James M. Elam
American politician
James Mason Elam (1796–1856) was a veteran of the War of 1812 and fought the Barbary Pirates. He was an unsuccessful Whig candidate for the United States House of Representatives in Louisiana in 1843.
Early life and military service
Elam was born in Nottoway County, Virginia on January 30, 1796, the son of Essex Elam and Lavinia Crowder. He enlisted in the army and served during the War of 1812, but saw no combat. He later served as Ensign aboard the U.S.S. Guerriere under the command of Captain Stephen Decatur, he was part of the crew that went on in 1815 to attack the Barbary Pirates off the coast of Algeria.
Career
In 1820, Elam moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and became a lawyer. That year he married Rebecca Chambers. He engaged in a vigorous law practice and was politically active.
He ran unsuccessfully as a Whig for the United States House of Representatives in the Third District of Louisiana against John Bennett Dawson in 1843. Later, his son, James Essex Elam was elected Mayor of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“James M. Elam” enters the record as american politician. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what James, Elam and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6138418. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1796, 1856, 1812 and 1843.
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This entry incorporates text from “James M. Elam” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.