Wickham House: John Wickham: Richmond’s Loyalist Lawyer

John Wickham was born on June 6, 1763, in Southold, NY, on the east end of Long Island. He was the oldest child of John and Hannah Fanning Wickham. His father was a Loyalist and his uncle, Edmund Fanning, was a Colonel in the British Army during the Revolutionary War.  

In 1780, as a teenager, Wickham traveled to Virginia to study law and stay with his uncle, Rev. William Fanning. He reached Portsmouth but was captured by Americans while carrying letters for the British. Thomas Jefferson labeled him an “Enemy” and put him under house arrest with his uncle in Brunswick County. He was released back to New York in the summer of 1781. In 1782, Wickham was commissioned as an Ensign in the British Army. After the Revolutionary War, he spent time in Nova Scotia before traveling to London and Arras, France, in 1784. 

In 1785, Wickham returned to America and moved to Williamsburg to study law at the College of William and Mary under George Wythe. In 1786, Wickham gained admission to the bar. In 1791, he left Williamsburg and opened a law practice in Richmond, Virginia’s growing capital city.  

In December 1791, Wickham married his first cousin, Mary Fanning. They had two sons and bought property between 10th and 11th Streets before Mary died in 1799. Wickham remarried in March 1800 to Elizabeth Selden McClurg, the daughter of Richmond’s mayor. They went on to have 17 children. Between 1812 and 1814, he had a large Neoclassical-style home built at the corner of 11th and Clay Streets, which is now owned by the Valentine Museum. 

It is unclear when John Wickham first owned enslaved workers, but by 1803 he was managing enslaved laborers at nearby plantations, suggesting he relied on them earlier. In the 1810 census, he had 12 enslaved workers at his Richmond home. By 1820, that number grew to 29, alongside 17 members of his family. He also owned dozens more enslaved workers at plantations along the James River and in Hanover County.  

Wickham’s law practice in Richmond thrived. He handled estates and family legal issues, and represented British merchants seeking repayment of pre-Revolution debts. He also defended Aaron Burr in his treason trial in Richmond in 1807. Wickham retired from law in 1828, passing his clients to his son, James. Besides his legal work, he owned profitable rental properties, managed plantations with enslaved labor in several counties, oversaw a coal pit worked by enslaved people, and bred horses.  

On January 17, 1839, John Wickham died in Richmond, survived by his second wife and 11 of his 19 children. The enslaved workers continued to labor for the family after his death. He is buried with his family in Richmond’s Shockoe Hill Cemetery. 

Key Dates

• 1763 June 6: Born in Southold, Suffolk County, NY, the eldest child to John Wickham (1734-1808) and Hannah Fanning Wickham (1739-1778) 

• 1780: In Virginia and is arrested as a Loyalist supporting British troops 

• 1782 December 25: Commissioned as an Ensign in the American Company under his uncle, Col. Edmund Fanning  

• 1784: Travels to London and Arras, France  

• 1785: Starts his law studies in Williamsburg, VA 

• 1791: Moves to Richmond 

• 1791 December 24: Marries his first cousin, Mary Fanning (1775-1799) 

• 1795 June 12: Buys property between 10th and 11th Streets from John Harvie 

• 1799 February 21: Wife Mary Fanning Wickham dies in Richmond from “a complaint in her breast,” leaving him a widower with two small children 

• 1800 March 20: Marries Elizabeth Selden McClurg (1781-1853), daughter of Richmond’s mayor, Dr. James McClurg (1746-1823), and Elizabeth Selden McClurg (17591-1815). 

• 1807: One of the lead lawyers defending Aaron Burr at his treason trial. Wickham hosts a dinner party attended by both Burr and the judge in the case, Chief Justice John Marshall,  

• 1811: Architect Alexander Parris designs a new house, which architect Benjamin Latrobe critiques 

• 1813: Mutual Assurance Society records for the Wickham House label it as “being unfinished” and valued at $15,000 

• 1815: Elizabeth McClurg dies in a carriage accident and her widower, Dr. James McClurg, moves into the house with the family 

• 1823: Dr. McClurg dies 

• 1828: Wickham retires from law, hands his practice over to his son James McClurg Wickham  

• 1839 January 17: John Wickham dies at the age of 75, survived by his second wife and 11 of his 19 children 

Sources

• Wickham Family Papers, Mss1W6326 a FA2, Virginia Museum of History & Culture. 
• “From Thomas Jefferson to Charles Wall, 21 December 1780,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-04-02-0279. 
• Palmer, William P., ed. Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts: Preserved in the Capitol at Richmond, Volume 2. (Richmond: James E. Goode, 1881), pgs. 204-206. 
• Findagrave.com.  
• Valentine Museum Institutional Records, Wickham House Boxes.  
• US Federal Census records, accessed through Ancestry.com.  
• Mutual Assurance Society Records, Library of Virginia.  
• Benjamin Henry Latrobe Collection, Maryland Center for History & Culture.  
• Alexander Parris Papers, American Antiquarian Society (Worcester, MA).  
• Wickham retiring, Richmond Enquirer, December 6, 1828, pg. 1, col. 3.