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BOTTS, John Minor

BOTTS, John Minor
Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
BOTTS, John Minor
1802–1869

Office

Representative

State/Territory

Virginia

Party

Whig

Congress(es)

26th (1839–1841), 27th (1841–1843), 30th (1847–1849)

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Biography

BOTTS, John Minor, a Representative from Virginia; born in Dumfries, Va., September 16, 1802; attended the common schools in Richmond, Va.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1830 and commenced practice in Richmond, Va.; moved to Henrico County and engaged in agricultural pursuits; member of the State house of delegates 1833-1839; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1839-March 3, 1843); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1842 to the Twenty-eighth Congress; elected to the Thirtieth Congress (March 4, 1847-March 3, 1849); chairman, Committee on Military Affairs (Thirtieth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1848 and 1850 to the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses, respectively; member, State constitutional convention, 1850-1851; resumed the practice of law in Richmond, Va., in 1852; delegate to the Southern Loyalists' Convention in 1866; died in Richmond, Va., January 8, 1869; interment in Shockoe Hill Cemetery.

View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

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External Research Collections

Library of Congress
Manuscript Division

Washington, DC
Papers: In the Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection, 1851-1852, 2 letters. Letters of John Minor Botts, 1851-1852.

Louisiana State University Libraries
Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections

Baton, Rouge, LA
Papers: 1859, 1 item. A letter from John Minor Botts to an unidentified recipient written on April 4, 1859. In the letter, John Botts writes about his desire to win the Whig presidential nomination in the 1860 election. It relates problems encountered by John Botts in his campaign.

The Morgan Library
Department of Literary and Historical Manuscripts

New York, NY
Papers: 1860, 1 item. A letter from John Minor Botts to an unidentified recipient written on February 26, 1860. In the letter, John Botts writes concerning the investigation of Governor Wise.
Papers: 1861, 1 item. A letter from John Minor Botts to Edward Bates written on April 8, 1861. In the letter, John Minor Botts recommends F.H. Pierpont as Attorney for the Fairmount district.

New-York Historical Society

New York, NY
Papers: 1861, 8 pages. A letter from John Minor Botts to Edward Bates written on April 19, 1861.

University of Virginia
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Charlottesville, VA
Papers: In the William Ransom Johnson Papers, 1796-1896, 386 items. Correspondents include John Minor Botts. A guide is available in the repository.
Papers: In the Virginia Political Correspondence, 1779-1930, 431 items. Correspondents include John Minor Botts.
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Bibliography / Further Reading

Botts, John Minor. The great rebellion: its secret history, rise, progress, and disastrous failure. By John Minor Botts, of Virginia. The political life of the author vindicated. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1866.

------. Letter from Mr. Botts. [To the editors of the Whig]. Washington: J. & G. S. Gideon, printers, 1848].

------. Letters of John Botts, of Virginia, on the Nebraska question. Washington: J. T. & L. Towers, printers, 1853.

------. The past, the present, and the future of our country. Interesting and important correspondence between opposition members of the legislature of Virginia and Hon. John Minor Botts, January 17, 1860. Washington, D.C.: Printed by L. Towers, [1860].

------. Speech of John Minor Botts, at a dinner at Powhatan Court-house, Va., June 15, 1850. [Richmond?: The Richmond Times, 1850].

------. Speech of Mr. Botts of Virginia, on the bill to incorporate the subscribers to a fiscal bank of the United States. Delivered in the House of Representatives, August 4, 1841. Washington: Printed at the National Intelligencer Office, 1841.

------. Speech of the Hon. John M. Botts, delivered before the Order of United Americans, in Academy of Music, New York : on the 22d February, 1859, being the 127th anniversary of Washington's birthday. New York: McKee & Co., [1859].

------. Speech of the Hon. John Minor Botts, delivered on the occasion of a complementary dinner, at Newark, N. J., on the 19th of September, 1853. Newark, N.J.: Printed on the steam press of the Daily mercury, 1853.

------. To the Whigs of Virginia. [Washington]: J. & G. S. Gideon, printers, [1848].

------. To the whole Whig party of the United States. [Washington: J. & G.S. Gideon, printers, 1848].

------. Union or disunion. The union cannot and shall not be dissolved. Mr. Lincoln not an abolitionist. Speech of the Hon. John M. Botts, at Holcombe Hall, in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Thursday evening, October 18. [Lynchburg?, Va.: 1860].

A defence [sic] of the President, against the attacks of Mr. Botts and the Clay party. [Washington: Madisonian Office, 1843?]

Pendleton, John S. Hon. John S. Pendleton's answer, to the attack of the Hon. John M. Botts, made against him in the Culpepeper Observer, 1867. [Richmond, Va.?: N.p., 1867?]

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