John Brockenbrough (1775–1852) was a business man and civic leader in Richmond, Virginia. He was president of the

Bank of Virginia Cordia Bancorp Inc (formerly trading as NCM:'BVA'') was a bank holding company for the Midlothian, VA-based Bank of Virginia. Before being acquired by First Citizens Bank, Cordia Bancorp operated six full-service banking branches around the Richmon ...

. His home in Richmond's

Court End 250px, 1000 block E. Clay Street Court End is a neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, that sits to the north of the Capitol Square and East Broad Street. It developed in the Federal era, after Virginia's capital moved from Williamsburg. Boun ...

District later served as the

White House of the Confederacy The White House of the Confederacy is a historic house located in the Court End neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. Built in 1818, it was the main executive residence of the sole President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, ...

Career

Brockenbrough received his M.D. from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in Scotland in 1795. He returned to his native

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in April 1797 and married Gabriella Harvie Randolph, the widow of

Thomas Mann Randolph Sr. Thomas Mann Randolph Sr. (1741–November 13, 1793) served in the Virginia House of Burgesses, the Revolutionary conventions of 1775 and 1776, and the Virginia state legislature. Married twice, he fathered 15 children. One marriage was to a cousi ...

Brockenbrough did not actively practice medicine but was involved in civic and business enterprises. In 1835, Brockenbrough was elected a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Brockenbrough House, White House of the Confederacy

In 1818, John Brockenbrough commissioned the building of a large residence. The house was built on two adjoining lots overlooking the Shockoe Valley. It is typically attributed to Robert Mills, a prominent American neo-classical architect and acquaintance of John Brockenbrough. The home, typical of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

's finer early nineteenth-century dwellings, was two stories tall with a slate flat roof. The principal floor featured a parlor, drawing room and dining room, while the bedrooms were upstairs. A kitchen and servants’ residence were located in an adjoining outbuilding. A garden was built. In 1861, the Brockenbrough House, as it was then known, became the Executive Mansion of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

, which became known as the

. It was the official residence of President Jefferson Davis, his wife Varina and their children, the house was also the social, political and military center of the Confederacy during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

(1861–1865). After use for a number of years as a school, the Confederate Museum opened on February 22, 1896 in the former White House of the Confederacy. Today, the gray stuccoed Brockenbrough House has been preserved as a

National Historical Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

and is part of the Museum of the Confederacy complex 3 blocks north of the

Virginia State Capitol The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. (The first two were Jamestown and Williamsburg.) It houses the oldest elected ...

in Richmond.

References

1775 births 1852 deaths Businesspeople from Richmond, Virginia Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Brockenbrough family of Virginia {{1770s-US-business-bio-stub