William Allen Robertson (October 22, 1837 – October 26, 1899) was

President of the Louisiana State Senate The President of the Louisiana State Senate is the highest-ranking member of the Louisiana State Senate. The president convenes the session and calls members to order, and can designate another state senator as the presiding officer. The Louisia ...

and Acting Lieutenant Governor for two and a half months in 1881. He was born in Connecticut in 1837.

Political career

Robertson was a state senator representing St. Landry Parish. During the

1876 presidential election The 1876 United States presidential election was the 23rd quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1876, in which Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee Rutherford B. Haye ...

, Robertson, a prominent supporter of Democratic nominee

Samuel J. Tilden Samuel Jones Tilden (February 9, 1814 – August 4, 1886) was an American politician who served as the 25th Governor of New York and was the Democratic candidate for president in the disputed 1876 United States presidential election. Tilden was ...

, was accused of offering a bribe of $200,000 to federal election officials to fraudulently deliver Louisiana's electoral votes for the Democrats. Robertson was serving as President of the Senate when Governor

Louis A. Wiltz Louis Alfred Wiltz (January 21, 1843 – October 16, 1881) was an American politician from the state of Louisiana. He served as 29th Governor of Louisiana from 1880 to 1881 and before that time was mayor of New Orleans, lieutenant governor of L ...

died in 1881. Lieutenant Governor

Samuel D. McEnery Samuel Douglas McEnery (May 28, 1837 – June 28, 1910) served as the List of Governors of Louisiana, 30th Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana, with service from 1881 until 1888. He was subsequently a United States Senate, U.S. senator f ...

assumed the Governorship and Robertson became the Acting Lieutenant Governor. He was removed as President of the Senate and Acting Lieutenant Governor by a vote of that body on Dec. 24, 1881 and was replaced by Senator George L. Walton. Robertson was not reelected to the Louisiana Senate in 1884. He died at his home in 1889."Dr. W. A. Robertson", ''The Lafayette Advertiser,'' Saturday, November 02, 1889, Lafayette, Louisiana, United States Of America He is buried in Metairie Cemetery.

References

Lieutenant Governors of Louisiana Democratic Party Louisiana state senators Place of birth missing Place of death missing 1837 births 1889 deaths 19th-century American politicians People from South Windsor, Connecticut People from Washington, Louisiana {{Louisiana-politician-stub