[1] Brockenbrough had a private legal practice in Essex and surrounding counties, and before the state's highest court in Richmond.

He became a noted advocate of state's rights, and also published articles under the pseudonym Aristogitan which were critical of fellow Richmonder John Marshall, particularly the 1819 decision in McCulloch v.

[1] Brockenbrough's political career began in 1802–03, when Essex County voters elected him as one of their representatives in the House of Delegates.

[7] His relationship to a family of six free black people in King and Queen County with the same surname is unclear.

Judith Brockenbrough's initials are scratched on a windowpane in an upstairs bedroom at Mount Vernon.