Joel Holleman (October 1, 1799 – August 5, 1844) was an

American politician In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches share powers: Congress, which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legis ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and as

Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates This is a complete list of the Speaker (politics), speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates. Elected by the members of the House, the Speaker is the presiding officer of that body. In addition to duties as chair, the adopted rules of the Hous ...

Personal life

Holleman was born in

Isle of Wight County, Virginia Isle of Wight County is a county (United States), county in the Hampton Roads region of the U.S. state of Virginia. It is named after the Isle of Wight, England, south of the Solent, from where many of its early colonists had come. As of the ...

to John Holleman and Nancy Thomas Holleman. He graduated from the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

and attended law school there.Jamerson, p.65Poore, p.451 He was a teacher before his admission to the bar. He eventually set up a law practice at Burwell Bay, Virginia, in Isle of Wight County. He was highly regarded by peers and recognized as a top lawyer in southern Virginia. On November 22, 1828, Holleman married Caroline Carroll of Isle of Wight County. She died in 1842. He later married his sister-in-law, Emily W. Carroll.

Political career

Holleman was first elected to the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

in 1832. He moved to the

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Vir ...

in 1836. Holleman was elected to the Twenty-sixth Congress, taking office in 1839. At the time of his election, he made a public statement that he would resign his seat if the Whigs won his district in the 1840 presidential election. After

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

did so, Holleman resigned.

After Congress

He was reelected to the House of Delegates in 1841 and became Speaker the following year. On April 3, 1844, a few months before his death, he married his sister-in-law, Emily W. Carroll. He died in

Smithfield, Virginia Smithfield is a town in Isle of Wight County, in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, United States. The population was 8,533 at the 2020 census. The town is most famous for the curing and production of ...

, August 5, 1844 at the age of 44. He was interred in Ivy Hill Cemetery.

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holleman, Joel 1799 births 1844 deaths Virginia lawyers Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Virginia state senators People from Isle of Wight County, Virginia 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly