| 1819 January 6 |
Born in Bardstown, Kentucky. His father was Governor Charles A. Wickliffe of Kentucky. His father also served as Postmaster General of the U.S. and was for ten years a representative to Congress from Kentucky, even during the Civil War. His maternal grandfather was the famed Colonel Crips, an Indian fighter in Kentucky. Wickliffe attended several schools including St. Joseph College in Bardstown and Augusta College. |
| 1840 |
Graduated from Center College at Danville Ky, and moves to Washington D.C. while his father is Postmaster General under Tyler. Studies law under Hugh Lagare, Attorney General of the United States and is admitted to the Kentucky Bar. |
| 1843 February |
Marries Anna Dawson, daughter of U. S. Representative John B. Dawson, niece of Isaac Johnson. |
| 1846 | Moves to St. Francisville to recover from pneumonia and lives at Wyoming, his wife’s family’s plantation. He begins practicing law and planting cotton. |
| 1851 | As a Democrat he wins a seat in the Louisiana Senate from West Feliciana. |
| 1853 | Wickliffe is re-elected to the State Senate and is appointed Chairman of the Commission on Public Education. He is also elected President Pro Tempe of the Senate. |
| 1854 | When the Lt. Governor dies Wickliffe becomes the President of the Senate. |
| 1855 | As the Democratic candidate for governor Wickliffe defeats Charles Derbigny, the Know Nothing candidate by 3,000 votes, carrying 31 of 48 parishes. |
| 1856-1859 January |
At his inauguration he advocates a united Democratic South to protect state’s rights and champions expansion to the Caribbean, Mexico, Cuba and Central America to expand slavery. He continues the trend of railroad building, but ignores public education. He forces a registry law and a new city charter on New Orleans because he fears abuse of corporate power to promote party purposes and the legislature complies with his wishes. His foes are the Know Nothings and John Slidell. |
| 1857 | The Panic of 1857. Governor Wickliffe blames a loosely managed Board of Currency in Louisiana. Banks had to make weekly statements to the Board of Currency. |
| 1858 | Continued election violence forces him to send the state militia to New Orleans, but the Know Nothings still control city government. |
| 1860 |
After his administration ends he returns to planting and his legal practice. In the presidential election he supports Pierre Soule who is backing Stephen A. Douglas. John Slidell is backing former Vice President John C. Breckenridge from Kentucky. He becomes a delegate for Douglas at the Democratic National Convention in Baltimore. |
| 1861 | After the election Wickliffe decides not to actively support the seccesion and during the war he tries to act as an intermediary between the Confederacy and the Union. |
| 1865 | Presides over the Democratic Convention in New Orleans. He is elected to the 3rd District Congressional post but is denied a seat because there is much debate over loyalty oaths and the direction of reconstruction. |
| 1870 | Second marriage to Anna Davis Anderson of Brandenburg, Kentucky. |
| 1876 | Delegate to Democratic National Convention supporting Samuel J. Tilden. |
| 1884 | 1884 Delegate to the Demo National Convention supporting Grover Cleveland. |
| 1892 | Nominated for Lt. Governor by the Louisiana Lottery faction but loses to anti-lottery Democrats led by Murphy James Foster. Practices law until his death. |