Robert Murphy Mayo
Robert Murphy Mayo | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 1st district | |
In office March 4, 1883 – March 20, 1884 | |
Preceded by | George T. Garrison |
Succeeded by | George T. Garrison |
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Northumberland and Westmoreland Counties | |
In office December 2, 1885 – December 3, 1889 | |
Preceded by | John Luttrell |
Succeeded by | Benjamin Chambers |
In office December 7, 1881 – 1883 | |
Preceded by | S. B. Burgess |
Succeeded by | John Luttrell |
Personal details | |
Born | 47th Virginia Infantry | April 28, 1836
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Robert Murphy Mayo (April 28, 1836 – March 29, 1896) was a Virginia lawyer, Confederate officer and politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates and briefly in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Readjuster Party.[1]
Early life and education
Born in
He attended private schools and briefly the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, Virginia, in 1858, and then taught mathematics at Mount Pleasant Military Academy, Sing Sing (now Ossining), New York, and later at his alma mater. While teaching in Lexington, Mayo also studied law at Lexington Law School in 1858 and 1859. His father owned 9 male and 11 female slaves in the 1850 federal census, which R.M. Mayo Jr. may have taken possession of by 1860.[3]
American Civil War
Robert M. Mayo enlisted in the
His elder brother Joseph Campbell Mayo, who graduated in VMI's class of 1852, held similar positions with the
Career
R. M. Mayo Jr. was admitted to the bar and after the war returned to his legal practice in Westmoreland County and neighboring areas. He opened his office in Westmoreland County's seat, Hague in 1865. Westmoreland County voters elected R. M. Mayo their Commonwealth's attorney (prosecutor, one of three elected offices in the county).[6] In 1881 voters in Northumberland and Westmoreland Counties elected Mayo to the Virginia House of Delegates (a part-time position), where he succeeded S. B. Burgess.[7]
In the election of 1882, Mayo ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Virginia's first district. The vote was close—he was first declared the loser, then the winner and then the loser again. Incumbent Democrat
Mayo then returned to Virginia's Northern Neck and resumed his legal practice. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to Congress in 1884, but again won election to the House of Delegates in 1885 and 1887.[10]
Family life
Robert M. Mayo Jr. married Lucy Claybrook on December 3, 1867, in Westmoreland County. His wife was the daughter of Richard Claybrook and his wife Charlotte Brown Claybrook. They had daughters Nellie Mayo (1869–b/f 1880) and Charlotte Brown Mayo Johnson (1871–after 1893) and sons Richard Claybrook Mayo (1872–1911) and Archibald Campbell Mayo (1882–after 1917).[citation needed] In 1880 the household also included his father Judge Mayo and his younger brother farmer Philip Mayo, as well as household servants.[11]
Death and legacy
Robert Mayo died in Hague, Virginia, on March 29, 1896. He was interred in Yeocomico Cemetery in Tucker Hill, Virginia.
References
- ^ United States Congress. "Robert Murphy Mayo (id: M000287)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ 1870 U.S. Federal Census for Westmoreland County, Virginia; 1880 U.S. Federal Census for Westmoreland County, Virginia
- ^ The 1860 Virginia slave schedules are not online, but ancestry.com lists Robert Mayo Jr. of Westmoreland County as a slaveowner therein. However, neither Westmoreland County Robert Mayo appears in the slave schedules of the 1860 census, so the document may have been lost.
- ^ Homer D. Musselman, 47th Virginia Infantry (Virginia Regimental History Series, Lynchburg 1991), p. 142
- ^ Lee A. Wallace Jr., 3rd Virginia Infantry (Virginia Regimental History Series, Lynchburg 1986), p. 97
- ^ Lexington Law School alumni catalog, class of 1849, available on ancestry.com
- ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) p. 534
- ^ "Our Campaigns – Race Detail Page". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
- JSTOR 4248516.
- ^ Leonard pp. 542, 546
- ^ 1880 U.S. Federal Census for Westmoreland County, Virginia
This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress