James Henry Ladson
15thLieutenant Governor of South Carolina
In office December 5, 1792 – December 17, 1794
Governor	William Moultrie
Preceded by	Isaac Holmes
Succeeded by	Lewis Morris
State Senator of South Carolina
In office 1800–1804
Personal details
Born	1753
Died	1812 (aged 58–59)
Political party	Federalist Party
Spouse	Judith Smith
Children	James H. Ladson Sarah Reeve Ladson
Relatives	Ladson family

James Henry Ladson (1753 – 1812) was an American politician, wealthy plantation owner fromCharles Town and officer of theAmerican Revolution. He served as theLieutenant Governor of South Carolina from 1792 to 1794, and was a member of the South Carolina state Senate from 1800 to 1804.

The President of the European CommissionUrsula von der Leyen is descended both from his sonJames H. Ladson and from his daughter Elizabeth Ladson, and by adoption additionally from his daughterSarah Reeve Ladson; von der Leyen lived under the name Rose Ladson in London in the late 1970s.

James Ladson was born in 1753 inCharleston to a prominent South Carolinian family of English origin. He was the son of William Ladson and Anne Gibbes. His great-grandfather John Ladson emigrated fromNorthamptonshire in England toBarbados and then to Carolina as one of the first English settlers in 1679, where he built a large plantation and served in the Commons House of Assembly from 1685.^[1] His mother was the daughter of the prominent colonial official ColonelJohn Gibbes (1696–1764) and the granddaughter of the colonial governorRobert Gibbes. TheGibbes Museum of Art is named for his mother's family. James Ladson was also a 2nd great-grandson ofHenry Woodward, the first British colonist in Carolina.^[2]

Following the early death of his parents he was raised by his uncle John Gibbes (1733–1780), who owned the Grove Plantation that included today'sHampton Park and its surrounding neighbourhoods. He attended the best schools in South Carolina. In 1773 he traveled to England to pursue his education, returning to South Carolina the following year. He owned a plantation in St Andrew Parish and a plantation named Fawn Hill on the Santeee River, and a house and other properties in Charleston.^[2][3]

He served as an officer during theAmerican Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1780, first alongside his childhood friendThomas Pinckney and eventually as a captain in the 1st regiment of the Continental Line. He served as aide de camp to GeneralBenjamin Lincoln during the 1780siege of Charleston. He later was promoted to major.^[2] Thomas Pinckney related his memories of James Ladson's early life and particularly his service in the revolutionary war in an 1824 letter to Ladson's sonJames H. Ladson.^[4]

Following the American Revolutionary Wars he became involved in politics inSouth Carolina. He served as a member of theSouth Carolina General Assembly from 1785 to 1790. He voted to ratify the federal Constitution in 1788 as a delegate for St. Andrew at the state convention. He served asLieutenant Governor of South Carolina from 1792 to 1794.^[2]

He was again elected to the South Carolina General Assembly in 1798, and served as a senator in the state Senate from 1800 to 1804.^[5][2]

He also served in various local offices, e.g. as commissioner to rebuild the bridge over Ashley in 1792.^[2]

At the time the U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1788 he was reported to own 1,717 acres valued at $10,384 and 142slaves.^[6] According to the inventory of his estate he owned 104 slaves at the time of his death.^[2]

On 1 October 1778, he marriedJudith Smith (1762–1820), who belonged to one of South Carolina's wealthiest banker-merchant families; her fatherBenjamin Smith (1717–1770) was one of South Carolina's most prominent merchant bankers, a plantation owner, a slave trader, the long-time Speaker of theRoyal Assembly and a great-grandson of South Carolina governor andlandgraveThomas Smith.^[2] His wife was a granddaughter of the largest slave trader in British North AmericaJoseph Wragg, a first cousin of governor of North CarolinaBenjamin Smith, and a first cousin ofElizabeth Wragg Manigault, who was married to the wealthiest man in the British North American coloniesPeter Manigault.^[7]

The James Ladson House in Charleston was built for him around 1792; Ladson Street was named in his honour in 1895.^[9]

His daughter Sarah Reeve Ladson was married to the art collectorRobert Gilmor, Jr.; regarded as one of the most fashionable American women of her time, she was the subject of several portraits and sculptures, including a famous portrait byThomas Sully.^[10] Art historianMaurie McInnis notes that "she visually made reference to the taste of the slave women around whom she had been raised" with the turban and bright colours.^[8]

James Ladson was the father ofJames H. Ladson (1795–1868), a major plantation owner who by 1850 owned over 200 slaves who produced 600,000 pounds of rice each year on his La Grange and Fawn Hill plantations,^[11][12] who was also theDanishConsul in South Carolina. James H. Ladson's son, Major William Henry Ladson, married the daughter of Isabel Ann Baron, the biological daughter of the physician Alexander Baron and James Ladson's daughter Elizabeth Ladson; Isabel Ann Baron had been raised and informally adopted by her aunt Sarah Reeve Ladson and her husband. Among their descendants areUrsula von der Leyen, who for a year lived under the name Rose Ladson in London to escape terrorists.^[13][14]

His son James H. Ladson wrote onhis views on slavery in 1845.^[15]

Ladson, South Carolina, is named in honour of his family.

• 1753 births
• 1812 deaths
• 18th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly
• 19th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly
• South Carolina Federalists
• Lieutenant governors of South Carolina
• Continental Army officers from South Carolina
• U.S. state legislators who owned slaves
• Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina
• Ladson family
• Consuls for Denmark in the United States

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata