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James McElhenney


Other Name:
James McElhenny
Gender:
Male
Born:
April 1802
Died:
September 7, 1841
Home Town:
Charleston, SC
Marriage(s):
Joanna Wilson McElhenny (unknown)
Biographical Notes:
James McElhenny was the son of the Rev. James and Susan Wilkinson McElhenny. He spent his life as both a lawyer and plantation owner in Charleston, SC. He and his wife had three children.
Quotes:
"Indeed his knowledge is so extensive, and his manner of communication is so excellent, so admirably calculated to remove the obstacles which impede a beginners progress, and dispatch the obscurity thro’ which to him the ancient lights of Jurisprudence so faintly glimmer, that I am persuaded, one years study with Judge Gould is worth more to the Students than the labors of six years in the office of an ordinary practitioner of The Law."


James McElhenney to Anthony W. Butler, April 17 1823
Historic New Orleans Collection
The Williams Research Center
410 Chartres Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
Butler Family Papers MSS 102 F88

Additional Notes:
James' father Rev. James McElhenny built a stone house in Oconee County, SC in 1807 which he called "Old Clergy Hall." After his death the house was purchased by Law School graduate and future Vice President John C. Calhoun and the name changed to "Fort Hill."

Education
Years at LLS:
1822
Other Education:
Graduated from Yale College in 1820.

Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Agriculture; Religious Calling
Admitted To Bar:
Charleston, SC in 1822

Related Objects and Documents
In the Ledger:
Other:
help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Litchfield Eagle, October 7, 1822.

Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849.

Butler Family Papers Williams Research Center, Historic New Orleans Collection letters from James McElhenney to Anthony W. Butler regarding his studies in Litchfield.

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