David Fullerton Robison (May 28, 1816 – June 24, 1859) was an

Opposition Party In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government (or, in American English, the administration), party or group in political control of a city, region, state, coun ...

member of the

U.S. House of Representatives 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

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Early life

David F. Robison (nephew of David Fullerton) was born in

Antrim Township, Pennsylvania Antrim Township is a township in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 15,778 at the 2020 census, an increase over the figure of 12,504 tabulated in 2000. It was named after County Antrim in Northern Ireland. History ...

, near

Greencastle, Pennsylvania Greencastle is a borough in Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,251 at the 2020 census. Greencastle lies within the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania. History Indigenous People The region known to ...

. He attended the public schools, taught school, studied law, was admitted to the

Franklin County, Pennsylvania Franklin County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 155,932. Its county seat is Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Cha ...

, bar in 1843 and commenced practice in

Chambersburg Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the Ma ...

United States House of Representatives

Robison was elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination and continued to practice law in Chambersburg, where he died in 1859, from a disease contracted at a banquet at the National Hotel in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, during the inauguration of President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

. The illness was known as

National Hotel disease The National Hotel epidemic was a mysterious sickness that began to afflict persons who stayed at the National Hotel (Washington, D.C.), National Hotel in Washington, D.C., in early January 1857."The Washington Epidemic", ''New York Daily Times'' ...

. He was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Greencastle.

Sources

David Fullerton Robison entry
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

1816 births 1859 deaths Politicians from Franklin County, Pennsylvania Opposition Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers 19th-century American lawyers Deaths from dysentery 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub