James Garland (June 6, 1791 – August 8, 1885) was a nineteenth-century politician, military officer, planter, lawyer and judge from
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 ...
Albemarle County, Virginia
Albemarle County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city and enclave entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Char ...
, James Garland was the eldest of four sons born to Hudson Martin Garland (1773-1863) and his wife, the former Elizabeth Penn (''née'' Phillips) Garland (1763-1846). His mother was the grandniece of
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
. His father was one of many lawyer Garlands in Albemarle County, but moved to Amherst County (from which Nelson County was divided) after the death of his father (another James Garland) in 1781. Hudson Garland represented Amherst County in the Virginia General Assembly for one term (December 3, 1804 – February 1, 1805) and served as a captain in the war of 1812. Another of Hudson Garland's sons became General John Garland, who continued his Army career through the war with Mexico, and served briefly during the American Civil War, but died of disease in New York City on June 5, 1861); his daughter had become the wife of Lt. Confederate General
James Longstreet
James Longstreet (January 8, 1821January 2, 1904) was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse". He served under Lee as a corps ...
. Another brother, Samuel Garland Sr., became a successful lawyer in Lynchburg, as well as a landowner (for whom Garland Hill was named), and the uncle of Confederate Brig. General
Samuel Garland, Jr.
Samuel Garland Jr. (December 16, 1830 – September 14, 1862) was an American attorney from Virginia and Confederate general during the American Civil War. He was killed in action during the Maryland Campaign while defending Fox's Gap at the B ...
(who died in September 1862).
This James Garland received a private education and began reading law, and married Sarah Burch in the newly created Nelson County on September 22, 1814. They had at least one daughter who survived them (Sallie B. Garland Christian, 1837-1928). By 1820, the Garland household included five free people (including two sons and a daughter younger than 10) and nine slaves.
Career
After reading law and being admitted to the Virginia bar, Garland began practicing law practice in
Lovingston, Virginia
Lovingston is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Nelson County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 520.Nelson County. He left practice for a short time to serve in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
.
James Garland represented Nelson County 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 ...
from 1829 to 1831 (initially alongside Zachariah Nevil and then winning election as the county's only delegate). He was later elected to 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 ...
, initially as a
Jacksonian Democrat
Jacksonian democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy in the United States that expanded suffrage to most white men over the age of 21, and restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh U.S. president, Andr ...
and later a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, serving from 1835 to 1841.
After losing a contest for reelection in 1840 to Virginia governor
Thomas W. Gilmer
Thomas Walker Gilmer (April 6, 1802 – February 28, 1844) was an American statesman. He served in a number of political positions in Virginia, including election as the 28th Governor of Virginia. Gilmer's final political office was as the 15th S ...
Campbell County, Virginia
Campbell County is a United States county situated in the south central part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Located in the Piedmont region of Virginia, Campbell borders the Blue Ridge Mountains. The county seat is Rustburg.
Grounded on a ...
and resumed his legal practice in Lynchburg.
Garland was elected the city's
prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...
and clerk of court in 1841, and served 18 years until removed by Gen. John Schofield during Congressional Reconstruction. In the Presidential election of 1860, he supported
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...
, and when that Democratic candidate lost to Republican Abraham Lincoln, Garland in January 1861 presided over a meeting of conservative citizens who wanted to preserve the Union. He was then elected to the Hustings Court, and Aurelius Christian succeeded him as Commonwealth's attorney. He retired due to blindness at age 91, after a ceremonial dinner in his honor, and was succeeded by Charles P. Latham.
Death and legacy
After leaving the court (as the Commonwealth's oldest presiding judge), James Garland died in Lynchburg on August 8, 1885, aged 94. The courthouse bell tolled to mark his funeral, and suitable resolutions were recorded. He was interred in the family plot at Lynchburg's Spring Hill Cemetery, beside his wife Sarah, who had died in 1861, as well as his parents and siblings.findagrave no. 7773283 He was survived by his widowed daughter Sally Garland Christian (1796-1928).