Felix Robertson
Felix Robertson (1781–1865) was an American pioneer, physician and Jeffersonian Republican politician.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] He served twice as the Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 1818 to 1819 as well as from 1827 to 1829.[1][2][4][5][6][7]
Biography
Early life
Felix Robertson was born on January 11, 1781 at the fort Freeland's Station, which was later commemorated as a neighborhood of Nashville.[1][7] He was born to General James Robertson and his wife Charlotte Reeves Robertson, who had arrived with the first large group of settlers in Middle Tennessee.[3][4][7] He was the first known white child born in the settlement now called Nashville, while his father is regarded as the "Father of Tennessee" in history books.[3][5]
Career
Robertson studied medicine under the direction of Benjamin Rush at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his M.D. degree in 1806.[6][7] He went on to practice medicine in Nashville for forty years.[6] He served as Mayor of Nashville from 1818 to 1819 as well as from 1827–1829.[1][4] He later took part in Robertson's Colony with his cousin Sterling C. Robertson, but they returned to Tennessee.[1][7] He delivered a speech at the 26th annual meeting of the Tennessee Medical Society detailing the early physicians and medical practices in the early settlement of Nashville.[3] He went on to work as a professor of medicine at the Old University of Nashville.[4][5] He served as director of Medical Society of Tennessee from 1834 through 1840 and again in 1853 for two years.[6] He was a close friend and personal doctor of President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845).[6] He worked on his 1828 presidential campaign.[6]
Personal life
He married Lydia Waters on October 9, 1808.[1] They had five sons, James Waters, Benjamin, John E. Beck, Felix (died as infant), and Felix Randolph, and two daughters, Elizabeth, Elnora Reeves.[1] He died on July 10, 1865, and he is buried in the Nashville City Cemetery.[1][3][5][7] His tombstone is inscribed with the epitaph "First white child born in settlement now called Nashville; Distinguished as a physician; Foremost as citizen."[8]
Legacy
His portrait, painted by Washington Bogart Cooper in July 1839, hangs in the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Friends of Metropolitan Archives of Nashville and Davidson County, TN
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nashville Library
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Tennessee Portrait Project
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Jeanette T. Acklen, Tennessee Records: Tombstone Inscriptions and Manuscripts, Genealogical Publishing Com, 2009, p. 7
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 E. D. Thompson, Nashville Nostalgia, Westview Publishing Co., 2003, p. 17
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Nashville City Cemetery, Mayors
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Malcolm D. McLean, "ROBERTSON, FELIX," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fro25), accessed March 25, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
- ↑ Nashville City Cemetery
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Stephen Cantrell, Jr. |
Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee 1818-1819 |
Succeeded by Thomas Crutcher |
| Preceded by Wilkins F. Tannehill |
Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee 1827-1829 |
Succeeded by William Armstrong |