George M. Robeson

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Robeson left the U.S. Navy Secretary office in March 1877. Having failed in the U.S. Senate bid, Robeson returned to his law practice in Camden County.

Although Robeson previously served as a state prosecutor, he served on the defense team of Benjamin F. Hunter, who was put on trial for the murder of John M. Armstrong. Hunter had loaned Armstrong, a music publisher, $12,000, and had taken out an insurance policy on Armstrong for $26,000, as collateral. Hunter hired Thomas Graham for $500 to kill Armstrong, so Hunter could collect the insurance policy. Armstrong had also owed money to Ford W. Davis, and Hunter plotted to frame Davis for the murder. While Hunter and Armstrong were approaching Davis' home, in Camden, Graham struck Hunter in the head with a hatchet marked "F.W.D." Graham dropped the hatched, ran away, while Hunter took the hatchet, and continued to strike Armstrong in the head. Armstrong later died in Philadelphia of head wounds. Davis was arrested and held in prison for a few weeks. Davis was released, after Graham confessed to the murder, and Hunter's involvement. Hunter was indicted for murder and put on trial June 10, 1878. Robeson and Hunter's defense team argued that there was no evidence Hunter was in Camden at the time of the murder. The jury, however, after 23 days of the trial, convicted Hunter. The case was appealed and rejected. Hunter was executed on July 10, 1879.

U.S. Congress Representative career (1879–1883)

In 1878, Robeson ran for and was elected to the U.S. Congress and served as a U.S. Congressman representing New Jersey's 1st congressional district from March 4, 1879, until March 3, 1881. He was elected to a second term in 1880, serving from March 4, 1881, to March 3, 1883. Although he was criticized in 1882 for allocating a large surplus to the Navy by the Democratic Puck magazine, historians today acknowledge that the U.S. Navy under President Chester A. Arthur, while Robeson was in office, made significant advancements by having all-steel ships. During the 1882 election, Robeson was defeated by Democrat Thomas M. Ferrell in a bitter campaign that left Robeson $60,000 in debt, and he was forced to sell his Washington D.C. property, including his luxurious mansion. Robeson's political enemy, New Jersey U.S. Senator William J. Sewell, a Republican, was behind the Democrat Ferrell's successful campaign. As a result of the election loss, Robeson moved from Camden to Trenton and established a law practice, having been induced to represent the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

In 1881, Robeson, while he was U.S. Representative, made another bid for U.S. Senator of New Jersey but again was defeated. During Robeson's tenure in the 47th Congress (1881–1883), he served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy.

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