John married Elizabeth Ridgely Thompson on 14 Oct 1932. Elizabeth was born on 15 Jul 1909; died on 17 Jun 1992; was buried in Wise Cemetery, Accomack Co., VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Henrietta Edwina Booth on 12 Nov 1902 in Williamsburg, VA. Henrietta was born on 6 Jan 1876 in Nottoway Co., VA; died on 1 Apr 1957; was buried in Wise Cemetery, Accomack Co., VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949

page 2035
WISE, John Sergeant (son of Henry Alexander Wise, grandson of John. Sergeant, brother of Richard Alsop Wise, and cousin of George Douglas Wise), a Representative from Virginia; born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, December 27, 1846, while his father was United States Minister to that country; attended preparatory schools in Goochland and Princess Anne Counties, Va., and the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington in 1862; participated with the institute cadets in the Battle of New Market during the Civil War and was slightly wounded; subsequently became a lieutenant in the Confederate Army; was graduated from the law department of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1867; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Richmond, Henrico County, Va.; United States attorney for the eastern district of Virginia from May 1882 to March 1883, when he resigned, having been elected to Congress; elected as a Readjuster to the Forty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1885); was not a candidate for renomination in 1884; unsuccessful Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia in 1885; moved to New York City and engaged in the practice of his profession; died at the summer home of his son, near Princess Anne, Somerset County, Md., May 12, 1913; interment in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Va.
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Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century.
page 1027
WISE, JOHN SERGEANT, soldier, lawyer, congressman, author, was born Dec. 25, 1846, in Brazil. He was elected a representative from Virginia to the forty-eighth congress. He now practices law in New York city; and is the author of Diomed, the Life, Travels and Observations of a Dog.
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Memorial of John Sergeant Wise

(Prepared by Robert L. Harrison)

"John Sergeant Wise died on May 12, 1913. He was the son of Henry Alexander
Wise, the famous Governor of Virginia just before the Civil War., His mother was Sarah
Sergeant, of Philadelphia, who was the daughter of John Sergeant, for many years the
leading lawyer of Philadelphia. On both the paternal and maternal sides there was a long
line of soldiers and lawyers. Mr. Wise was born at Rio de Janeiro, on December 25, 1846,
his father at the time being resident there as Minister to Brazil. His father returned to
the United States in 1847, and became Governor of Virginia in 1856, serving as Governor
until 1860. It was during his governorship that John Brown was hanged at Harper's Ferry,
an episode which was fraught with such tremendous consequences. John Sergeant Wise pursued
the ordinary career of the Virginia boy, going to school in Accomac County, Virginia, of
which his father was a native, and later to a school near Norfolk, Va., where he remained
until his father became Governor. in 1862 he entered as a cadet in the Virginia Military
Institute, which rejoices in the sobriquet of the West Point of the South. He soon became
a corporal of his company, and in May, 1864, there was fought the Battle of New Market
near the little village of that name in the Valley of Virginia. The entire corps of
cadets, two hundred and twenty-five strong, had marched to the scene of the battle with
boyish enthusiasm, eager to see what a fight was like. Among the most enthusiastic was
John S. Wise. He was detailed to take charge of the baggage wagon, but he and the
fellow-members of the guard, all full of the same enthusiasm, were not content with such
idle work, and so leaving the baggage wagon in charge of a colored servant, all four were
wounded. The order was given to charge a Federal battery, and the cadets outstripping in
their eagerness the veteran regiments with which they were associated, the whole battery
was captured with its gunners, guarded though it was by some of the finest soldiers in the
Federal Army, but at the severe loss of nine killed and forty-six wounded out of a roster
of two hundred and twenty-five, almost twenty-five per cent. John Wise was among the
wounded, having been hit by a piece of shell. The wound, however, was not dangerous and he
soon recovered. he wanted now to be a real soldier and so, with the permission of his
father, at the age of seventeen he entered the regular service as lieutenant. Gen. Robert
E. lee selected him as the courier to carry the last message sent to President Davis just
before the surrender at Appomattox. The Civil War over, he entered, in October 1865, the
University of Virginia, becoming a member of the law class, at the same time pursuing a
course in moral philosophy and political economy. At the end of the session of 1866-67 he
was graduated Bachelor of Law of the University of Virginia, and almost immediately there
after became a partner with his father in the firm of H. A. & J. S. Wise, having its
office in the City of Richmond. This firm continued in existence until the death of Henry
A. Wise, in 1876, and subsequently the firm of Wise and Hobson was formed. Mr. Hobson
(Henry Wise Hobson, being Mr. Wise's nephew. This firm lasted a few years. Mr. Hobson was
compelled to go to Colorado. And 1881 Mr. Wise was appointed United States District
Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, but served only one year, as in 1882 he was
elected Congressman at large for Virginia (48th Congress). Subsequently, in 1884, he was
candidate for Governor, but was defeated by Fitzhugh Lee on a very close vote. In 1888 Mr.
Wise came to New York as the general counsel of the Sprague Electric Company, the Edison
General Electric Company, and the General Electric Company. He continued in this capacity
for several years. In 1892, in association with Mr. Dallas Flannagan, he formed the firm
of Wise & Flannagan, which continued until 1898. In association with his son, Henry A.
Wise, he then formed a firm under the name of J.S. & H.A. Wise, which firm lasted
until John Sergeant Wise's death. Thus after thirty years of practice the name of his law
firm was practically the same as that with which he began the practice of law. While
practicing his profession in Virginia, and as representative of the Sprague Electric
company, he was engaged in a piece of litigation with the Bell Telephone Company over the
right of electric companies to use electricity as a means of propulsion of cars on account
of interference with the transmission of current over telephone lines. he was entirely
successful in his contention that the electric companies had the right to use the current,
and this suit was the occasion of his removal to New York. the question presented in this
case was a novel one and by reason of his initial success, Mr. Wise was required to go to
a great many states of the Union, Canada, and to Great Britain, in the interest of his
company. In every litigation in which the point was raised, he was entirely successful.
After his retirement from the special office of counsel for the various companies
mentioned, he was engaged in general practice and had built up a substantial law practice.
He was particularly fond of jury trials and he had a wonderful career of success in the
trial of jury cases. In a period of sixteen years he lost but one jury argument of appeals
both in the State and Federal Courts. Mr. Wise was full of restless energy and so he
began, after taking up his residence in new York, the writing of books. One of them
'Diomede' (1897), the history of a dog, has become a classic, ranking along with 'Rab and
His Friends,' and 'Bob, Son of Battle.' This book is the history of a favorite setter, who
had been with him on many shooting expeditions in the Southern and Western States. He also
wrote the 'End of An Era' (1899), a book of thrilling interest and of great historical
Presidents' (1906), and last of all 'Citizenship' (1909), a masterful treatise on the
status of the Citizenship' (1906), a situation. In 1911 he began to fail physically. His
doctor informed him that he had a dangerous ailment which might at any time prove fatal,
and that it was necessary for him to leave new York and to go to some place where he could
lead a quiet life, free from excitement. he had owned for some time a place near Cape
Charles, in the county of Accomac, and thither he repaired to spend the remaining years of
his life. The county people became aware of the residence in their midst of the
distinguished New York lawyer and he was besought to try cases in the law courts. He could
not resist, though he was informed that such work was dangerous. He tried these cases with
the same enthusiasm and vigor with which he had practiced in larger jurisdictions, and in
one instance he was compelled to try a case four times, resulting in the end in triumphant
victory, but he had to pay the price for such labor. Finally, in 1913, he repaired to a
sanitarium at Bryn Mawr (the director of which was his devoted cousin, Dr. George Smith
Gerhard, of Philadelphia), where he could have more careful and constant watching but his
end was near. In the spring of 1913, while on the way to his country home, he was seized
with a sudden attack and died (in Princess Anne County, Maryland, at the summer home of
his son), on May 12th, at the very hour when a large assembly was gathering at a dinner in
honor of his son, Henry A. Wise, who had lately retired from the position of United States
District Attorney for the Southern District of New York. It is very difficult to give
anything like a complete picture of John S. Wise in the space allotted to the writer. He
was a man of infinite charm of manner, full of wit and humor, rare cultivation, with a
winning address which charmed everybody who met him. His was a unique character. From
early youth he had a gift of eloquence which enabled him to charm audiences in every walk
of life, and as soon as he came to New York he was at once in great demand for
after-dinner speeches. He was an accomplished story-teller and had an almost limitless
number of anecdotes upon every conceivable subject. His humor was so irresistible that the
Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States could not restrain their amusement at the
humorous illustrations with which his argument was punctuated. He was a staunch and
faithful friend, a devoted husband and father, an able lawyer, a man of the strictest
honor and integrity, an ornament to society and the Bar."
_______________________________________________________________________________


son of Hon. Henry A. Wise, formerly governor of Virginia, was born December 27, 1846, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while his father represented the United States as minister to that country. He was a student at the Virginia Military Institute, and with the cadets from that institution participated in the battle of New Market, Virginia, May 15, 1864. He entered the Confederate army, serving with the rank of lieutenant. He was a student at the university; read law, and was admitted to the bar. Inheriting the talents of his father as an orator and debater, he took an active part in politics and aspired as a Democrat to the gubernatorial office but failing in this ambition joined the Readjuster party and was made United States district attorney for the eastern district of Virginia. 1882-1883, and member of congress (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1885). He was defeated as the Republican candidate for governor in 1885, after which he removed to New York, where he engaged successfully in the practice of the law and was made United States district attorney for the city of New York. He died May 12, 1913. His remains were brought to Richmond and interred in Hollywood Cemetery. He was the author of several well-known books "Diomed," 1898; "The End of an Era," 1899; "The Lion's Skin," 1905; a treatise on American citizenship.

Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Volume III
VI--House of Representatives

John married Eva Beverly Douglas on 3 Nov 1869. Eva (daughter of Hugh Douglas and Ann Hamilton) was born on 14 Feb 1851 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA; died on 13 Apr 1925; was buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]