succeeded death_date death_place birth_place jr/sr party profession preceded term birth_date spouse article_title state name
asher robbins 21 december 1837 new york city , new york bristol , rhode island united states senator democratic-republican politician , captain , slaver william hunter march , 1825 4 , 1821 & ndash ; october 31 18 march 1764 nancy ann bradford dewolf james dewolf
 rhode island james dewolf
james dewolf

james dewolf -lrb- march 18 , 1764december 21 , 1837 -rrb- was a slave trader , a privateer during the war of 1812 , and a state and national politician .
he gained notoriety in 1791 when indicted for murdering a slave said to have smallpox , whom he said threatened the lives of all of the other slaves and crew because of the disease .
the case was ultimately dismissed and was considered justifiable under contemporary law .
during his lifetime , his name was usually written `` james d'wolf '' .
he served as a state legislator for a total of nearly 25 years , and in the 1820s as a united states senator from rhode island for much of a term .
along with the slave trade , dewolf invested in sugar and coffee plantations in cuba and became the wealthiest man in his state ; by the end of his life , he was said to be the second-richest person in the entire united states .
