Author: Astrop, Robert Francis
Biography:
ASTROP, Robert Francis (c. 1814-68: ancestry.com)
The title-page of his collection of poems (1835) describes him as a resident of Brunswick County VA. According to a notice in the Daily Dispatch of Richmond VA for 16 Sept. 1868, he served with distinction in the Mexican war, rose to the rank of Colonel, and acted efficiently as a magistrate for Brunswick County, but on Sept. 8 committed suicide with a rebel gun at the age of 55, "laboring under a partial derangement of mind." The full story must have been complicated. He was born in Lunenburg County VA, the son of Henry and Martha (Malone) Astrop. After retiring from the army he lived in Brunswick County as a "miller"--i.e owner of grist- and saw-mills. In 1860 he was resident in the parish of Meherrin VA, recorded in the Census of that year as living with one female slave aged 22 and five children aged between 1 and 7. He appears to have had at least nine children between 1853 and 1869 with two women, probably sisters, Martha Bowen (b 1830) and Narcissa Bowen (b 1822). The two women and five children are also listed as a household in the 1860 Census for Meherrin, with no mention of Astrop. No marriage records have been located and there most probably was no marriage, but the children were recognised in his will. Narcissa was murdered in 1867; no details have as yet been found. (ancestry.com 29 Aug. 2017, 21 May 2026; Daily Dispatch 16 Sept. 1868; information from AA) HJ