Hugh Alfred Garland (June 1, 1805 – October 14, 1854) was an American slaveholder, lawyer and politician. He served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

. In 1838 to 1841 he served as clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Garland was a staunch supporter of

slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Sl ...

, and he led the defense for

Dred Scott Dred Scott (c. 1799 – September 17, 1858) was an Slavery in the United States, enslaved African Americans, African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet Robinson Scott, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for freedom for themselves and thei ...

's owner,

John F. A. Sanford John Francis Alexander Sanford (1806–1857) was a frontiersman of the American west who worked with Native American tribes as an Indian agent. He later joined Pierre Chouteau Jr. in a fur trapping and trading business. He extended his inter ...

, in the case of ''

Dred Scott v. Sandford ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'', 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, enslaved or free; th ...

'', but died three years before the case was argued before the United States Supreme Court.

Early life

Garland was born to Alexander Spotswood Garland and Lucinda Rose on June 1, 1805, in

Nelson County, Virginia Nelson County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,775. Its county seat is Lovingston. Nelson County is part of the Charlottesville, VA Metropolitan Statistic ...

. Lucinda Rose is daughter of Frances Taylor adisonRose, who brother is James Madison. He is the father of Confederate Colonel Hugh A. Garland Jr., brother of

Landon Garland Landon Cabell Garland (1810–1895), an American, was professor of physics and history and university president three times at different Southern Universities (Randolph Macon, Alabama, Vanderbilt) while living in the Southern United States for hi ...

, the uncle of

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Samuel Garland Jr., and the great-nephew of

United States Founding Father The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...

and

fourth President of the United States James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

. He was educated at Hampden Sydney College, where he taught briefly. During his time at Hampden-Sydney College he delivered an address to the literary societies about the importance of classical education. Garland then studied law at the University of Virginia.

Career

Garland practiced the law in

Boydton, Virginia Boydton is a town in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States. The population was 431 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, and it is near Kerr Lake. Geography Boydton is located at (36.667997, −78.389001). ...

, where his brother

was a professor at Randolph Macon College. During that time, Garland's wife, Anne Burwell Garland, ran a female seminary. The house where they lived and operated the school is still extant. In 1833, Garland was elected to the

. Later in 1838 to 1841 he served as clerk of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, partly because of his staunch support of President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

's anti-bank policies while Garland was in the Virginia legislature. In 1839 he published a defense of the Democratic Party in the ''Democratic Review''. In September 1840, Garland addressed a meeting of Democrats in

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...

, and attacked abolitionists. After this he was known as the champion of the "Northern Man with Southern feelings." In 1845 he delivered an oration commemorating Andrew Jackson in Petersburg, Virginia, where he was practicing law. Changing fortunes following law practice in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...

, led to a move in 1847 to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, where he was a lawyer for

's owner. He and Lyman Decatur Norris were retained by the pro-slavery owner, Irene Emerson. Ten slaves were in Hugh Garland in federal census in 1850 in Missouri. Anne Burwell Garland, his wife, owned

Elizabeth Keckley Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (February 1818 – May 1907) was an American seamstress, activist, and writer who lived in Washington, D.C. She was best known as the personal dressmaker and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln. Born into slavery, she was ow ...

. The widow Mrs. Garland freed Elizabeth Keckley and her son in 1855 for $1200. The half-sister of Mrs. Garland, who later became close to

Mary Todd Lincoln Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (December 13, 1818July 16, 1882) served as First Lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Mary Lincoln was a member of a large and wealthy, slave-owning ...

, and wrote a memoir about her time in slavery. Garland is remembered for a two-volume biography of

John Randolph of Roanoke John Randolph (June 2, 1773May 24, 1833), commonly known as John Randolph of Roanoke,''Roanoke'' refers to Roanoke Plantation in Charlotte County, Virginia, not to the city of the same name. was an American planter, and a politician from Virg ...

. The southern intellectual historian Michael O'Brien interprets Garland's biography of Randolph as influenced by the Romantic tradition and suggests that Garland made Randolph into a figure of the Romantic era. Garland also published ''Protestantism and Government'' (1852).

Death and legacy

Garland died unexpectedly in St. Louis on October 14, 1854, at age 49. Garland's son, Hugh Alfred Garland Jr., (1837-1864) was appointed a colonel of the consolidated 1st-4th Missouri Infantry Regiment in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. He died in 1864 in the Battle of Franklin.Keckley, Elizabeth
"Behind the scenes, or, Thirty years a slave and four years in the White House", by Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley; G.W. Carleton & Co.; New York, NY, US; 1868.]

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garland, Hugh A. 1854 deaths 1805 births People from Nelson County, Virginia Hampden–Sydney College alumni University of Virginia alumni American slave owners American proslavery activists People from Boydton, Virginia American white supremacists 19th-century American lawyers