Robert Latane Montague
Robert Latane Montague | |
---|---|
Member of the William L. Jackson, Jr. | |
Succeeded by | Samuel Price |
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Middlesex County district | |
In office January 1, 1874 – March 31, 1875 | |
Preceded by | Lemuel C. Bristow |
Succeeded by | Lemuel C. Bristow |
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Mathews and Middlesex Counties district | |
In office December 2, 1850 – January 11, 1852 | |
Preceded by | Alexander K. Shepard |
Succeeded by | George N. Nicholson |
Personal details | |
Born | Robert Latané Montague May 23, 1819 Middlesex County, Virginia, U.S. |
Died | March 2, 1880 Middlesex, Virginia, U.S. | (aged 60)
Spouse | Cornelia Gay Eubank |
Robert Latané Montague (May 23, 1819 – March 2, 1880) was a prominent
Early and family life
Montague was born in
Montague attended
Robert L. Montague married Cornelia Gay Eubank on December 14, 1852. Although at least four of their children died young, three sons survived into adulthood: Julieus Drew Montague, Andrew Jackson Montague, and Robert Lynch Montague.[6]
Career
After admission to the Virginia bar, Montague established his legal practice in Middlesex County. When he earned enough money to buy a plantation, he began farming using enslaved labor, in addition to his legal practice. He became politically active as a
Voters in
Voters from Mathews and Middlesex Counties elected him as a delegate to the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861, and he became the Convention's President after John Janney resigned on November 16, 1861. He was an ardent defender of slavery and secessionist, and was physically in the president's chair when the ordinance of secession passed. Briefly during the American Civil War, Montague led both legislative bodies meeting in Richmond. Elected Virginia's Lieutenant Governor in 1861 (and polling 5000 more votes than John Lechter who led the ticket and was elected Governor of Virginia), Montague served ex officio as President of the Virginia Senate beginning in 1861 until December 21, 1863, when he became one of Virginia's delegates to the Confederate States Congress (1864-1865). His youngest (and favorite) brother, Andrew Jackson Montague, while a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute, volunteered to defend Richmond, and died during the Battle of Gaines' Mill in 1862.
After the war, in 1871, Middlesex County voters again elected him to represent them in the House of Delegates. He represented Middlesex County for one term, before fellow legislators elected him in 1875 to an eight-year term as a judge of the 8th Circuit Court, which he died before finishing.[8]
Death and legacy
Judge Montague died at home of erysipelas[9] on March 2, 1880, and was succeeded as judge of the 8th Circuit by Benjamin W. Lacy. A prominent Baptist (and moderator of the state's Baptist General Association), he was initially buried at Inglewood. However, he was eventually reburied in the family plot at the historic cemetery of Christ Episcopal Church in Middlesex county.
Notes
- ^ The Political Graveyard
- ^ "Peter Montague I".
- ^ 1820 U.S. Federal Census for Middlesex County, Virginia pp. 17-18 of 32
- ^ "Robert L. Montague" in Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography digitized in 2000 available at https://archive.org/stream/encyclopediaofvi03tyleuoft/
- ^ David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler (eds), The American Civil War-A Political, Social, and Military History, Vol. 1, pp. 1350-51
- ^ Although Montague's name was spelled creatively on many censuses, the 1860 census for Middlesex County, Virginia listed lawyer Robert S. Montague (who owned 15,000 in real estate and 18,536 in personal estate including slaves, by far the largest amount on the page) and his wife as living together with his 67 year old father Lewis B. Montague, his 18 year old brother A.J. Montague, as well as overseer Richard Lane (age 52), and children J.D. Montague(6 years old), A.S. Montague (2 years), P.E. Montague (2 months); the children of farmer R.H. Montague (possibly a relative) and F.A. Montague as Charles (b. 1853), Gabriel (b. 1855), William (b. 1857 and Robert (b. 1859). Virginia's 1860 slave schedule is not available online, but Robert L. Montague is apparently listed in both Middlesex and nearby Essex County
- ^ "米FUN直播".
- ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond, Virginia State Library 1978), pp. xvii, xxx, 444, 472, 474, 475, 481, 486, 518
- ^ 1880 U.S. Census death schedule for Middlesex County, Virginia; he is the only entry on the page with that cause of death