Thomas Bolling Robertson (27 February 1779 – 5 October 1828) was a member of the US House of Representatives from Louisiana's at-large congressional district from 30 April 1812 to 30 April 1818, preceding Thomas Butler, and Governor of Louisiana from 18 December 1820 to 15 November 1824, succeeding Jacques Villere and preceding Henry S. Thibodaux.
Biography[]
Thomas Bolling Robertson was born in Petersburg, Virginia in 1779, and he graduated from the College of William & Mary in 1795 and became a lawyer in 1806. His brothers John Robertson and Wyndham Robertson would also become politicians. In 1806, he moved to Louisiana and served as territorial attorney general under Governor William C.C. Claiborne from 1806 to 1807. From 1812 to 1818, Robertson served in the US House of Representatives as Louisiana's first congressman, affiliating himself with the Democratic-Republican Party. In 1818, he returned to a law career, and he was elected Governor in 1820. Robertson was unpopular, as he failed to take action to solve the sectarian disputes between the local Cajuns and the Dixie settlers, and his proposal to move the capital from New Orleans to Baton Rouge led to riots in New Orleans. He saved face by accepting a federal judgeship in 1824, serving as Judge of the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. He died in 1828.