James HOLLAND, Congress, NC (1754-1823)

HOLLAND, James, a Representative from North Carolina; born in Anson County, near the present town of Rutherfordton, N.C., in 1754; received a very limited education; was a major in the State militia and also saw service in the Continental line 1775-1783; sheriff of Tryon County from July 1777 to July 1778; justice of the peace of Rutherford County 1780-1800; comptroller of Rutherford County from July 1782 to January 1785; member of the State senate in 1783; served in the State house of commons in 1786 and again in 1789; delegate to the second State constitutional convention in 1789 that adopted the Federal Constitution; member of the first board of trustees of the University of North Carolina 1789-1795; studied law; was admitted to the bar on October 15, 1793, and commenced practice in Rutherfordton, N.C.; elected as a Republican to the Fourth Congress (March 4, 1795-March 3, 1797); declined to be a candidate for reelection but was again a member of the State senate in 1797; resumed the practice of his profession and also engaged in agricultural pursuits; elected to the Seventh and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1801-March 3, 1811); was not a candidate for renomination in 1810; in 1811 moved to what is now Maury County, Tenn., engaging in agricultural pursuits near Columbia; justice of the peace 1812-1818; died on his estate in Maury County, Tenn., May 19, 1823; interment in the Holland Family (now known as Watson) Cemetery, nine miles east of Columbia, Tenn., Maury County, Tenn.

Bibliography

Hughes, Nathaniel Cheairs. Big Jim Holland. Chattanooga, TN: N. C. Hughes, 2000.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present