Samuel J. Gholson

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Samuel J. Gholson

Samuel Jameson Gholson (May 19, 1808 – October 16, 1883) was a U.S. Representative from Mississippi, as well as a Confederate general during the American Civil War.

Born near Richmond, Kentucky, Gholson moved with his father to Franklin County, Alabama, in 1817. He attended the common schools and later studied law. He was admitted to the bar at Russellville, Alabama, in 1829. He moved to Athens, Mississippi, and commenced the practice of law. He served as member of the State house of representatives in 1835, 1836, and 1839.

Gholson was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of David Dickson and served from December 1, 1836, to March 3, 1837. He presented credentials as a Democratic member-elect to the Twenty-fifth Congress and served from July 18, 1837, until February 5, 1838, when the seat was declared vacant. He was later replaced by Thomas J. Word.

He was appointed United States district judge in 1839 and served until 1861, when Mississippi seceded from the Union. He served as member of the State secession convention in 1861. With the subsequent outbreak of war, he enlisted in the Monroe Volunteers of Monroe County, Mississippi (which became Company I, 14th Mississippi Infantry Regiment). He served from 1861 until 1863 in the state troops, rising successively through the ranks as a private, captain, colonel, brigadier general, and finally as a major general. He became a brigadier general in the Confederate Army in June 1863 and was placed in command of a brigade of cavalry. He was severely wounded at Egypt, Mississippi, on December 27, 1864, resulting in the amputation of his left arm.

He was again a member of the Mississippi house of representatives in 1865, 1866, and 1878, serving as Speaker of the House, 1865–67. He continued the practice of law in Aberdeen, Mississippi, until his death there October 16, 1883. He was interred in Odd Fellows Cemetery.