Thomas James ROBERTSON, Congress, SC (1823-1897)

ROBERTSON, Thomas James, a Senator from South Carolina; born near Winnsboro, Fairfield County, S.C., August 3, 1823; completed preparatory studies and graduated from South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia in 1843; engaged in planting; member of the State constitutional convention in 1865; upon the readmission of the State of South Carolina to representation in 1868 was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate; reelected in 1871 and served from July 15, 1868, to March 3, 1877; was not a candidate for reelection; chairman, Committee on Manufactures (Forty-second through Forty-fourth Congresses); retired from public life and active business due to ill health; died in Columbia, S.C., October 13, 1897; interment in Elmwood Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present