Early Life and Career
Bloxham was born on a plantation in Leon County, Florida, the son of William and Martha (Williams) Bloxham. His great-grandfather had migrated from England to manage George Washington's plantation and his grandfather endured adversity due to the War of 1812. His father was from Alexandria, Virginia and moved to Leon County to run a plantation in 1825, becoming one of few white settlers in a Native American-dominated area. The elder William served in the Seminole Wars. Martha Bloxham was born in Twiggs County, Georgia and moved to Florida as a child.
The younger Bloxham went to county school in Florida before being sent to preparatory school in Virginia at age 13. For the next seven years, he attended Virginia schools including Rappahannock Academy where his teachers included eventual U.S. Senator William Mahone. Bloxham graduated from The College of William & Mary in 1855 and acquired a law degree from the college. He was admitted to the Florida Bar but, when his health declined, he travelled to Europe and chose the more active life of a planter when he returned. In November 1856, he and Mary C. Davis travelled to her home city of Lynchburg, Virginia to be married.
Bloxham became interested in politics and actively campaigned for James Buchanan in the 1856 presidential election. In 1861, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives without opposition. With the Civil War raging in 1862, Bloxham organized a company of infantry from Leon County which he commanded for the duration of the war. After the war, he staunchly opposed Reconstruction and, using his popularity as a speaker, was a leading voice among Florida Democrats. He served as a Presidential Elector for the Horatio Seymour/Francis Preston Blair, Jr. Democratic ticket in the 1868 election.
Read more about this topic: William D. Bloxham
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or career:
“To be candid, in Middlemarch phraseology, meant, to use an early opportunity of letting your friends know that you did not take a cheerful view of their capacity, their conduct, or their position; and a robust candour never waited to be asked for its opinion.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“God wills a full life for us all,
Loves us with tender care,
Asks us to take the sacrifice
Of broken life to share.”
—Paul R. Gregory (20th century)
“It is a great many years since at the outset of my career I had to think seriously what life had to offer that was worth having. I came to the conclusion that the chief good for me was freedom to learn, think, and say what I pleased, when I pleased. I have acted on that conviction... and though strongly, and perhaps wisely, warned that I should probably come to grief, I am entirely satisfied with the results of the line of action I have adopted.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)