Thomas Gholson Jr. (1780 – July 14, 1816) was an American lawyer and politician. He representedVirginia from 1808 to 1816 in theUnited States House of Representatives, after serving in theVirginia House of Delegates from 1806 to 1809.^[1]

He was born in 1780, the son of Thomas Gholson and Jane Parry.

After reading law, he was admitted to the bar and began his legal practice inBrunswick County, Virginia. He served as member of theVirginia House of Delegates from 1806 to 1809. Gholson was elected as aDemocratic-Republican to the Tenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dr.John Claiborne of Brunswick County. He was reelected to the Eleventh and to the three succeeding Congresses (November 7, 1808 – July 4, 1816), although due to the redistricting after the 1810 census, he was re-elected for the final two times fromVirginia's 18th congressional district rather thanVirginia's 17th congressional district (both congressional districts having by now become obsolete). During theWar of 1812, the British invadedWashington, D.C. and Gholson became a volunteer aide on the staff of GeneralPeter Buell Porter. Wounded, he recovered enough to remain in office and win re-election, although he would ultimately die from its effects two years later. During his final stint (in the Twelfth Congress), Gholson served as chairman of the Committee on Claims.Thomas M. Nelson, who captained Virginia infantry regiments during the War of 1812, succeeded to his congressional seat.

On July 28, 1806, Thomas Gholson Jr. married Anne Yates, the daughter of a former Virginia militiaman on General Washington's staff, and granddaughter ofRev. William Yates, theCollege of William & Mary's fifth president (1761–1764) and the namesake for Yates Hall on the college's campus;^[2][3] and a descendant ofWilliam Randolph, a colonist and land owner who played an important role in the history and government of theCommonwealth of Virginia.

Thomas and Ann were the parents of the following children:William Yates Gholson who married Martha Anne Jane Taylor on Christmas Day 1827; Cary Ann Gholson; and Thomas Gholson, III.^[4]

Thomas Gholson Jr. died on July 14, 1816^[5] inBrunswick County, Virginia from the lingering effects of his war wound.^[6] After his death, his widow married as her second husband,George Washington Freeman, the secondEpiscopalbishop of Arkansas and ProvisionalBishop of Texas. Their first born son,William Y. Gholson became a lawyer like his father and moved toMississippi, where he developed strong anti-slavery views. He later freed his slaves, moved toOhio because it did not permit slavery, then became the law partner ofSalmon P. Chase and also active in the newRepublican Party. He ran for a position on theOhio Supreme Court and won in 1869, and served for four years before resigning and returning to his private legal practice inCincinnati, Ohio. However his son Dr. Samuel Creed Gholson (1828-1910), educated in Virginia, enlisted in Mississippi forces, survived the war, and remained in Mississippi.^[7]

Congressman Gholson's nephewsJames Herbert Gholson andThomas Saunders Gholson became lawyers and slaveholders and remained in Southside Virginia as well as speculated in Texas real estate. They also became politicians and local judges, although subject to complaints for partiality; Thomas Saunders Gholson married this Thomas' daughter and later became a member of theSecond Confederate Congress. A second cousin wasRichard D. Gholson, a Kentuckian who like the brothers Gholson invested in Texas and favored the Confederate cause.

Gholsonville, Virginia inBrunswick County is named in honor of this Gholson.

• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)

• 1780 births
• 1816 deaths
• People from Virginia in the War of 1812
• United States representatives from Virginia
• Virginia lawyers
• Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Virginia Democratic-Republicans
• People from Brunswick County, Virginia
• People from Orange County, Virginia
• 19th-century American lawyers
• 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly
• 19th-century United States representatives

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from November 2020
• Year of birth unknown