Peter D. Wigginton

Peter Dinwiddie Wigginton (September 6, 1839 – July 7, 1890) was a U.S. Representative from California.

Peter D. Wigginton

Born in Springfield, Illinois, Wigginton moved to Wisconsin with his parents in 1843. He completed preparatory studies and attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1859 and practiced. He was editor of the Dodgeville (Wisconsin) Advocate. He moved to Snelling, California, in 1862, and continued the practice of law. He served as district attorney of Merced County 1864–1868.

Wigginton was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877). He successfully contested the election of Romualdo Pacheco to the Forty-fifth Congress (February 7, 1878 – March 4, 1879). He settled in San Francisco in 1880 and resumed the practice of law. In 1886, Wigginton founded the American Party, a nativist third party.[1] He would go on to be nominated by the party as its candidate for Vice President in the 1888 in place of James R. Geer. He died in Oakland, California, July 7, 1890. He was interred in Mountain View Cemetery.