James Herbert Gholson (1798July 2, 1848) was a nineteenth-century congressman, planter, lawyer and judge from Virginia.
Early and family life
Born in Gholsonville, Brunswick County, Virginia to William Gholson and his wife Mary Saunders. He had a brother Thomas Saunders Gholson. Gholson was educated by tutors, then attended Princeton College and graduated in 1820. He married Charlotte L. Carey in Southampton, Virginia on November 22, 1827.
Career
He studied law and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in Percivals, Virginia. By 1830, his household included five white persons and 25 enslaved persons.
His uncle Thomas Gholson Jr. who died in 1816 had represented Brunswick County in the Virginia General Assembly and later the U.S. House of Representatives, and James Herbert Gholson soon carried on the family tradition. Voters elected him as one of their part-time representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served from 1824 to 1828 and again from 1830 until 1833, when he was elected to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Congressman John Claiborne. Sixty percent were the enslaved Brunswick County. He spoke about Nat Turner in Virginia General Assembly.
