Robert Craig (representative) explained

Robert Craig
State:Virginia
District:17th
Term Start:March 4, 1835
Term End:March 3, 1841
Predecessor:Samuel M. Moore
Successor:Alexander H. H. Stuart
Office1:Chairman of the House Committee on Revolutionary Claims
Term Start1:1837
Term End1:1840
Predecessor1:Henry A. P. Muhlenberg
Successor1:Hiland Hall
State2:Virginia
District2:20th
Term Start2:March 4, 1829
Term End2:March 3, 1833
Predecessor2:John Floyd
Successor2:John J. Allen
Office3:Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Montgomery County
Term3:1825-1828
Term4:1817-1818
Birth Date:1792
Birth Place:Christiansburg, Virginia
Death Place:"Green Hill," Salem, Virginia
Party:Democratic Party (1825-1828, 1835-onward)
Jacksonian (1829-1832)
Alma Mater:Lewisburg Academy
Washington College
Profession:planter

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

Biography

Born near Christiansburg, Virginia, Craig attended Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia. He graduated from Lewisburg Academy in Greenbrier County (now West Virginia).

After graduating, Craig engaged in agriculture, before being elected to and serving in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1817 and 1818. He worked as a member of the Virginia Board of Public Works from 1820–1823, before being elected again to the Virginia House, serving 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 1837 to 1840, but did not seek renomination in 1840.

Craig moved to Roanoke County, Virginia in 1842 and resumed agricultural pursuits. He was elected again to the State House of delegates, serving one term, from 1850–1852.

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