Robert William WILCOX, Congress, HI (1855-1903)

WILCOX, Robert William, a Delegate from the Territory of Hawaii; born in Kahalu, Honuaula, island of Maui, Hawaiian Islands, February 15, 1855; attended the Haleakala Boarding School, Makawao, island of Maui; taught school at Honuaula for several years; elected to the legislature as a representative from Wailukua, island of Maui, in 1880; later pursued an academic course in the Royal Military Academy, Turin, Italy, 1881-1885 and became a sublieutenant of artillery; entered the Royal Application School for Engineer and Artillery Officers in Turin in 1885; recalled by the Hawaiian Government in 1887; moved to San Francisco, Calif., in 1887 and engaged in the surveying business; returned to Hawaii in 1889 and became leader of the revolution of 1889; tried for treason but acquitted by a Hawaiian jury; elected to the legislature as a representative from Honolulu in 1890 and from Koolauloa, island of Oahu, in 1892; again a revolutionary leader in 1895 in an effort to restore Liliuokalani to the throne; was court-martialed and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to thirty-five years; pardoned by President Dole in 1898; elected the first Delegate from Hawaii to the Fifty-sixth Congress; reelected to the Fifty-seventh Congress and served from November 6, 1900, to March 3, 1903; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1902 to the Fifty-eighth Congress; died in Honolulu, Hawaii, October 23, 1903; interment in the Catholic Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present