William H. Robertson

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William H. Robertson.
William H. Robertson.

William H. Robertson (1823-98) was an American politician, born at Bedford, Westchester Co., N. Y. He received an academic education, studied law, and began practice in his native town. His political career began in 1849 with his election as a Whig to the State Assembly. In 1854 he was elected to the State Senate and in the same year was elected county judge of Westchester County and remained on the bench until 1866. He allied himself with the Republican party at its organization, was a presidential elector in 1860, and in 1866 was elected a member of the Fortieth Congress. From 1872 to 1881 he was again a member of the State Senate. In 1881 he was appointed collector of the port of New York by President Garfield, whose nomination he had helped secure by leading a part of the New York delegation at the national convention of 1880 to desert the Grant column. Robertson's nomination to the collectorship, made without consulting the wishes of the two Republican Senators, Roscoe Conkling and Thomas C. Platt, and, according to their claims, in violation of the President's pledge, was confirmed by the Senate, but it led to the resignation of the two Senators and resulted in a serious party split. In the bitter struggle between the Stalwart and the Half-Breed factions which followed, Robertson was active in the campaign that resulted in the election of new Senators in the place of Conkling and Platt. Robertson held the collectorship until 1885, when he resumed his law practice. In 1888 he was again elected to the State Senate.

[edit] Publications

  • Autobiography of Thomas Collier Platt (edited by L. J. Lang, New York, 1910)