Robert Selden Garnett 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...

. He was the brother of James M. Garnett

James M. Garnett

James Mercer Garnett was a nineteenth century politician and planter from Virginia. He was the brother of Robert S. Garnett, the first cousin of Charles F. Mercer, and the grandfather of Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett....

 and the first cousin of Charles F. Mercer

Charles F. Mercer

Charles Fenton Mercer was a nineteenth century politician, U.S. Congressman, and lawyer from Loudoun County, Virginia....

.

Born at "Mount Pleasant" near Loretto, Virginia

Loretto, Virginia

Loretto is an unincorporated community in Essex County, in the U.S. state of Virginia....

, Garnett attended the College of New Jersey

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice Lloyds, Virginia. Garnett became a member of 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...

 in 1816 and 1817 and was elected 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 1816, serving from 1817 to 1827 as both a Democratic-Republican

Democratic-Republican Party (United States)

The Democratic-Republican Party or Republican Party was an American political party founded in the early 1790s by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Political scientists use the former name, while historians prefer the latter one; contemporaries generally called the party the "Republicans", along...

 and Jacksonian

Jacksonian democracy

Jacksonian democracy is the political movement toward greater democracy for the common man typified by American politician Andrew Jackson and his supporters. Jackson's policies followed the era of Jeffersonian democracy which dominated the previous political era. The Democratic-Republican Party of...

. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1826 and instead continued to practice law in Lloyds until his death on August 15, 1840 at his estate called "Champlain" in Lloyds. He was interred in the family cemetery on the estate.

He married Charlotte de Gouges, granddaughter of French writer Olympe de Gouges

Olympe de Gouges

Olympe de Gouges , born Marie Gouze, was a French playwright and political activist whose feminist and abolitionist writings reached a large audience....

, and had issue.

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