John Botts

John Botts

John Minor Botts (born September 16, 1802 in Dumfries , Prince William County , Virginia , †  January 8, 1869 in Richmond , Virginia) was an American politician . Between 1839 and 1843 and again from 1847 to 1849 he represented the state of Virginia in the US House of Representatives .

Career

John Botts attended the public schools in Richmond. After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1830, he began to work there in this profession. He later moved to Henrico County , where he worked in agriculture. Politically, Botts joined the Whig Party, founded in 1835 . Between 1833 and 1839 he was a member of the Virginia House of Representatives .

In the congressional election of 1838 Botts was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the second constituency of Virginia , where he succeeded James Bouldin on March 4, 1839 . After re-election, he was able to complete two legislative terms in Congress until March 3, 1843 . Since 1841 he represented the eleventh district of his state there. The period after 1841 was marked by tension between President John Tyler and the Whigs. In addition, a possible annexation of the Republic of Texas , which has been independent of Mexico since 1836, was already being discussed. In 1842 Botts was not re-elected.

In the congressional elections of 1846 he was then re-elected to Congress in the sixth electoral district of his state as the successor to James Alexander Seddon , where he was able to complete a further legislative period between March 4, 1847 and March 3, 1849. During this period, which was marked by the events of the Mexican-American War , he served as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. In the years 1848 and 1850 he applied unsuccessfully to remain in or return to Congress.

In 1850 and 1851, John Bott's delegate was at a meeting to revise the constitution of his home state. Since 1852 he practiced again as a lawyer in Richmond. In 1860 he was a Unionist and opposed the secession of Virginia. At the same time, he refused to take part in the civil war against the south. Because of his allegiance to the Union, he was temporarily imprisoned in Confederate Virginia in 1862 without trial or judgment. In 1866 he was a delegate to the Southern Loyalists' Convention , where the southerners loyal to the Union during the Civil War met. He died in Richmond on January 8, 1869.

Web links

Commons : John Botts  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• John Botts in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John Botts in the database of Find a Grave (English)