Robert Taylor Thorp (March 12, 1850 – November 26, 1938) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Biography

Born near

Oxford, North Carolina Oxford is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 8,628 as of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Granville County. History The town's history dates to 1761, when local legislator Samuel Benton bui ...

, Thorp attended

Horner Military Academy Horner Military School was a private educational institution in North Carolina that operated from 1851 until 1920. It was founded by James Hunter Horner in 1851 in Oxford, North Carolina as The Horner School. An 1844 graduate of the University ...

, and was graduated from the law department of the

University of Virginia at Charlottesville The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his Academical Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The original governin ...

in 1870. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1870 and commenced practice in

Boydton, Virginia Boydton is a town#Virginia, town in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States. The population was 302 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, and it is near Kerr Lake. Geography Boydton is located at (36.667997, &minus ...

, in 1871. Commonwealth attorney for that county 1877-1895. He successfully contested as a Republican the election of William R. McKenney to the Fifty-fourth Congress and served from May 2, 1896, to March 3, 1897. He successfully contested the election of Sydney P. Epes to the Fifty-fifth Congress and served from March 23, 1898, to March 4, 1899. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1898 to the Fifty-sixth Congress. He moved to

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, and continued the practice of law. He moved to

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

, in 1934 and died November 26, 1938. He was interred in Forest Lawn Cemetery,

Sources

1850 births 1938 deaths Virginia lawyers People from Oxford, North Carolina People from Boydton, Virginia University of Virginia School of Law alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives {{Virginia-politician-stub