22 Facts About Wyndham Robertson

Wyndham Robertson was the Acting Governor of the US state of Virginia from 1836 to 1837.

Wyndham Robertson twice served multiple terms in the Virginia House of Delegates, the second series representing Richmond during the American Civil War.

Wyndham Robertson was born in 1803 near Manchester, in Chesterfield County, Virginia across the James River from Richmond, to William Robertson and his wife Elizabeth Bolling, who was descended from Pocahontas and John Rolfe.

Wyndham Robertson's father was a member of the Virginia Council of State.

Wyndham Robertson graduated from The College of William and Mary in 1821 and read law.

Wyndham Robertson was re-elected to the Council of State in 1833.

In 1834, at the first meeting of the James River Canal Company, Wyndham Robertson suggested that instead of constructing a canal to Lynchburg and attempting to extend it across the Appalachian Mountains to the Kanawha River, the company instead construct a railroad, which could ultimately continue to the Mississippi River.

On March 31,1836, Wyndham Robertson became the Council of State's senior member, Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia.

Since the Virginia General Assembly, which elected the Governor, was Democratic, and he, being a Whig, was not, Wyndham Robertson was not elected Governor when that term expired in 1837 and was replaced by David Campbell.

In 1841, Wyndham Robertson moved to his wife's home, "Mary's Meadows", just south of Abingdon, in southwest Virginia, and farmed.

Wyndham Robertson was made a Justice of the Peace for Washington County on July 25,1842, and a trustee of Abingdon Academy in 1843, shortly before his father-in-law's death.

In 1849, Wyndham Robertson chaired a meeting to elect delegates to extend the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad to town.

In 1850, Wyndham Robertson leased the King Saltworks for five years.

Wyndham Robertson had owned 11 enslaved persons in the 1840 US Federal Census, and at least 28 enslaved persons in the 1850 US Federal Census.

Wyndham Robertson later characterized himself as a "friend to peace and the Union" and noted that he had actively opposed South Carolina's call for a Southern Convention in 1859.

At the Henry Clay banquet in April 1860, at which former President John Tyler was present, Wyndham Robertson gave "The Union" toast, followed by a short speech:.

Wyndham Robertson continued as the leading vote-getter within Richmond's delegation to the House of Delegates for two additional terms; his legislative service ended as the Confederacy fell in 1865.

In 1863, Wyndham Robertson opposed and helped to defeat a bill to fix food prices, which he believed "fraught with the direst mischief", despite food riots in Richmond.

Wyndham Robertson noted his descent from John Adams, a rival of John Randolph of Roanoke, who was descended from Pocahontas.

Wyndham Robertson's thesis was that because her descendants were notable, so was she.

Wyndham Robertson died on February 11,1888, and was buried near his parents at Cobbs Cemetery, Enon, Chesterfield County.

Governor Wyndham Robertson was an early donor to Emory and Henry College, which endowed the Wyndham Robertson prize medal for "encouraging oratory".