| Henry Tazewell | |
| Office: | President pro tempore of the United States Senate |
| Term Start: | February 20, 1795 |
| Term End: | December 8, 1795 |
| Predecessor: | Ralph Izard |
| Successor: | Samuel Livermore |
| Jr/Sr2: | United States Senator |
| State2: | Virginia |
| Term Start2: | December 29, 1794 |
| Term End2: | January 24, 1799 |
| Predecessor2: | John Taylor |
| Successor2: | Wilson C. Nicholas |
| Office3: | Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Williamsburg City |
| Term Start3: | October 21, 1782 |
| Term End3: | March 31, 1785 |
| Term Start4: | October 4, 1779 |
| Term End4: | October 1, 1781 |
| Office5: | Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Brunswick County |
| Term Start5: | October 7, 1776 |
| Term End5: | October 4, 1779 |
| Office6: | Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from Brunswick County |
| Term Start6: | June 1, 1775 |
| Term End6: | May 6, 1776 |
| Birth Date: | 27 November 1753 |
| Birth Place: | Brunswick County, Virginia, British America |
| Death Place: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Party: | Anti-Administration |
| Spouse: | Dorothea Elizabeth Waller Tazewell |
| Children: | Littleton Waller Tazewell Sophia Ann Tazewell |
| Alma Mater: | The College of William & Mary |
| Occupation: | Lawyer, Politician, Judge |
| Profession: | Law |
| Signature: | Henry Tazewell Signature.svg |
Henry Tazewell (November 27, 1753January 24, 1799) was an American politician who was instrumental in the early government of Virginia, and a US senator from Virginia.[1] He was a slave owner,[2] and served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate in 1795.
Born in Brunswick County, Virginia, Tazewell was the son of Littleton and Mary Gray Tazewell. He attended the rural schools and graduated from the College of William and Mary at Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1770.
He married Dorothea Elizabeth Waller on January 13, 1774, who were the parents of Littleton Waller Tazewell,[3] who became a senator and governor of Virginia, and a daughter, Sophia Ann.
Tazewell studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1773, and began his practice. During the American Revolutionary War, he raised and was commissioned captain of a troop of cavalry.
A member of the House of Burgesses in 1775, Tazewell was also a delegate to the Fourth Virginia Convention of 1775 and the Fifth Virginia Convention of 1776, which wrote the state constitution. From 1778 to 1785, he was a member of the Virginia General Assembly.
In 1785, Tazewell became a judge of the Virginia General Court. Elevated to its chief justice, he served from 1789 to 1793.[4] He also served as a judge on the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, later renamed the Virginia Supreme Court, in 1793.
In 1794, Tazewell was elected to the US Senate to fill the vacancy that had been caused by the resignation of John Taylor. Re-elected in 1798, he served from December 29, 1794, to his death. He served as the president pro tempore of the Senate in 1795.
When Tennessee Senator William Blount was impeached on account of treason in 1797, Tazewell cast the lone dissenting vote against Blount's expulsion from the Senate.[5] Tazewell was one of four senators to vote against authorizing military force for the Quasi-War.[6]
Tazewell died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 24, 1799, and is interred at Christ Church Burial Ground.