John Botts

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John Minor Botts
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 11th & 6th district
In office March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1843 March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849
Preceded by	John Robertson James Seddon
Succeeded by	William Taylor James Seddon
Born	September 16, 1802(1802-09-16) Dumfries, Virginia, U.S.
Died	January 8, 1869 (aged 66) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Whig
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

John Minor Botts (September 16, 1802 – January 8, 1869) was a nineteenth century politician and lawyer from Virginia.

Botts was born in Dumfries, Virginia. Both of his parents were killed in the Richmond Theatre fire on 26 December 1811, so he and his siblings were raised by relatives in Fredericksburg. Botts attended the common schools in Richmond, Virginia, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1830. He moved to Henrico County, Virginia, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1833 to 1839. Botts was elected as a Whig to the United States House of Representatives in 1838, serving from 1839 to 1843. He was unsuccessful for reelection in 1842 but was elected again in 1846, serving from 1847 to 1849. He was chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs from 1847 to 1849. Botts was once again unsuccessful for reelection in 1848 and again in 1850. He represented the city of Richmond and the counties of Charles City, Henrico, and New Kent in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851 and resumed practicing law in Richmond in 1852.

During the presidential election of 1860, Botts, a member of the United States Constitutional Union Party, supported John Bell. Though his candidate was unsuccessful, Botts continued to support the principles of the Constitutional Union party, and was uncompromisingly Unionist in his sentiments while his native state moved toward secession through the American Civil War. In 1862, he was jailed without trial for his Unionist positions by the Confederate provost marshal John H. Winder^[1].

Botts published his memoirs, The Great Rebellion: Its Secret History, Rise, Progress, and Disastrous Failure (1866).

Botts was a delegate to the Southern Loyalists' Convention in 1866 before his death on January 8, 1869 in Richmond, Virginia. He was interred in the Shockoe Hill Cemetery.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• My Inwood 1847 Richmond letter mentioning Botts
• John Botts at Find A Grave
• "Auburn," the Botts estate in Culpeper, Va.

Preceded by John Robertson	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 11th congressional district March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1843	Succeeded by William Taylor
Preceded by James Seddon	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 6th congressional district March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849	Succeeded by James Seddon

• John Botts at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

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