William F. Gordon: Difference between revisions

| spouse = Mary Robinson Rootes<br />Elizabeth Lindsay

| children = [[ArmisteadJames C.Lindsay Gordon]] (grandson)

| relatives = [[Armistead C. Gordon]] (grandson)

'''William Fitzhugh Gordon''' (January 13, 1787 &ndash; July 21, 1858) was a nineteenth-century, lawyer, military officer, politician and planter from the piedmont region of [[Virginia]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bioguide Search|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/G000319|access-date=2022-01-29|website=bioguide.congress.gov}}</ref>

William Fitzhugh Gordon was born at "Germanna", a plantation near [[Fredericksburg, Virginia]] to Elizabeth Gordon and her husband (and cousin) James Gordon, Jr. (1759-1799). His grandfather John Gordon had emigrated to the Virginia colony in 1738 from County Down in northern Ireland, as did his elder brother James Gordon (1711-1768), and they both became successful tobacco merchants and planters in Virginia's Tidewater region. John Gordon had initially joined his brother's business in [[Lancaster County, Virginia|Lancaster County]], but moved across the [[Rappahannock River]] to [[Urbanna, Virginia|Urbanna]] in [[Middlesex County, Virginia|Middlesex County]] and married Lucy Churchill, who bore a dozen children, including this man's father, who served in the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] alongside his cousin and father-in-law [[James Gordon Sr.]] (son of the immigrant James Gordon, and who inherited [[Verville (Merry Point, Virginia)|Verville plantation]] in Lancaster County).<ref>Colonial Families of the U.S.A. 1677-1775 available on ancestry.com</ref> Although the immigrant John Gordon ultimately settled in [[Richmond County, Virginia|Richmond County]], James Gordon Jr. moved westward to near [[Germanna, Virginia|Germanna]] in what became [[Spotsylvania County, Virginia|Spotsylvania County]] and then [[Orange County, Virginia|Orange County]], where he established a plantation near an iron furnace established at the beginning of the century by former Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood. In 1787, James Gordon owned 21 enslaved adults and 34 enslaved Blacks younger than 16, along with 17 horses, a stud horse, 51 cattle and a 4-wheeled chaise carriage in Orange County.<ref>Netty Schreiner Yantis and Florene Speakman, The 1787 census of Virginia, (Genealogical Books in Print 1987) vol. 2 p. 834</ref> His maternal grandmother was a cousin of [[Benjamin Harrison]], signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] and governor of Virginia. Thus linked to the [[First Families of Virginia]], William Gordon attended private schools appropriate to his class, including Spring Hill Academy. After completing those studies, he read law.<ref>Tyler, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company 1915), Vol. 2, p. 110</ref>

Gordon served in the [[War of 1812]], then continued to serve in the [[Virginia Militia]], in 1829 accepting a commission as brigadier general from then-governor William B. Giles, and becoming [[major general]] of the Second Brigade in 1840.<ref>Tyler Vol.2 p. 110</ref><ref name="Tyler vol 5 p. 796">Tyler vol 5 p. 796</ref>

Gordon married twice. His first wife, Mary Robinson Rootes, daughter of Thomas Reade Rootes of Fredericksburg died without bearing any children who survived. He remarried, to Elizabeth Lindsay, daughter of Col. Reuben LindayLindsay of Albemarle County, who had fought in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, then refused both refused repayment of this $1,000 loan to assist the cause, as well as never claimed the land bounty awarded him for his service.<ref>Tyler p. 111</ref> They had eight sons (six of whom became soldiers in the Confederate Army) and three daughters who reached maturity.<ref>Tyler vol. 5, p. 797</ref>

* [[Reuben Lindsay Gordon]] (1820–1887) also became a lawyer and planter, as well as served one term representing Orange County in the Virginia House of Delegates

Gordon died at his Edgeworth plantation in [[Albemarle County, Virginia]] on July 21, 1858. He was interred at the family cemetery in [[Springfield, Virginia]].<ref name="bio"/><ref name="obit"/> His eldest son [[James Lindsay Gordon]] (1813-1877) became a lawyer and served two terms in the Virginia House of Delegates, but did not have any children. His brother George Loyall Gordon (1829-1862) followed a similar career path as a lawyer in Alexandria and Charlottesville but became a newspaper editor instead of a politician and married the eldest daughter of North Carolina judge Joseph J. Daniel. As the Civil War started, he joined the 15th North Carolina regiment (Edgecombe Guards) and died at the [[Battle of Malvern Hill]]. His son [[Armistead C. Gordon]] (W.F. Gordon's grandson), born at his grandfather's Edgeworth plantation and raised at Longwood plantation in North Carolina, became a lawyer and writer as well as mayor of [[Staunton, Virginia]], and his brother [[James Lindsay Gordon (attorney)|James L. Gordon]] (1858-1904) also became lawyer, then followed his grandfather's and uncle's path into the Virginia state senate before moving to New York where he became an assistant district attorney and noted for his oratory.<ref> name="Tyler vol 5 p. 796<"/ref>

[[Category:PeoplePoliticians from Charlottesville, Virginia]]

[[Category:19th-century American planters]]

[[Category:19th-century American politicianslegislators]]