Thomas J. Robertson

Thomas James Robertson
United States Senator from South Carolina
In office July 15, 1868 – March 4, 1877
Preceded by	James Chesnut, Jr.
Succeeded by	Matthew Butler
Personal details
Born	(1823-08-03)August 3, 1823 Winnsboro, South Carolina
Died	Columbia, South Carolina
Political party	Republican

Thomas James Robertson (August 3, 1823 – October 13, 1897) was a United States Senator from South Carolina. Born near Winnsboro, he completed preparatory studies and graduated from South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia in 1843. He engaged in planting and was a member of the State constitutional convention in 1865.

Upon the readmission of the State of South Carolina to representation in 1868, Robertson was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate; he was reelected in 1871 and served from July 15, 1868, to March 4, 1877, and was not a candidate for reelection. While in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Manufactures (Forty-second through Forty-fourth Congresses). He retired from public life and active business due to ill health, and in 1897 died in Columbia. Interment was in Elmwood Cemetery.

References

• Thomas J. Robertson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

External links

• Thomas J. Robertson at Find a Grave
• New York Times article Attitude of President Grant Toward the Robbers
• New York Times article South Carolina Senatorial elections
• Bio of son Edwin Wales Robertson

United States Senate
Preceded by vacant1	U.S. Senator (Class 2) from South Carolina 1868–1877 Served alongside: Frederick A. Sawyer, John J. Patterson	Succeeded by Matthew C. Butler
Notes and references
1. Because of South Carolina's secession from the Union in 1860, seat was declared vacant from 1860-1868 when James Chesnut, Jr. withdrew from the Senate.