John Minor Botts was a nineteenth century politician and lawyer from Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

.

Botts was born in Dumfries, Virginia

Dumfries, Virginia

Dumfries is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,937 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Dumfries is located at ....

. Both of his parents were killed in the Richmond Theatre fire

Richmond Theatre fire

The 1811 Richmond Theatre fire occurred in Richmond, Virginia, United States on December 26, 1811. It devastated the Richmond Theatre, located on the north side of Broad Street between what is now Twelfth and College Streets. The fire, which killed 72 people including many government officials, was...

 on 26 December 1811, so he and his siblings were raised by relatives in Fredericksburg. Botts attended the common schools in Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1830. He moved to Henrico County, Virginia

Henrico County, Virginia

Henrico is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of 2010, Henrico was home to 306,935 people. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, engaged in agricultural

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 pursuits, and served in the Virginia House of Delegates

Virginia House of Delegates

The Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...

 from 1833 to 1839. Botts was elected as a Whig

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

 to the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 in 1838, serving from 1839 to 1843. He was unsuccessful for reelection in 1842 but was elected again in 1846, serving from 1847 to 1849. He was chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs

United States House Committee on Armed Services

thumb|United States House Committee on Armed Services emblemThe U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives...

 from 1847 to 1849. Botts was once again unsuccessful for reelection in 1848 and again in 1850. He represented the city of Richmond and the counties of Charles City, Henrico, and New Kent in the Virginia Constitutional Convention

Constitutional convention (political meeting)

A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...

 of 1850-1851 and resumed practicing law in Richmond in 1852.

During the presidential election of 1860, Botts, a member of the United States Constitutional Union Party, supported John Bell

John Bell (Tennessee politician)

John Bell was a U.S. politician, attorney, and plantation owner. A wealthy slaveholder from Tennessee, Bell served in the United States Congress in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He began his career as a Democrat, he eventually fell out with Andrew Jackson and became a Whig...

. Though his candidate was unsuccessful, Botts continued to support the principles of the Constitutional Union party, and was uncompromisingly Unionist in his sentiments while his native state moved toward secession and through the American Civil War

Civil war

A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

, but refused to fight against Virginia. In 1862, he was jailed without trial for his Unionist positions by the Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 provost marshal

Provost Marshal

The Provost Marshal is the officer in the armed forces who is in charge of the military police .There may be a Provost Marshal serving at many levels of the hierarchy and he may also be the public safety officer of a military installation, responsible for the provision of fire, gate security, and...

 John H. Winder

John H. Winder

John Henry Winder was a career United States Army officer who served with distinction during the Mexican War...

.

Botts published his memoirs, The Great Rebellion: Its Secret History, Rise, Progress, and Disastrous Failure (1866).

Botts was a delegate to the Southern Loyalists' Convention in 1866 before his death on January 8, 1869 in Culpeper, Virginia

Culpeper, Virginia

Culpeper is an incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,664 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Culpeper County. Culpeper is part of the Culpeper Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Culpeper County. Both the Town of Culpeper and...

. He was interred in the Shockoe Hill Cemetery

Shockoe Hill Cemetery

The Shockoe Hill Cemetery is a historic cemetery located on Shockoe Hill in Richmond, Virginia.-History:Established in 1820, with the initial burial in 1822, Shockoe Hill Cemetery was the first city-owned municipal burial ground in Richmond. The cemetery expanded in 1833, 1850, and 1870, but now is...

 in Richmond, next to his son Archibald, who died in 1847 while serving with the U.S. Army in Mexico. John's grave marker reads: "He was under all circumstances an inflexible friend of the American Union. 'I know no North, no South, no East, no West. I know only my Country, my whole Country, and nothing but my Country.'"

External links

• My Inwood 1847 Richmond letter mentioning Botts
• John Botts at Find A Grave
  Find A Grave
  Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...
  
  
• John Minor Botts in Union or Secession: Virginians Decide at the Library of Virginia
  Library of Virginia
  The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia, its archival agency, and the reference library at the seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and is located at 800 East Broad Street, 2 blocks from the Virginia State...
  
  
• "Auburn," the Botts estate in Culpeper, Va.