Archibald Austin

Archibald Austin (August 11, 1772 – October 16, 1837) was a nineteenth-century slave owner,[1][2][3] politician and lawyer from Virginia.

Biography

Born near Buckingham Courthouse, Austin studied law and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in Buckingham County, Virginia. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1815 to 1817 and was elected a Democratic-Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1816, serving from 1817 to 1819. He was not a candidate in 1818. Afterwards, he resumed practicing law and was a presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1832 and 1836. Austin returned to the House of Delegates in 1835, serving again until 1837. He died near Buckingham on October 16, 1837, and was interred in the family cemetery with his wife Grace, on his estate. His law office was built on the family slave plantation. His legal papers were sold in the early part of 20th century to the College of William and Mary, the collection is housed in the Swem Library. Many court records burned up in 1869 during the courthouse fire, Austin's files are invaluable for research in court records of the period.

References
  1. "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, 2022-01-19, retrieved 2022-01-23
  2. "Collection: Austin-Twyman Papers | Special Collections Research Center". scrcguides.libraries.wm.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  3. New studies in the history of American slavery. Edward E. Baptist, Stephanie M. H. Camp. Athens: University of Georgia Press. 2006. ISBN 0-8203-2563-5. OCLC 60835348.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  • Early Buckingham County, VA Legal Papers. Compiled and transcribed by Jeanne Stinson. Athens, GA.: Iberian Pub. Co. 1993


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.