William Henry Brodnax

William Henry Brodnax (1786–1834) was a Virginia lawyer and politician.[1]

Early life

William Henry Brodnax was born in 1786. He graduated from Hampden-Sydney College, where he studied the Law.

Career

Brodnax began practicing the Law in Petersburg, Virginia.

Brodnax twice served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, once from 1818–1819 and again from 1830–1833.[2] He was also a member of the American Colonization Society.

Brodnax was a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829 to 1830 and a general of the Virginia militia during the Nat Turner slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831. The next month he represented, along with his brother Meriwether Brodnax, several slaves accused of participating in Nat Turner's slave rebellion.[3] In 1832 during the Virginia legislature's debate about slavery Brodnax spoke in favor of colonization of free African Americans.[4]

Death

Brodnax He died on October 23, 1834 and his will was probated in Dinwiddie County in December 1834.

References

  1. ↑ Freehling, William W. (1990). The Road to Disunion: Secessionists at Bay, 1776-1854:, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. pp. 184–186, 189, 191, 195, 204. ISBN 0195058143. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Goodyear Freehling, Allison. "William H. Brodnax (ca. 1786–1834)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Alfred L. Brophy, "The Nat Turner Trials", North Carolina Law Review (June 2013), volume 91: 1817-80.
  4. ↑ Speech of William Henry Brodnax, (of Dinwiddie) in the House of Delegates of Virginia: on the Policy of the State with Respect to its Colored Population. Delivered January 19, 1832


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