James L. Alcorn
| James L. Alcorn | |
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United States Senator from Mississippi |
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In office December 1, 1871 – March 3, 1877 |
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| Preceded by | Hiram R. Revels |
| Succeeded by | Lucius Q. C. Lamar |
| 28th Governor of Mississippi | |
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In office March 10, 1870 – November 30, 1871 |
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| Lieutenant | Ridgley C. Powers |
| Preceded by | Adelbert Ames |
| Succeeded by | Ridgley C. Powers |
| Member of the Mississippi Senate | |
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In office 1848–1854 |
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| Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives | |
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In office 1846, 1856–1857 |
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| Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives | |
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In office 1843 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
James Lusk Alcorn November 4, 1816 Golconda, Illinois Territory |
| Died | December 19, 1894 (aged 78) Friars Point, Mississippi |
| Political party | Whig, Republican |
| Alma mater | Cumberland College |
| Profession | Politician, lawyer |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Confederate States
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| Service/branch |
 Mississippi militia in Confederate Army service
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| Rank |
 Brigadier general
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| Unit | Mississippi militia |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
James Lusk Alcorn (November 4, 1816 – December 19, 1894) was a prominent American political figure in Mississippi during the 19th century. He was a leading Southern white Republican during Reconstruction in Mississippi, where he served as governor and U.S. Senator. A moderate Republican, he had a bitter rivalry with Radical Republican "carpetbagger" Adelbert Ames, who defeated him in the 1873 Mississippi gubernatorial race. He briefly served as a brigadier general of Mississippi state troops at times in Confederate army service during the early part of the American Civil War. Among the Confederate generals who joined the post-Civil War Republican Party, only James Longstreet had been of higher rank.
Alcorn was born near Golconda in the Territory of Illinois to James Alcorn and Hanna Lusk, a Scots-Irish family. He attended Cumberland College in Kentucky and served as deputy sheriff of Livingston County, Kentucky, from 1839 to 1844. He was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1838 and for six years practiced law in Salem, Kentucky. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1843 before moving to Mississippi in 1844.
Alcorn set up a law office in Coahoma County. As his law practice flourished and his property holdings in the Mississippi Delta increased, he became a wealthy man. In 1850 he built a three-story house at his Mound Place Plantation in Coahoma County where he resided with his family. By 1860, he owned nearly a hundred slaves and held lands valued at a quarter of a million dollars. Alcorn served in the Mississippi House of Representatives and Mississippi Senate during the 1840s and 1850s being one of the leaders of the Whigs in the state. In the Mississippi legislature Alcorn pushed for construction of levees to protect Delta counties from flooding. Due to his efforts, in 1858 the Levee District was established. He ran for Congress in 1856 but was defeated.
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