John Botts

He operated a plantation called "Half Sink" on the Chickahominy River in Varina Farms area about nine miles east of downtown Richmond.Although a slaveholder, Botts vehemently opposed extension of slavery into territories, and blamed Democrat John C. Calhoun for increasing sectional animosities by trying to annex Texas [citation needed].On July 18, 1842, Botts introduced a resolution that levied several charges against President John Tyler and called for a nine-member committee to investigate his behavior, with the expectation of a formal impeachment recommendation.There, Botts chaired the committee on the Bill of Rights and argued for abolishing the death penalty and imprisonment for debt, as well as for extending the franchise and giving more voice to Western Virginians.[5] Though Bell was outpolled nationally by both the winning candidate Republican Abraham Lincoln and the Northern Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, Botts continued to support the principles of the Constitutional Union party.[1] He retired to his Henrico County farm after Virginia declared its secession in the American Civil War, but continued to write letters to newspaper editors and remained uncompromisingly Unionist in his sentiments.Botts stated that while he was in captivity Captain George W. Alexander attempted to persuade him to join the Confederate army as a brigadier general in exchange for his freedom.He was released after promising not to publish any more incendiary letters, and in January 1863 moved to a plantation he had won gambling, Auburn, in Culpeper County, Virginia, where Botts entertained both Union and Confederate officers at various times.On the night of President Lincoln's assassination, several men arrived at his house and attempted to rob Botts after he answered their knock, but he closed the door in their faces.