William A. Robertson

{{Short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder |name=Dr. W. A. Robertson |image= |caption= |order= |office=[[List of Lieutenant Governors of Louisiana|Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana]]<br>& [[President of the Louisiana State Senate]] |term=October 16, 1881–December 24, 1881 |governor=[[Samuel D. McEnery]] |predecessor=Samuel D. McEnery |successor=[[George L. Walton]] |office2=State Senator for St. Landry Parish |term2=1871–1884 |birth_name=William Allen Robertson |birth_date={{Birth date|1837|10|22}} |birth_place=[[South Windsor, Connecticut]] |death_date= {{Death date and age|1889|10|26|1837|10|22}} |death_place=near [[Washington, Louisiana]] |spouse= |children= |profession= Physician, surgeon |alma_mater=[[University of Louisiana at Lafayette|University of Louisiana]] |party= [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] |footnotes= }} '''William Allen Robertson''' (October 22, 1837 – October 26, 1889) was [[President of the Louisiana State Senate]] and the acting [[lieutenant governor of Louisiana]] 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]], Robertson, a prominent supporter of [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] nominee [[Samuel J. Tilden]], was accused of offering a bribe of $200,000 to federal election officials to fraudulently deliver Louisiana's electoral votes for the Democrats.<ref>{{cite journal | title = A Congressman Confused| journal = New York Times | date = 2 March 1877 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1877/02/03/80364881.pdf | access-date = 2 May 2009 }}</ref>

Robertson was serving as President of the Senate when Governor [[Louis A. Wiltz]] died in 1881. Lieutenant Governor [[Samuel D. McEnery]] 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]].<ref>{{cite journal | title = The Louisiana Senate| journal = New York Times | date = 25 December 1881 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1881/12/25/103612044.pdf | access-date = 2 May 2009 }}</ref>

Robertson was not reelected to the Louisiana Senate in 1884.

He died at his home in 1889.<ref>"Dr. W. A. Robertson", ''The Lafayette Advertiser,'' Saturday, November 02, 1889, Lafayette, Louisiana, United States Of America</ref> He is buried in Metairie Cemetery.

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=[[List of Lieutenant Governors of Louisiana|Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana]]<br/>[[W.A. Robertson|William A. Robertson (D)]]<br> (''Acting'') | before=[[Samuel D. McEnery|Samuel D. McEnerny (D)]] | after=[[George L. Walton|George L. Walton (D)]] | years=October 16, 1881–December 24, 1881}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, William A.}} [[Category:Lieutenant governors of Louisiana]] [[Category:Democratic Party Louisiana state senators]] [[Category:Place of birth missing]] [[Category:Place of death missing]] [[Category:1837 births]] [[Category:1889 deaths]] [[Category:People from South Windsor, Connecticut]] [[Category:People from Washington, Louisiana]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature]]