William F. Gordon

Who was William F. Gordon?

William Fitzhugh Gordon was a nineteenth-century politician and lawyer from Virginia.

Born at "Germanna", a plantation near Fredericksburg, Virginia, Gordon attended Spring Hill Academy, later studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1808, commencing practice at Orange Court House, Virginia. He moved to Charlottesville, Virginia in 1809 to continue his practice and eventually became the city's commonwealth attorney in 1812. He served in the War of 1812, attaining the rank of major general in the Virginia Militia. Gordon later became a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, serving from 1818 to 1829 and a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829 to 1830. He was elected a Jacksonian to the United States House of Representatives to fill a vacancy in 1830, serving until 1835. After being unsuccessful for reelection, Gordon engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was a delegate to the Southern Convention in Nashville, Tennessee in 1850. Gordon died at his plantation called "Edgeworth" in Albemarle County, Virginia on August 28, 1858. He was interred at the family cemetery in Springfield, Virginia.