Robert M. Charlton

{{short description|American politician}} {{other people||Robert Charleton}} {{redirect|Senator Charlton|the Texas State Senate member|Napoleon Bonaparte Charlton}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Robert Milledge Charlton |image = Robert Milledge Charlton.jpg |jr/sr1 = United States Senator |state1 = [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] |term_start1 = May 31, 1852 |term_end1 = March 3, 1853 |predecessor1 = [[John M. Berrien]] |successor1 = [[Robert Toombs]] | order2 = 27th | office2 = mayor of Savannah, Georgia | term_start2 = 1839 | term_end2 = 1841 | predecessor2 = [[Matthew Hall McAllister]] | successor2 = [[William Thorne Williams]] |office3 = Member of the [[Georgia House of Representatives]] |term3 = 1828 |birth_date = {{birth date|1807|1|19}} |birth_place = [[Savannah, Georgia]] |death_date = {{death date and age|1854|1|18|1807|1|19}} |death_place = [[Savannah, Georgia]] |resting_place = [[Laurel Grove Cemetery]] |party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] }} '''Robert Milledge Charlton''' (January 19, 1807{{spaced ndash}}January 18, 1854) was an American politician and [[jurist]]. He served as a [[United States Senate|Senator]] representing [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] from 1852 to 1853.

Charlton was born in [[Savannah, Georgia]], on January 19, 1807, to [[Thomas Charlton (mayor)|Thomas Charlton]], future two-time mayor of Savannah, and Emily Walter. His mother died before he reached the age of two.<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 6 |publisher=Lewis Publishing Company |year=1917 |pages=3055}}</ref> A lawyer by training, Charlton served in various positions at the city and state level in addition to his U.S. Senate term. He was a member of the [[Georgia House of Representatives]] (1828), and he was appointed and subsequently elected a judge of the Eastern Circuit of Georgia in 1832. Charlton was also appointed as a [[United States District Attorney]].

He was appointed as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of [[John M. Berrien]]. Charlton had previously served as the mayor of Savannah from 1839 to 1841. Charlton's father, [[Thomas Charlton (mayor)|Thomas Usher Pulaski Charlton]], had previously served as the appointed mayor of Savannah in 1815 and again in 1819.

In 1829 Robert Charlton married Margaret Shick. Charlton ward, Savannah and [[Charlton County, Georgia]] are named after him. Charlton died in Savannah on January 18, 1854, the day before his 47th birthday, and is buried in [[Laurel Grove Cemetery]] in that city.

He was also a slave owner. In 1830, he owned 3 slaves.<ref>{{cite census | url = | title = 1830 United States Census| year = 1830| location = Oglethorpe Ward, Savannah, Chatham, Georgia| roll = | page = | line = | enumdist = | filmnum = | nafilm = | accessdate = 6 March 2016}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=May 2022}} In 1840, he owned 14 slaves.<ref>{{cite census | url = | title = 1840 United States Census| year = 1840| location = Savannah, Chatham, Georgia| roll = | page = | line = | enumdist = | filmnum = | nafilm = | accessdate = 6 March 2016}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=May 2022}} In 1850, he owned 13 slaves.<ref>{{cite census | url = https://archive.org/stream/7thcensus0089unit#page/n79/mode/2up| title = 1850 United States Census, Slave Schedules| year = 1850| location = District 13, Chatham, Georgia| roll = | page = | line = | enumdist = | filmnum = | nafilm = | accessdate = 6 March 2016}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=May 2022}}

Charlton's great-great grandson was Savannah preservationist [[Walter Hartridge]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Walter C. Hartridge - Georgia Historical Society |url=https://www.georgiahistory.com/bio/walter-c-hartridge/#:~:text=Hartridge%20was%20president%20of%20the,of%20the%20Cathedral%20of%20St. |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=Georgia Historical Society |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category-inline}} {{CongBio|C000324}} *[http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ga/chatham/bios/gbs136charlton.txt Chatham County GaArchives Biographies.....Charlton, Robert Milledge 1807 - 1854] *[http://www.camdencounty.org/history/charlton_county.html Camden County, Georgia history] *[http://www.liveoakpl.org/PDF/MayorsOfSavannah.pdf Live Oak Public Library list of mayors of Savannah, Georgia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041018171429/http://www.liveoakpl.org/PDF/MayorsOfSavannah.pdf |date=October 18, 2004 }} *[http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/georgiabooks/do-pdf:gb5098 Poems by Robert M. Charlton, and Thomas J. Charlton, M.D.; with an appendix, containing the Eulogy on Doctor Cumming, and a Historical Lecture on Sergeant Jasper by Robert M. Charlton] *[http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/zlna/id:tcc603 Letter, 1837 Apr. 17, Darien, Georgia to Governor William Schley, Milledgeville, Georgia, / Robert M. Charlton]{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-sen}} {{U.S. Senator box | state=Georgia | class=2 | alongside=[[William Crosby Dawson|William C. Dawson]] | before=[[John M. Berrien|John MacPherson Berrien]] | after= [[Robert Toombs]] | years= May 31, 1852 – March 3, 1853 }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlton, Robert Milledge}} [[Category:1807 births]] [[Category:1854 deaths]] [[Category:Burials at Laurel Grove Cemetery]] [[Category:Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives]] [[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers]] [[Category:Mayors of Savannah, Georgia]] [[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:United States attorneys for the District of Georgia]] [[Category:19th-century Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges]] [[Category:19th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:United States senators who owned slaves]] [[Category:19th-century United States senators]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly]]