George Coke Dromgoole | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's2nd district | |
| In office March 4, 1843 – April 27, 1847 | |
| Preceded by | George B. Cary |
| Succeeded by | Richard K. Meade |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's4th district | |
| In office March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1841 | |
| Preceded by | James Gholson |
| Succeeded by | William O. Goode |
| Member of theVirginia Senate fromBrunswick,Dinwiddie andGreensville Counties | |
| In office 1832–1834 | |
| Preceded by | Himself |
| Succeeded by | Richard K. Meade |
| In office 1830 | |
| Preceded by | District established |
| Succeeded by | Himself |
| Member of the Virginia Senate from Brunswick, Dinwiddie,Lunenburg andMecklenburg Counties | |
| In office 1826–1829 | |
| Preceded by | Burwell Goodwyn |
| Succeeded by | District abolished |
| Speaker of the Virginia Senate | |
| In office 1832–1834 | |
| Preceded by | William Holt |
| Succeeded by | Stafford Parker |
| Member of theVirginia House of Delegates from Brunswick County | |
| In office 1823–1825 Alongside Jesse Read,James Gholson | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1797-05-15)May 15, 1797 |
| Died | April 27, 1847(1847-04-27) (aged 49) |
| Resting place | Family cemetery south of theMeherrin River |
| Party | Democratic (after 1837) |
| Other political affiliations | Jacksonian (before 1837) |
| Occupation | lawyer |
GeneralGeorge Coke Dromgoole (May 15, 1797 – April 27, 1847)(nicknamed the "Brunswick Lion") was a nineteenth-century Virginia lawyer, military officer, planter and politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly representing his nativeBrunswick County as well as the U.S. House of Representatives representing firstVirginia's 4th congressional district, thenVirginia's 2nd congressional district.[1] The youngest son of Irish-born pioneer Methodist circuit rider and patriot Edward Dromgoole was also the uncle of CongressmanAlexander Dromgoole Sims of South Carolina.[2]
Born inLawrenceville, the Brunswick County seat, to Rebecca Walton (or Wallton) and her husband, Rev. Edward Dromgoole.[3] His father had been born inSligo County, Ireland in 1751 and trained as a linen weaver, but converted from Roman Catholicism toMethodism (then a sect within the Church of England). This caused discord with his family, so Edward Drumgoole emigrated toFrederick, Maryland by 1770. He worked as a tailor while studying for the ministry under the direction of Irish-born Rev. Robert Strawbridge, who had in 1763 established a religious school inNew Windsor, Maryland.[4] Rev. Drumgoole was originally assigned to the Baltimore Circuit, then the Kent Circuit, but in 1775 became one of four Methodist preachers assigned to the new Brunswick Circuit, covering Southside Virginia and parts of North Carolina. The pioneering Methodist circuit preacher and patriot (who read the Declaration of Independence aloud in North Carolina) married Rebecca Wallton, whom he had converted in 1777, and the couple received a 200 acre farm in Brunswick County as a wedding present from her father. By 1784 Rev. Drumgoole had stopped his extensive circuit riding and concentrated on chapels near his home, as well as operated a store he called "Sligo." However, in the mid 1790s he had financed the construction of a house on another plantation that Rev. Drumgoole renamed "Canaan". Although the sect's founder, Rev.John Wesley opposed slavery (and his first book prohibited preachers from owning other human beings) and his mentor Rev. Strawbridge also opposed slavery, Brunswick County’s first personal property tax list in 1782 listed John Wallton as owning 12 slaves and also taxed Edward Dromgoole based on his owning 7 slaves.[5] George, as the youngest of their six sons and two daughters who survived (two others died as infants), was thus raised in Brunswick County. He received an education appropriate to his class, then read law.[6]
Admitted to the bar, Drumgoole had a private legal practice in southern Virginia and nearby areas of North Carolina. He also served in the local militia, achieving the rank of brigadier general. Drumgoole was notoriously fond of drink (reportedly declining an offer to run for vice president on a ticket withWilliam Henry Harrison in 1840 conditioned upon abstaining from alcohol), and bred racehorses, the most famous of which was "Wagner".[7] In the 1840 census, the last of his lifetime, Drumgoole owned 20 slaves.[8]
Brunswick County voters elected and re-elected Drumgoole to theVirginia House of Delegates, a part-time position, and he served from 1823 to 1826.[9] Drumgoole then won election and re-election to theVirginia Senate, serving from 1826 to 1835. He also served as a delegate to theVirginia Constitutional Convention in 1829. In 1834, Dromgoole, aJacksonian andDemocrat defeated Whig James H. Gholson to represent Virginia's 4th congressional district in theUnited States House of Representatives, serving from 1835 to 1841.[10]
He declined to run for reelection in 1840, reportedly because in early November 1837, Drumgoole shot Daniel Dugger, the owner of a Lawrenceville hotel, in a duel, and Dugger died 21 days later. Although Drumgoole again handily defeated Gholson and won re-election to Congress in 1837, many complained that Dugger had been urged into the duel unfairly. Thus Drumgoole declined to stand for re-election in 1840, made temperance pledges in 1843 and 1844, and financially supported Dugger's widow and educated Duggar's sons, Macon and John (the latter of whom may have represented Brunswick County in the Virginia House of Delegates immediately after the Civil War).[11]
In 1842, Drumgoole was again elected to serve in Congress, this time from Virginia's 2nd congressional district, initially defeating Whig William Robertson and later twice defeateing Whig George W. Bolling. He thus served from 1843 until his death on April 27, 1847, at his estate inBrunswick County, Virginia.
Drumgoole was interred in the family cemetery south of theMeherrin River. Dromgoole also has acenotaph atCongressional Cemetery inWashington, D.C.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 4th congressional district 1835–1841 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 2nd congressional district 1843–1847 | Succeeded by |
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