James Philemon Holcombe (September 20, 1820 – August 22, 1873) was an American law professor, legal author and

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...

politician and diplomat.

Early life

James Holcombe was born in

Powhatan County Powhatan County () is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,033. Its county seat is Powhatan. Powhatan County is included in the Greater Richmond Region. The James River forms the cou ...

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 ...

and raised in Lynchburg. He graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and earned a law degree from the

University of Virginia Law School The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

Career

Legal career

Holcombe practiced law in Ohio including with partner

William Y. Gholson William Yates Gholson (December 25, 1807 – September 21, 1870) was a Republican politician in the U.S. State of Ohio who was an Ohio Supreme Court judge from 1859 to 1863. Early life and education William Yates Gholson was born at hi ...

, an anti-slavery advocate, and later was a professor of law at the University of Virginia. He authored several important legal treatises, includin
''An Introduction to Equity Jurisprudence''

Views on slavery

Although his parents freed their slaves and later moved to Indiana, Holcombe spoke widely in favor of slavery. He delivered an addres
"Is Slavery Consistent With Natural Law?"
in 1858 on slavery's consistency with natural law. Holcombe had a political theory based on ideas of hierarchy, which explicitly reversed Jefferson's theme from the Declaration of Independence that all people are created equal. He thought people were naturally unequal and that was his primary argument for slavery. This theme was also developed by Holcombe's UVA colleague Albert Taylor Bledsoe and George Frederick Holmes. Holcombe's other public addresses include an address to the Virginia Historical Society on the American Revolution and an 1853 address to the University of Virginia alumni on the importance of education and slavery. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> During the secession crisis, Professor Holcombe delivered a speech to the voters of Albemarle County and then advocated secession in Richmond's Secession Convention's debates in March 1861.

American Civil War

During the War, Holcombe represented his district in the First Confederate Congress. He then served as the Confederate Commissioner to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Holcombe did not return to The University after 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 ...

, but established a high school for boys at Bellevue near

Goode, Virginia Goode is an unincorporated community in eastern Bedford County, Virginia, United States. The community lies along U.S. Route 221 between Bedford and Forest. It is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Its name honors Jo ...

Bedford County, Virginia Bedford County is a United States county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is the town of Bedford, which was an independent city from 1968 until rejoining the county in 2013. Bedford County was c ...

. It functioned into the early-20th century, around 1909. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref>

Death

Holcombe died on August 22, 1873 in

Capon Springs, West Virginia Capon Springs is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Hampshire County, West Virginia, Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. According to the United States Census, 2000, 2000 census, the Capon Springs community has a pop ...

. He is buried at Presbyterian Cemetery in Lynchburg, Virginia.

References

External links

*
Political Graveyard website
1820 births 1873 deaths Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Virginia Virginia Secession Delegates of 1861 People from Powhatan County, Virginia Politicians from Lynchburg, Virginia Virginia lawyers Yale University alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni University of Virginia School of Law faculty American proslavery activists Confederate States of America diplomats 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American politicians People from Bedford County, Virginia {{Virginia-politician-stub