James Breckinridge

James Breckinridge (* March 7, 1763 in Fincastle, Botetourt County, Virginia; † May 13, 1833 in Botetourt County, Virginia ) was an American politician. Between 1809 and 1817 he represented the state of Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

James Breckinridge was the younger brother of U.S. Senator and Attorney General John Breckinridge (1760-1806), and a cousin of John Brown (1757-1837), James Brown (1766-1835) and Francis Preston (1765-1835), the U.S. senators and congressmen were. He received a private school education and took part in spite of his youth in the war of independence. He then studied at Washington College, now Washington and Lee University in Lexington. He then continued his studies until 1795 at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg. After studying law and qualifying as a lawyer, he began to work in Fincastle in this profession.

Politically, Breckinridge joined the Federalist Party, founded by Alexander Hamilton. Between 1789 and 1824 he was several times in the House of Representatives from Virginia. He was also involved in the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. In the congressional elections of 1808 he was in the fifth electoral district of Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of Alexander Wilson on March 4, 1809. After three re- elections, he was able to complete in Congress until March 3, 1817 four legislative sessions. In this time the British -American War of 1812 fell, took part in the Breckinridge as a brigadier general.

After the end of his time in the U.S. House of Representatives, he practiced as a lawyer again. Along with Thomas Jefferson, he was among the founders of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. James Breckinridge died on 13 May in 1833 on his estate in Grove Hill Botetourt County.