William S. Archer
American politician (1789-1855)
William Segar Archer (March 5, 1789 – March 28, 1855) was a politician, planter and lawyer from Amelia County, Virginia who served several times in the Virginia House of Delegates, as well as in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate (1841 to 1847).
Early and family life
Born at "The Lodge" (a/k/a "Red Lodge") in Amelia County, Virginia to the former Elizabeth Eggleston (d. 1826) and her husband John Archer (1746-1812), William Segar Archer received a private education appropriate to his class and graduated from The College of William & Mary in 1806. His father (as well as his younger brother) died in 1812. Meanwhile, Archer read law, possibly with his uncle Joseph Eggleston (1754-1811), a former Revolutionary War soldier from Middlesex County, who then moved to Amelia County, where he became a planter and politician, and the local justice of the peace. Another Revolutionary War soldier uncle who moved to Amelia County was Lt. Richard Tanner Archer.
Archer married and had a daughter, who did not survive him. At his death, he was survived by several sisters, and an illegitimate son.
Career
Admitted to the bar in 1810, Archer began a private legal practice in Amelia and neighboring Powhatan Counties.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “William S. Archer” as american politician (1789-1855). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1639662. VIAF identifies the subject as 70326046. The Library of Congress control number is n84054921. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1789, 1855, 1841 and 1847.
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This entry incorporates text from “William S. Archer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.