Brockenbrough was born on July 10, 1778, in Tappahannock, the son of John Brockenbrough, a physician, and Sarah Roane Brockenbrough. He attended the College of William and Mary in 1798 and studied law. Brockenbrough represented Essex County in the House of Delegates from 1801 to 1803 and served on the Committee on Propositions and Grievances during his first term and on the Committee for Courts of Justice during both terms. He was then elected to the Council of State and served from June 3, 1803, until mid-May 1806, having been voted off that body on December 17, 1805, under a constitutional provision that required the assembly to remove two councillors every third year. Brockenbrough represented Hanover County in the House of Delegates from 1807 to 1809 and again sat on the Committee for Courts of Justice.
On February 20, 1834, the assembly elected Brockenbrough to the Supreme Court of Appeals, on which he served until his death four years later. None of those weighty and controversial constitutional issues about which he wrote in the newspapers came before the Court of Appeals. Brockenbrough's work there consisted of interpreting Virginia statutes and ruling on appeals from lower Virginia courts on the construction of deeds and wills and on procedural matters of civil law and in equity.
Brockenbrough married Judith Robinson White at White Plains in King William County on December 22, 1803. Their six daughters and two sons included John White Brockenbrough, who became a federal judge and prominent legal educator. William Brockenbrough died in a Richmond boarding house on December 10, 1838, and was buried at White Plains.
Major Works
- A Collection of Cases Decided by the General Court of Virginia (1815)
- Virginia Cases, or Decisions of the General Court of Virginia (1826)
Time Line
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July 10, 1778 - William Brockenbrough is born in Tappahannock, the son of John Brockenbrough, a physician, and Sarah Roane Brockenbrough.
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1798 - William Brockenbrough attends the College of William and Mary, where he studies law.
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1801–1803 - William Brockenbrough represents Essex County in the House of Delegates.
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1803–1806 - William Brockenbrough serves on the Council of State.
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December 22, 1803 - William Brockenbrough and Judith Robinson White marry at White Plains in King William County. They will have six daughters and two sons.
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1807–1809 - William Brockenbrough represents Hanover County in the House of Delegates.
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February 7, 1809 - The General Assembly elects William Brockenbrough to a seat on the General Court.
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1815 - William Brockenbrough and Hugh Holmes edit and publish A Collection of Cases Decided by the General Court of Virginia.
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1818 - William Brockenbrough serves on the Rockfish Gap Commission, which recommended Charlottesville as the site of the new University of Virginia.
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March 30, 1819 - William Brockenbrough publishes an essay in the Richmond Enquirer supporting states' rights. Published under the pseudonym Amphictyon, the essay helps provoke a public response from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.
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April 2, 1819 - William Brockenbrough publishes an essay in the Richmond Enquirer supporting states' rights. Published under the pseudonym Amphictyon, the essay helps provoke a public response from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.
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November 1820 - William Brockenbrough becomes president of the General Court.
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1826 - William Brockenbrough publishes Virginia Cases, or Decisions of the General Court of Virginia, which includes his own "Brief Sketch of the Courts of this Commonwealth."
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February 20, 1834 - The General Assembly elects William Brockenbrough to the Court of Appeals.
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December 10, 1838 - William Brockenbrough dies in a Richmond boarding house. He is later buried at White Plains.
References
Further Reading
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
Miller, F. T., & the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. William Brockenbrough (1778–1838). (2018, January 18). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Brockenbrough_William_1778-1838.
- MLA Citation:
Miller, F. Thornton and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "William Brockenbrough (1778–1838)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 18 Jan. 2018. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: December 1, 2017 | Last modified: January 18, 2018
Contributed by F. Thornton Miller and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.