Robert Ridgway

Who was Robert Ridgway?

Robert Ridgway was a nineteenth-century congressman, lawyer and editor from Virginia.

Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, Ridgeway attended Emory and Henry College and graduated from the University of Virginia. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in Liberty, Virginia. He was editor of the Bedford Sentinel before he moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1853 and became the editor of the Richmond Whig. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Ridgeway retired to Amherst, Virginia. He was elected a Whig to the United States House of Representatives in 1866, but was not permitted to be seated due to incomplete reconstruction measures. He was later elected a Conservative to the House in 1869, serving from January 1870 until his death on October 16, 1870 in Amherst, Virginia. He was interred in the family cemetery in Amherst.