David Fullerton Robison

David Fullerton Robison (May 28, 1816 – June 24, 1859) was an Opposition Party member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. A nephew of Congressman David Fullerton, he was born in Antrim Township, Pennsylvania, near Greencastle, in Franklin County. Growing up in a rural community in south-central Pennsylvania, he was part of a family already connected to public life through his uncle’s earlier congressional service, a connection that helped situate him within the political and professional networks of the region.

Robison attended the public schools of Franklin County, receiving the basic education typical of early nineteenth-century Pennsylvania. As a young man he taught school, an occupation that was both a means of livelihood and a common path for educated men preparing for professional careers. During this period he began the study of law, reading under established practitioners in the traditional apprenticeship model then prevalent in the United States.

After completing his legal studies, Robison was admitted to the bar of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, in 1843. He commenced the practice of law in Chambersburg, the county seat, where he built a professional reputation in a growing market town that served as a local center of commerce, government, and legal affairs. His legal practice placed him in close contact with the civic and political life of the region, and he became identified with the emerging Opposition Party forces that coalesced in the 1850s among former Whigs and other anti-Democratic elements.

Robison was elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress, serving one term in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a member of the Independent Party representing Pennsylvania—an alignment associated with the broader Opposition Party coalition—he contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history marked by intensifying national debates over slavery, sectionalism, and the future of the Union. His service in Congress occurred during the mid-1850s, when the breakdown of the Second Party System and the rise of new political formations, including the Republican Party, reshaped the nation’s political landscape. In this context, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Pennsylvania constituents in the House.

At the conclusion of his term, Robison was not a candidate for renomination. He returned to Chambersburg and resumed the practice of law, continuing his professional career in the community where he had long been established. Although he did not seek further national office, his congressional experience and legal work kept him engaged in public affairs during a time of mounting national tension in the years immediately preceding the Civil War.

Robison’s life was cut short under circumstances that drew national attention. He died in Chambersburg on June 24, 1859, from a disease contracted at a banquet at the National Hotel in Washington, D.C., during the inauguration of President James Buchanan in March 1857. The illness, which affected numerous guests and was widely reported in the press, became known as “National Hotel disease” and was the subject of considerable contemporary speculation. Robison’s health never fully recovered from this episode, and the lingering effects ultimately proved fatal. He was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, returning in death to the community near where he had been born and where his family had long been rooted.