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James Witherspoon

School period

College/University

Gallery of James Witherspoon

Columbia, SC 29208, United States

James graduated from South Carolina College (present-day University of South Carolina) in 1831.

Career

Achievements

Membership

Awards

Other Photos

Other photo of James Witherspoon

Columbia, SC 29208, United States

James graduated from South Carolina College (present-day University of South Carolina) in 1831.

Connections

Father: James Hervey Witherspoon

Mother: Jane Donnom Witherspoon

Brother: Isaac Donnom Witherspoon

Brother: George McCottry Witherspoon

Sister: Mary Ann Witherspoon Wardlaw

Brother: Andrew Jackson Witherspoon

Son: Samuel Constantine Witherspoon

ally: Wade Hampton

Connections

James Hervey Witherspoon

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lawyer military politician

Background

James Witherspoon was born on March 23, 1810, in Lancaster Courthouse, South Carolina, United States. He was the son of Colonel James Harvey and Jane Donnom Witherspoon.

Education

James graduated from South Carolina College (present-day University of South Carolina) in 1831.

Career

James Hervey Witherspoon was a slaveholding planter from Lancaster District, South Carolina.

Before the war James served as Judge of the Court of Ordinary for 16 years.

When the Civil War began, he volunteered for duty in the Confederate Army. As a colonel in the Confederate Army, he was an ally of Wade Hampton and served with Hampton in many engagements.

Witherspoon defeated John McQueen for election to the second Confederate House of Representatives. McQueen lost because he was too pro Davis to suit his district. Witherspoon served on the Foreign Affairs, Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, and Post Office and Post Roads.

After the war, he returned to his plantation in Lancaster.

Achievements

James Hervey Witherspoon distinguished himself as a member of the Confederate Congress and judge of the Court of Ordinary for 16 years. He achieved the rank of Colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.