| Copyright | © 2024 The Valentine Museum |