William Wilkins

William Wilkins (December 20, 1779 – June 23, 1865) was an American judge and politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Jacksonian member of the United States Senate from 1831 to 1834 and as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 21st congressional district from 1843 to 1844. He served as a member of both houses of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, United States Minister to Russia and the 19th United States Secretary of War.

Early life and education Wilkins was born on December 20, 1779, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to Captain John Wilkins, a captain in the American Revolution, and Catherine Rowan. Wilkins attended the Pittsburgh Academy, the forerunner of the University of Pittsburgh. He read law in 1801, and graduated from Dickinson College in 1802.

He continued private practice in Lexington, Kentucky] from 1806 to 1807. He was the first President of the Bank of Pittsburgh.

Federal judicial service

Wilkins was nominated by President James Monroe on May 10, 1824, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge Jonathan Hoge Walker. He came in third place overall, but did not cost Van Buren enough electors to lose or even to force a contingent election. It sets the mark for the most faithless electors won by a person without the death of a nominee.

United States House service

Wilkins was elected as a Democrat from Pennsylvania's 21st congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 28th United States Congress and served from December 4, 1843, to February 14, 1844, when he resigned.

He resumed private practice in Pittsburgh starting in 1845. He again resumed private practice in Pittsburgh from 1858 to 1865. His sister, Nancy, married Ebenezer Denny, the first mayor of Pittsburgh. His nephew, Harmar Denny, was a U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania.

Legacy Wilkins founded the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Homewood in 1832.

He is the namesake of Wilkins Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.