John D. Freeman (1817January 17, 1886) was a

U.S. Representative 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. Born in 1817 in

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

, Freeman attended the common schools. He moved to Mississippi and located in Grand Gulf. He studied law. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

and practiced. He served as district attorney. He moved to

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, N ...

. Attorney general of Mississippi from 1841 to 1851. He was author of the first volume of reports of decisions of the Chancery Court of Mississippi published in 1844. Freeman was elected as a Unionist to the Thirty-second Congress (March 4, 1851 - March 3, 1853). He served as attorney general. He argued Mitchell v. Wells, a case questioning whether a man could leave property to his daughter, who had been born one of his slaves. The father freed his daughter, Nancy Wells, and then tried to leave property to her. The

Mississippi Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817 and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appe ...

rejected his will. Mitchell v. Wells, 37 Miss. 235 (1859). Later Freeman served as member of the Democratic State central committee and served as chairman. He moved to Colorado and settled in Canon City in 1882. He resumed the practice of his profession. He died in

Canon City, Colorado Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

on January 17, 1886, and was interred in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

References

;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, John D. 1817 births 1886 deaths Unionist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi Mississippi Unionists Mississippi Democrats Mississippi Attorneys General People from Cooperstown, New York People from Natchez, Mississippi People from Cañon City, Colorado Members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi