Notes for John White Brockenbrough: A prominent federal judge before the Civil War, John W. Brockenbrough was sent by his native state of Virginia, along with other commissioners, to Washington to seek a peaceful separation of the country. This having failed and active military operations having begun, Brockenbrough was named, in June 1861, to the Provisional Confederate Congress where he was appropriately assigned to the Committee on the Judiciary. Representing a district in what was to become West Virginia, he supported the administration in its military efforts and in the search for means to finance them. However, most of his congressional time was spent in the organization of the new government and especially in getting the court system functioning. With institution of the permanent constitution, Brockenbrough left the legislature to accept appointment as Confederate State judge for the Western District of Virginia, the same jurisdiction he had held in the federal service and which was to become the new state of West Virginia in 1863. Here again he was an active supporter of the administration. After the war he ran the Lexington Law School, which soon became part of Washington College, of which he had been a trustee since 1852. He was instrumental in obtaining the school's presidency for Robert E. Lee, which eventually resulted in the institution becoming Washington and Lee University. ----- "Judge Brockenbrough's mission was successful. General Lee accepted the presidency, and thenceforth his residence was in Lexington, and he is buried in the chapel of the College that he brought back to life. Nearby - in the town cemetery - lie the remains of the great Lieutenant, Stonewall Jackson - two stars set in a single sphere, but fixed stars in the galaxy of fame." (William and Mary Quarterly vol. 6, 2nd series, page 282)
JOHN WHITE BROCKENBROUGH Judge John White Brockenbrough established the Lexington Law School in 1849, giving the Introductory Address on October 31st of that year. Brockenbrough was born on December 23, 1806, in Hanover County. He studied law at Judge Henry St. George Tucker's law school in Winchester, and became Commonwealth's Attorney for Hanover County. Brockenbrough was appointed to the federal judgeship for the Western District of Virginia in 1846.
In 1852 Judge Brockenbrough was elected to the board of trustees of Washington College. During the Civil War the judge held office as Confederate States judge of Western Virginia. In 1865 Brockenbrough was instrumental in the successful offer to General Robert E. Lee of the Presidency of Washington College. In 1866 Washington College President Robert E. Lee invited Judge Brockenbrough to affiliate his law school with the college.
The school was known first as the School of Law and Equity, then as the Department of Law and Equity. During this period, Brockenbrough continued as the sole professor in the law school, but he was not considered to be a member of the college faculty. When a complete merger occurred with the college in 1870, the School of Common and Statute Law was born, and Brockenbrough was made a regular faculty member. In 1873 Brockenbrough resigned as a result of a salary dispute. He died on February 20, 1877.
More About John White Brockenbrough and Mary Colston Bowyer: Marriage: 1835, Rockbridge county, Virginia.
Children of John White Brockenbrough and Mary Colston Bowyer are:
John White Brockenbrough (b. December 23, 1806, d. February 20, 1877)
Notes for John White Brockenbrough: