James Zachariah GEORGE, Congress, MS (1826-1897)

GEORGE, James Zachariah, a Senator from Mississippi; born in Monroe County, Ga., October 20, 1826; moved to Mississippi as a child; attended the old field schools; joined the Mississippi Rifles in 1846 and served in Mexico until discharged on account of ill health; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1847 and commenced practice in Carrollton, Miss.; reporter of the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1854; member of the Mississippi secession convention and signed the ordinance of secession; served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, attaining the rank of brigadier general of State troops; resided in Jackson, Miss., 1872-1887, when he returned to Carrollton; appointed judge of the State supreme court in 1879 and was elected chief justice; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1880; reelected in 1886, and again in 1892, and served from March 4, 1881, until his death on August 14, 1897; chairman, Committee on Agriculture and Forestry (Fifty-third Congress); member of the constitutional convention of the State of Mississippi in 1890; died in Mississippi City, Miss.; interment in Evergreen Cemetery, Carrollton, Miss.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Peck, Lucy. “The Life and Times of James Z. George.” Master’s thesis, Mississippi State University, 1964; Ringold, May Spencer. “Senator James Zachariah George of Mississippi: Bourbon or Liberal?” Journal of Mississippi History 16 (July 1954): 164-83.

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