No known portrait of Brodnax exists in public archives. His signature appears below, from an 1825 edition of Greenleaf on Evidence.

Birth Date Note

Brodnax’s exact birth date is uncertain. Most biographical sources, including Encyclopedia Virginia, give ca. 1786. However, his tombstone in the Kingston family cemetery clearly reads “BORN March 4th 1791.” The earlier year (ca. 1786) is generally accepted by historians.

Early Life and Education

William Henry Brodnax was born about 1786 in Brunswick County, Virginia, son of William Brodnax, a prominent lawyer, and Frances Belfield Walker Brodnax. Around 1804–1805 he attended Hampden-Sydney College, studying law and classical subjects, but did not graduate. He finished his legal training in Petersburg and quickly built a successful practice in Brunswick, Dinwiddie, and Greensville counties.

In 1830, shortly before his death, Hampden-Sydney College conferred upon him an honorary Master of Arts degree recognizing his rising prominence as a lawyer, militia general, and Virginia legislator.

Family and Plantation Life

He married Ann Eliza Withers and lived at the 1,600-acre Kingston plantation in Dinwiddie County, where he held a life interest in over 100 enslaved persons. The couple had four sons and two daughters. His detailed 1828 will (probated December 1834) provided for his family’s support and education and named executors including John Grammer Jr., Thomas Withers, and his son David.

Military and Political Career

Appointed brigadier general of the Virginia militia in 1824, Brodnax escorted the Marquis de Lafayette that year and commanded troops during the suppression of Nat Turner’s Rebellion in 1831. He served in the House of Delegates (1818–1819, 1830–1833), was a presidential elector in 1824, and represented his district at the 1829–1830 Constitutional Convention.

Views on Slavery and Abolitionism

Although a slaveholder, Brodnax became one of the most outspoken critics of slavery’s effects on Virginia following Nat Turner’s 1831 rebellion. On January 19, 1832, he delivered a powerful speech in the House of Delegates, describing slavery as “a mildew upon the fields of industry” and “the incubus which paralyzes her energies.” He argued that free African Americans posed an even greater danger than the enslaved population and urged the legislature to fund gradual removal of both free blacks and newly manumitted slaves to Africa.

Full text of the 1832 speech (embedded from Internet Archive):

Death and Burial

William H. Brodnax died of cholera at Kingston plantation on October 23, 1834, aged about 48. He is buried in the Locust Grove Cemetery, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. His gravestone reads:
GENˡ. WILLIAM H. BRODNAX
BORN March 4th 1791,
DIED Octʳ. 23ʳᵈ 1834.
To our Father who taught us how to live and how to die.

Sources

• Will of Gen. Wm. H. Broadnax – USGenWeb Dinwiddie Co.
• Encyclopedia Virginia – William H. Brodnax (ca. 1786–1834)
• Locust Grove Cemetery transcription – USGenWeb Archives
• Speech of William H. Brodnax (1832) – Internet Archive
• Find a Grave Memorial – Gen William Henry Brodnax

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Disclaimer

This biographical sketch was prepared by Grok for Ed Olsen, Coordinator of the Dinwiddie County USGenWeb site. Ed Olsen has reviewed and verified the content for accuracy and relevance to the site's mission.