Robert Murphy Mayo

Robert Murphy Mayo (April 28, 1836 - March 29, 1896) was a U.S. Representative from Virginia.

Born in Hague, Virginia, Mayo attended private schools and William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia.He was graduated from Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, Virginia in 1858.He served as an instructor in mathematics at Mount Pleasant Military Academy, Sing Sing (now Ossining), New York, and later at Virginia Military Institute.

He studied law at Lexington Law School in 1858 and 1859.

He served throughout the Civil War in the Confederate States Army, first as major and later as colonel of the 47th Regiment of Virginia. At the Battle of Gettysburg he assumed command of James L. Kemper's Brigade after Kemper was wounded during Pickett's Charge.

He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Hague, VA, in 1865. He then served as member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1881, 1882, and 1885-1888.

Mayo was presented credentials as a Readjuster Member-elect to the Forty-eighth United States Congress and served from March 4, 1883, to March 20, 1884, when he was succeeded by George T. Garrison, who contested the election.He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection. He resumed the practice of law upon returning to Virginia. He died in Hague, VA on March 29, 1896 and was interred in Yeocomico Cemetery, Tucker Hill, Virginia.

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