Robert Craig (representative)

Robert Craig (1792 – November 25, 1852) was a long time member of the Virginia House of Representatives and United States House of Representatives, serving many terms in both bodies. Craig County, Virginia is named so in his honor.

Biography

Born near Christiansburg, Virginia, Craig attended Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia, and graduated from Lewisburg Academy in Greenbrier County (now West Virginia). After graduating, Craig engaged in planting, before being elected to and serving in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1817 and 1818. He worked as member of the Virginia Board of Public Works from 1820–1823, before returning the Virginia House from 1825–1829.

Craig was elected as a Jacksonian Democrat to the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Congresses (March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1833). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1832, so he resumed agricultural pursuits.

Craig was elected again as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress and reelected as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1841). He served as chairman of the "Committee on Revolutionary Claims" from 1835 to 1840, but did not seek renomination in 1840. Craig moved to Roanoke County, Virginia in 1842 and resumed agricultural pursuits, before again becoming a member of the State house of delegates from 1850–1852.

He died on his estate, "Green Hill," near Salem, Virginia, on November 25, 1852, and was interred in the family burying ground there.

Sources

• United States Congress. "Robert Craig (id: C000859)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.