Jacob Golladay


Jacob Shall Golladay was a 19th-century politician from Kentucky. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives and Senate, followed by two terms as a United States Representative for the 3rd congressional district. His brother Edward Isaac Golladay also became an attorney and served as a US Congressman from Tennessee.

Early life

James Golladay was born in 1819 in Lebanon, Tennessee. His father Isaac was a descendant of French Hugenots who emigrated to Virginia about 1700 to escape religious persecution in France. The spelling of the family name is likely an anglicised version of the French surname "Gallaudet". His mother was of German ancestry, with immigrant ancestors who arrived later in the 18th century.
In 1815 the Golladay family moved to Lebanon, Tennessee, where both Jacob and his younger brother Edward were born. After attending public school, Jacob moved in 1838 to Logan County, Kentucky, where he worked for seven years in a wholesale store. In 1845 he settled in Allensville, on the southern border of the state, where he started a practice as a lawyer.
In 1846 Golladay married Elizabeth Cheatham, step-daughter of Prof. VV. K. Bolling, of Nashville, Tennessee, who became president of the American Medical Association. They had five children: Melissa, John Jacob, Archer, Bowling, and Elizabeth. Only Bowling survived to adulthood; he was educated at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. All of the children are buried beside their parents.

Politics

In 1851 Golladay won election as a Whig to the Kentucky House of Representatives representing Allensville. He resigned in 1853 to take up a seat in the Kentucky Senate, stepping down in 1855 after a single term.
In 1860, Golladay was chosen as an elector for Constitutional Union Party presidential candidate John Bell and running mate Edward Everett for the Kentucky's 3rd congressional district. This party favored preservation of the Union, but urged compromise and peaceful solutions.
On December 5, 1867 he was elected as a Democrat to the Fortieth Congress, representing Kentucky's 3rd congressional district following the death of the previous Representative, Elijah Hise. He was re-elected to the Forty-first Congress but retired on February 28, 1870, before the end of his term.

Later life

After Congress, Golladay resumed his legal practice in Allensville, Kentucky. He died near Russellville in 1887 and was buried next to his son in Maple Grove Cemetery.