Son of Edward Veazey (44) and Elizabeth De Courcy, grandson of Col. John Veazey Jr. and Rebecca Ward (112), great grandson of Col. John Ward (106) and Alice; born January 31, 1774.

Thomas Ward Veazey, (Jan. 31, 1774 - July 1, 1842), governor of Maryland, was descended from John Veazey, who emigrated from England to Maryland in the latter half of the seventeenth century. In what became Cecil County he acquired a plantation, "Cherry Grove," which remained in the family for many generations. Here was born Thomas Ward, the son of Edward Veazey (44), a planter who was also high sheriff of Cecil County from 1751 to 1753, and of Elizabeth (De Coursey) of Queen Anne County. After graduating from Washington College, Chestertown, Md., in 1795, Veazey became a planter at "Cherry Grove." He was interested in politics, however, and in 1808 and 1812 was chosen presidential elector, voting for James Madison. In 1811 and again in 1812 he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates; but he left it to become a lieutenant-colonel of Maryland troops in the War of 1812. From 1833 to 1835 he served on the council of Gov. James Thomas. In January 1836, he was elected on the Whig ticket to succeed Thomas, and was reelected in the two years following.

Picture borrowed from the Maryland State Archives website. The photo is of a portrait of Thomas W. Veazey by C. Gregory Stapko.

His first term was troubled by strife over the state constitution. At that time Maryland was a mere federation of counties and cities in which the majority of the population could be dominated in the legislature by the minority. The state Senate was chosen by an electoral college. In the voting of 1836 for these electors, nineteen Democrats were chosen to represent districts totaling more than 200,000 population, whereas twenty-one Whigs represented less than half that number. Bent upon remedying this state of affairs, the Democratic electors asked the Whigs to agree in advance to choose a majority of men who favored constitutional reform; when the Whig electors refused, the Democrats left for home instead of going into session to elect senators. Veazey met the situation courageously, announcing that the old Senate would continue to function until a new one was legally elected; and he called upon the existing senators to assemble for duty. Public opinion supported the Governor, and the recusant electors returned to Annapolis and cooperated in electing a new Senate. Following up this moral victory, Veazey recommended constitutional reform in his message of Nov. 25, 1836, and the episode resulted in the adoption of a series of amendments amounting practically to a new instrument of government.

His other policies were also, in general, wise and progressive. He urged a registration law to prevent fraud in elections; he stood for sound financial methods; he encouraged internal improvements, especially the completion of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; and he recommended repeatedly the reorganization and expansion of the educational system with the aim of making it general and public. Owner of many slaves, he was hostile to abolitionist meddling from outside the state, but he favored the work of the American Colonization Society.

He was three times married: on Nov. 18, 1794, to Sarah Worrell of Kent County, Md., who died in 1795, leaving an infant daughter who did not survive childhood; on Mar. 29, 1798, to Mary Veazey (190), a cousin and daughter of William Veazey (74) and Mary Loutit, who bore him five children; and on Sept. 24, 1812, to Mary Wallace of Elkton, Md., who also bore him five children. He spent his last years at "Cherry Grove."

DEATH: Died in the 69th year of his age

Note: I will be using the numbering for the Veazey family that is taken from the book "Descendants of John Veazey" by Ann Veazey Davis.

Resources came from:

• Biography Resource Center, Original source: Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. (Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2001. (http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC) ). Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2001. (http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC). Thomas Ward Veazey.
• Hanson, George A., Old Kent: The Eastern Shore of Maryland, Notes Illustrative of the most ancient records of Kent County, Maryland (Baltimore: Regional Publishing Company, 1967. Originally published Baltimore, 1876), page 176, Ref MD 975.236 H NP. Mary Wallace.
• "Descendants of John Veazey" by Ann Veazey Davis

Last Updated: March 29, 2002.