Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Daniel Sheffey Speech, Mss. Collection 2001.22, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College, Wytheville, VA

Acquisition Information

Donated by Ruth Ann Chitwood in 2001 as part of the W. R. Chitwood Collection.

Biographical Information

Born in Frederick County  , Maryland in 1770, Daniel Sheffey worked as an apprentice in his father's shop before moving to Wytheville, Virginia in 1791. He studied law with Alexander Smyth , beginning his practice in 1796. Sheffey also owned a mercantile store near the lead mines; he also shared ownership of the mines and managed a ferry across the New River. By 1814, however, Sheffey sold his share of the mines to Thomas Jackson and David Peirce.

Sheffey served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates (1800-1804, 1822-1823) and the Senate (1804-1808). He also served as Representative to the United States Congress as a member of the Federalist Party from 1809 to 1817. As a member of Congress, Sheffey opposed the War of 1812. Sheffey later moved to Staunton, Virginia where he died on 3 December 1830.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of a printed speech made by Representative Daniel Sheffey in Congress on 10 December 1814 regarding a bill to authorize conscription during the War of 1812. The full title is "Speech of the Hon. Daniel Sheffey on the Bill to Authorize the President of the United States to Call Upon the Several States and Territories thereof for Their Respective Quotas of Eighty Thousand Men for the Defence of the Frontiers of the United States Against Invasion. " The speech was printed by Rapine and Elliot of Washington, D. C.