James Lockhart Autry 1830-1862
Micajah Autry’s son James Lockhart Autry grew up in Holly Springs, Mississippi and became a lawyer in 1852 at the age of 22. He married Jeannie C. Valliant in 1858 and their only child James Lockhart Autry II was born in 1859.
He practiced law with Christopher Haynes Mott and Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar. Lamar was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and later went on to draft the Mississippi Ordinance of Secession and served the Confederate government throughout most of the war. Lamar wrote to Autry about the increasing dissolution of the Union and the ‘bad state of feeling between our Senators.’
Autry’s political career began when he was elected to the Mississippi House of Legislature in 1854. He served as a representative to the Mississippi Legislature from Marshall County from 1854-1859. He was also elected Speaker of the House 1857-1859.