XCVI.
XCVI. WYNDHAM ROBERTSON.
XCVI. Lieutenant-Governor.
XCVI. April 30, 1836, to March, 1837.
Wyndham Robertson was the grandson of William
Robertson, who emigrated from Edinburgh, Scotland, in the
early part of the eighteenth century, and settled in Bristol
parish near the present location of Petersburg, Virginia.
The son of this first settler Robertson, William the second,
was born in 1750, was a vestryman, warden, and deputy of
Bristol parish from 1779 to 1789, and a member of the Council
of Virginia, and its Secretary for many years. He married
Elizabeth Bolling, and Wyndham Robertson, the subject of
this sketch, was their seventh child.
Wyndham first attended school in his native city, Richmond,
and completed his education at William and Mary
College (under the presidency of the brilliant John Augustine
Smith,), from whence he graduated in 1821. Selecting the
profession of law, he was admitted to the bar in 1824, and
became a popular speaker and successful practitioner. In
1833 he was elected a member of the Council of State, and
was prominent in matters of internal improvement in Virginia.
Being senior member of the Council, and as such, Lieutenant-Governor,
upon the resignation of Governor Tazewell,
April 30, 1836, Mr. Robertson was called to the Executive
Chair. The period is very memorable as ushering in those
initial movements which were the prelude to a great and
bloody drama.
Governor Robertson, upon the expiration of his gubernatorial
term, retired to private life, and as his health had
become impaired he now followed more specially the interesting
pursuits of agriculture. But in 1858 he returned to
Richmond, and in 1860 was elected to the House of Delegates.
A friend to peace and the Union, he urged moderation in this
epoch of excitement, and even after South Carolina and other
southern states had seceded, he still earnestly advocated a
refusal on the part of Virginia to follow their example. On
January 7, 1861, he introduced a Resolution into the House of
Delegates, known as the Anti-Coercion Resolution, denying
the existence of present cause for secession, but declaring the
purpose of Virginia, if a war of coercion was undertaken by the
Federal Government on the seceded states, to fight with the
South. The resolution was adopted, and the sequel needs
no comment here.
Ever a faithful son to his native state, Governor Robertson
shared her trials and sorrows along the "via dolorosa" of a
four years' war, and after the struggle was over he addressed
himself with ardor to the study of Virginia history. To
this subject he contributed many interesting articles, among
the most valuable being a genealogical account of "The
Descendants of Pocahontas."
