James Sidney Rollins
| James S. Rollins | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 9th district |
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In office March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865 |
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| Preceded by | District created |
| Succeeded by | George W. Anderson |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 2nd district |
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In office March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas L. Anderson |
| Succeeded by | Henry T. Blow |
| Member of the Missouri Legislature | |
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In office 1838 1840 1854 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 19, 1812 Richmond, Kentucky |
| Died | January 9, 1888 (aged 75) Columbia, Missouri |
| Political party |
Whig Constitutional Union Unionist Democratic Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Elizabeth Rollins |
James Sidney Rollins (April 19, 1812 – January 9, 1888) was a nineteenth-century Missouri politician and lawyer. He helped establish the University of Missouri, led the successful effort to get it located in Boone County, and gained funding for the university with the passage of a series of acts in the Missouri Legislature. For his efforts, he was named "Father of the University of Missouri."
As a border state Congressman, Rollins played a role in Congress's passage of the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery. He changed his vote to support the amendment, and spoke in favor of it. Rollins was a Whig for the first 20 years of his political career. When that party broke up, he began a political transition, changing parties several times before becoming a Republican late in his life. Rollins' lifelong support of business development was compatible with Republican policies, but his situation as a major slaveowner prevented him from joining the Republican Party until well after the Civil War.
Rollins was born in Richmond, in Madison County, Kentucky. His father, Anthony Wayne Rollins, a physician, was born in Pennsylvania of Scotch-Irish immigrant parents, and named for the Revolutionary War hero Anthony Wayne. His mother, Sarah Harris Rodes Rollins, was born in Virginia and was of English descent.
Rollins studied at Richmond Academy, attended Washington College (now Washington and Jefferson College) in Pennsylvania, and graduated from Indiana University in 1830. The Rollins family moved from Kentucky to Boone County, Missouri that same year. Rollins read law in the Columbia office of Abiel Leonard for two years, while helping to manage his father's farm. In 1832, Rollins enlisted in the Black Hawk War, and was given the rank of Major. After the war, Rollins entered law school at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. When he graduated in 1834, he was admitted to the bar, and began practicing in Columbia that same year.
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