Conway Robinson

Conway Robinson (September 15, 1805 – January 30, 1884) was a Virginia lawyer, author, slaveholder and politician aligned with the Democratic Party who represented Richmond, Virginia during the 1852-1853 session of the Virginia House of Delegates. He also served many years on Richmond's City Council and like his brother Moncure Robinson headed the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Petersburg railroad. Early and family life Conway Robinson was born in Richmond, Virginia to Agnes Conway Moncure (1780 – November 15, 1862), whose husband, John Robinson III (February 13, 1773 – April 26, 1850), was clerk and later judge of the circuit court. Both parents were from the First Families of Virginia. The Robinson family presence in Virginia dates to 1688 at New Charles Parish. His mother's father, Peyton Conway, was the clerk of the court in Stafford County, Virginia, and her family also descended from Scots immigrant—Rev. John Moncure (1709-1764), longtime priest of Aquia parish and friend of founding fathers George Washington, George Mason and others. His brothers were Moncure, Cary, Edwin, Conway, Eustace and Moore Robinson, sisters Octavia (1813? – 1880?) and Cornelia. He married Mary Susan Selden, daughter of Benjamin Watkins Leigh, who bore several children. Career Admitted to the Virginia bar, Robinson would argue 100 cases before the Supreme Court, as well as publish many treatises. In the 1840 federal census, a free black woman lived in his household, as well as four slaves. A decade later, Robinson owned eight enslaved people in Richmond.