James Breckinridge (March 7, 1763May 13, 1833) was a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

lawyer and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and a member of the Breckinridge family. 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-number ...

, as well as the U.S. House of Representatives. He also fought in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and served as a brigadier-general during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

Family and early life

Breckinridge was born near Fincastle in

Botetourt County Botetourt County ( ) is a US county that lies in the Roanoke Region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Located in the mountainous portion of the state, the county is bordered by two major ranges, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Mou ...

in the Colony of Virginia. He was the son of Robert Breckinridge whose father had immigrated from Ireland. His mother was the former Leticia Preston.Dictionary of American Biography'' Vol. 2, p 5 His brother was

John Breckinridge John Breckinridge or Breckenridge may refer to: * John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General) (1760–1806), U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General * John C. Breckinridge (1821–1875), U.S. Representative and Senator, 14th Vice President of the Unit ...

and he was the great-great-great-uncle of John Bayne Breckinridge. He married Ann Cary Selden (daughter of Wilson Cary Selden & Elizabeth Jennings) born 1770 died 1843. He studied under private tutors and during the Revolutionary War, he served in Colonel Preston's rifle regiment under General

Nathanael Greene Nathanael Greene (June 19, 1786, sometimes misspelled Nathaniel) was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He emerged from the war with a reputation as General George Washington's most talented and dependab ...

. He attended Washington College (now

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

) and graduated from the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

in 1785. He studied law and was admitted to the bar and practiced in Fincastle in 1787. He built Breckinridge Mill in 1822, to replace an earlier mill he built in 1804. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1980, with a boundary increase in 2002.

Political career

Breckinridge served as a delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates intermittently between 1789 and 1824. He took a special interest in the construction of the

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C. and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Potomac Canal, ...

. He was then elected as a Federalist to the Eleventh Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1809 – March 3, 1817). He was an associate of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

in the establishment of the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

and served as brigadier general in the War of 1812. At one point he ran for governor of Virginia but was defeated by James Monroe.

Elections

*1809; Breckinridge was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 56.72% of the vote, defeating Democrat-Republican Alexander Wilson. *1811; Breckinridge was re-elected with 58.4% of the vote, defeating Democrat-Republican Thomas L. Preston. *1813; Breckinridge was re-elected unopposed. *1815; Breckinridge was re-elected unopposed.

Death and burial

Breckinridge died at his country home, "Grove Hill," Botetourt County, Virginia, May 13, 1833, and was buried in the family burial plot on his estate near Fincastle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breckinridge, James 1763 births 1833 deaths People from Botetourt County, Virginia Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Virginia lawyers Washington and Lee University alumni College of William & Mary alumni Continental Army soldiers United States Army generals American militiamen in the War of 1812 United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 Breckinridge family Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia 19th-century American politicians 18th-century American politicians 18th-century American lawyers 19th-century American lawyers People of Virginia in the American Revolution