Robert E. Withers

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Robert E. Withers

Robert Enoch Withers (born September 18, 1821 in Lynchburg , Virginia , †  September 21, 1907 in Wytheville , Virginia) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ). He was a member of the US Senate as a representative of Virginia and was vice governor in that state .

Robert Withers was educated in private schools and graduated from the University of Virginia Medical School in Charlottesville in 1841 . He then practiced as a doctor in Campbell County until he moved to Danville in 1858 . During the Civil War he joined the Confederate Army, where he held the rank of major . Withers commanded the Virginia 18th Infantry Regiment and was later promoted to colonel . After sustaining several serious wounds in combat, he retired from active service and became the commandant of the Confederate Military Post in Danville. He held this post until the end of the war.

In 1866 Robert Withers returned to Lynchburg. There he got into the newspaper business and founded the Lynchburg News , with which he represented the interests of the Conservative Party . This short-lived splinter party also nominated him for election as governor of Virginia , but Withers waived. He later got involved with the Democrats, for whom he belonged to the Electoral College in the presidential election in 1872 . Withers was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia the following year.

On March 4, 1875, Robert Withers entered the US Senate for the Democrats. During his six-year tenure, he was, among other things, Chairman of the Pension Committee. He ran for re-election, but was subject to the candidate for the Readjuster Party William Mahone and had to leave the Congress on March 3, 1881 .

In 1885, US President Grover Cleveland appointed Withers consul of the United States in Hong Kong . He held this office for four years before retiring at the Ingleside plantation in Wytheville. Robert Withers died there in September 1907.

Web links

  • Robert E. Withers in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
personal data
SURNAME Withers, Robert E.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Withers, Robert Enoch (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician (Democratic Party)
DATE OF BIRTH September 18, 1821
PLACE OF BIRTH near Lynchburg , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH September 21, 1907
Place of death Wytheville , Virginia