John White Brockenbrough

John White Brockenbrough (December 23, 1806 – February 20, 1877) was a Virginia attorney, law professor, U.S. District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, and Confederate States congressman and district judge.

Early life and education

Born on December 23, 1806, in Hanover County, Virginia to Judith and William Brockenbrough, both descended from the First Families of Virginia. Brockenbrough attended He attended the College of William & Mary from 1824-1825. His sister Judith White Brockenbrough McGuire would later write Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, By a Lady of Virginia. He was a first cousin of William Henry Brockenbrough.

Career

Brockenbrough was admitted to the Virginia bar and began a private practice in Hanover County until 1834.

In 1852, Brockenbrough was elected to the board of trustees of what is now Washington and Lee University (then Washington College), which had previously honored him with a Doctor of Laws degree in 1851.

Peace conference

Along with John Tyler, William C. Rives, James Seddon, and George W. Summers, Brockenbrough represented Virginia at the peace conference of 1861.

Civil War

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Brockenbrough became one of Virginia's delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. In 1870, John Randolph Tucker, son of Henry St. George Tucker Sr., was hired to teach law along with Brockenbrough. In 1868, Brockenbrough was a member of a five-man committee in Lexington which called for "a White Man's party, based on the single principal [sic] that the white man alone has the right to vote." Brockenbrough resigned in 1873, in a dispute over salary. He resumed private practice in Lexington from 1873 to 1877.

Personal life

Brockenbrough married Mary C. Bowyer of Lexington, Virginia and they had children.

Death and legacy

Brockenbrough died on February 20, 1877, in Lexington.