After admission to the Virginia bar in 1830, Botts moved to
Henrico County, Virginia, outside Richmond. He operated a plantation called "Half Sink" on the
Chickahominy River about nine miles north of downtown Richmond. He used the progressive agricultural methods advocated in the 'Southern Planter', as well as slave labor. Botts also raised racehorses and practiced law.
Political career Botts lost his first run for political office in 1831, but won the following year and represented Henrico County in the
Virginia House of Delegates from 1833 to 1839. In 1835, he seemed to lose to William B. Randolph, but successfully challenged the results in court. In 1836, he again appeared to lose, to William N. Whiting, but again won a court challenge and was seated. After this defeat, Botts continued to publish letters and articles opposing Texas' annexation. Botts won election to Congress again in 1846, serving from 1847 to 1849. He was chairman of the
Committee on Military Affairs from 1847 to 1849, using it to support the Army (in which his son fought and died) rather than to oppose the war. Botts again lost his reelection bid in 1848, but he was elected again in 1850. Botts also served as one of six delegates representing the city of Richmond and the counties of
Charles City,
Henrico, and
New Kent in the
Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851. There, Botts chaired the committee on the Bill of Rights and argued for abolishing the death penalty and imprisonment for debt, as well as for extending the franchise and giving more voice to Western Virginians. He also proposed requiring that before any
manumission of a slave, the owner must either arrange for the person's travel out of the state or secure legislative permission to remain in the state. With the support of
Anna Ella Carroll, Botts attempted to unite the Know Nothing party with the new Republican party, but failed to win the support of either as a presidential candidate in 1860. During the presidential election of 1860, Botts aligned with the
United States Constitutional Union Party and supported
John Bell. Though Bell was outpolled nationally by both the winning candidate Republican
Abraham Lincoln and the Northern Democrat
Stephen A. Douglas, Botts continued to support the principles of the Constitutional Union party. Even Carroll before her death acknowledged Botts was too outspoken and brusque to attract enough support. Through the war, Botts refused to fight against Virginia, but remained in the Commonwealth. On March 2, 1862, Richmond's
Confederate provost marshal John H. Winder jailed Botts and fellow Unionist
Franklin Stearns without trial for espousing Unionist positions after the Confederacy suspended the right of habeas corpus. About 150 people were eventually picked up, and Stearns was later placed under house arrest in his Richmond warehouse, where his family could care for him. Botts stated that while he was in captivity Captain George W. Alexander attempted to persuade him to join the Confederate army as a brigadier general in exchange for his freedom. Botts spent eight weeks in solitary confinement. He was released after promising not to publish any more incendiary letters, and in January 1863 moved to a plantation he had won gambling,
Auburn, in
Culpeper County,
Virginia, where Botts entertained both Union and Confederate officers at various times. Botts had promised he would move away from Richmond to ensure his pardon.
Postwar In 1864, the rump general assembly at Alexandria attempted to elect Botts to the U.S. Senate, but he declined. On the night of President Lincoln's assassination, several men arrived at his house and attempted to rob Botts after he answered their knock, but he closed the door in their faces. In May 1866, Botts presided over a Unionist convention, and became a delegate to the Southern Loyalists' Convention in Philadelphia later that year, where he argued against universal manhood suffrage. Botts proposed
gradual emancipation of slaves, and would allow only some African Americans to vote. However, Radical Republicans defeated the Southern Unionists, and the
Reconstruction Era began. Botts was defeated when he ran to become a delegate to Virginia's Constitutional Convention of 1867-1868, eventually led by
John Curtiss Underwood. Botts last addressed Republicans in February 1868. ==Death==