Francis E. Rives

Francis Everod Rives (January 14, 1792 – December 26, 1861) was a Virginia Democratic politician and businessman who served two terms in the United States House of Representatives. After making his fortune as a slave trader, Rives became a planter and soon won election and re-election multiple times to both houses of the Virginia General Assembly before his two terms representing Virginia's 2nd congressional district, and afterward represented several counties near Petersburg in the Virginia Senate as well as served as the city's mayor. Rives also helped establish the state-chartered Petersburg Railroad.

Francis Everod Rives
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841
Preceded by	John Y. Mason
Succeeded by	George B. Cary
Member of the Virginia Senate from Amelia, Powhatan and Chesterfield Counties and the City of Petersburg
In office 1848–1850
Preceded by	James Cox
Succeeded by	District abolished
Member of the Virginia Senate from Isle of Wight, Prince George, Southampton, Surry and Sussex Counties
In office 1831–1835
Preceded by	John Y. Mason
Succeeded by	George B. Cary
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Prince George County
In office 1821–1830 Alongside Nathaniel Colley, James Temple, Allen Temple, George Harrison
Preceded by	Multi-member district before 1830
Succeeded by	William Shands
Personal details
Born	January 14, 1792 Prince George County, Virginia
Died	December 26, 1861 (aged 69) Petersburg, Virginia
Resting place	Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Virginia
Political party	Democratic
Occupation	planter, businessman

Early and family life

Born in Prince George County, near Petersburg, Virginia, Rives received a private education appropriate to his class. He also served as an ensign in the state militia during the War of 1812, stationed in Norfolk.[1]

Rives in October 1833 married Eliza Jane Pegram Rives (1802–1874), who survived him and bore several children, including a daughter, Mary Chieves Rives Frazer (1821–1851).

Business and political career

In 1818, Rives and his neighbors Peyton Mason Sr. and Jr. formed a slave trading partnership. The business known as "Peyton Mason and Company" bought bondspeople in Virginia and walked them further south. Rives twice personally drove coffles of enslaved people through Fayetteville, North Carolina and westward to Tennessee and some all the way down the Natchez Trace to Natchez, Mississippi.[2]

Having thus made his fortune, Rives became a planter himself, and also sought political office. Prince George County voters elected and re-elected Rives as one of their (part-time) representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1821 to 1831. He then joined the Democratic party and successfully won election to the State senate, where represented Prince George and neighboring Isle of Wight, Southampton, Surry and Sussex Counties from 1831 to 1836, and later from 1848 to 1851.

Rives may have worked as an agent for the slavetrading firm Franklin and Armfield in the 1830s.[3] In the 1840 census, Rives considered himself a resident of Sussex County and 27 of the 37 people in his household were enslaved.[4] In the 1840s and 1850s, he made Petersburg his official residence. In 1840 he listed his occupation as "Law", and a young doctor and an elderly non-relative and young girl (possibly servants) lived with Rives and his wife,[5] in 1860, Rives listed himself as "Gentleman" and lived with three other white adults in central Petersburg.[6] Rives also owned 13 enslaved people in the city in 1850,[7] and N.F. Rives an additional 8 persons (6 of them under 12 years old) in Petersburg,[8] A decade later, F.E. Rives owned 33 enslaved people in Petersburg.[9] Moreover, in 1850 John E. Rives owned 34 enslaved people in Sussex County.[10] In 1860, G.E. Rives owned 6 slaves in Prince George County,[11] and John E. Rives owned 35 slaves in Sussex COunty.[12]

Rives won election and re-election as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841), but chose not to seek re-election in 1840. While a Congressman, he served as chairman of the Committee on Elections (Twenty-sixth Congress).

In addition to his plantations, Rives worked to build and manage railways in Virginia and North Carolina. He was a principal of the Petersburg Railroad, and sometimes accused of chicanery for his efforts to boost Petersburg at the expense of railroad competitors as well as Portsmouth, its port city rival. Petersburg voters elected him as the city's mayor, and he served from May 6, 1847, to May 5, 1848.[13]

Death and legacy

Francis Rives died in late 1861, possibly on November 30 at Littleton in Sussex County,[14] or on December 26, 1861 in Petersburg.[15] He is interred in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, where his widow joined him years later.[16]

Electoral history

• 1837; Rives was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 80.61% of the vote, defeating fellow Democrat William B. Goodwyn.
• 1839; Rives was re-elected with 57.6% of the vote, defeating Whig James W. Pegram.

References

1. Calvin Schermerhorn, The Business of Slavery and the Rise of American Capitalism, 1815–1860 (Yale University Press 2015) at p. 11
2. Schermerhorn pp. 15–32
3. Schermerhorn p. 32
4. 1840 U.S. Federal Census for Sussex County, Virginia pp. 22-23 of 67
5. 1850 U.S. Federal Census for Petersburg (Independent City), Virginia Family no. 253 p. 154 of 221
6. 1860 U.S. Federal Census for Centre Ward, Petersburg (Independent City), Virginia Family no. 2793 p. 15 of 42
7. 1850 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule for Petersburg (Independent City), Virginia p. 29 of 57.
8. 1850 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule for Petersburg (Independent City), Virginia p. 50 of 57.
9. 1860 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule for Centre Ward, Petersburg (Independent City), Virginia p. 5 of 13.
10. 1850 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule for Sussex County, Virginia pp. 14-15 of 72.
11. 1860 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule for Prince George County, Virginia p. 11 of 63.
12. 1860 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule for District 1 Sussex County, Virginia pp. 51 of 51.
13. Schermerhorn p. 32
14. Virginia Biographical Encyclopedia (1915) on ancestry.com
15. Virginia Death index on ancestry.com
16. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7750301%5B%5D

Sources

• United States Congress. "Francis E. Rives (id: R000284)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.