James Giles Hampton

James Giles Hampton (June 13, 1814 – September 22, 1861) was an American lawyer and Whig Party politician who represented New Jersey’s 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1845 to 1849. A lifelong resident of Bridgeton, New Jersey, he combined a legal career with local and national public service during the mid-nineteenth century.

Hampton was born in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, New Jersey, on June 13, 1814. He was educated in the common schools of his native town, reflecting the typical early schooling available in the region at the time. Demonstrating sufficient promise to pursue higher education, he enrolled at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and was graduated from Princeton College in 1835, joining the ranks of the institution’s antebellum alumni who would go on to careers in law and politics.

Following his graduation, Hampton studied law and prepared for admission to the bar. He was admitted to the bar in 1839 and commenced the practice of law in Bridgeton, where he established himself as a member of the local bar. In addition to his private practice, he entered public service at an early stage in his career. From 1841 to 1844 he served as collector of the port of Bridgeton, a federal customs position that involved oversight of maritime trade and revenue collection in the locality, and that helped to raise his profile in Whig political circles.

Hampton was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Congresses, representing New Jersey’s 1st congressional district. He served in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1845, to March 3, 1849, during a period marked by debates over territorial expansion, the Mexican–American War, and the growing sectional tensions over slavery. Although specific committee assignments and legislative initiatives associated with his service are not extensively documented, his tenure placed him among the Whig lawmakers who opposed aspects of the Democratic administration’s policies in the 1840s. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1848 and thus concluded his congressional service at the end of his second term.

After leaving Congress, Hampton returned to Bridgeton and resumed the practice of law, reestablishing his role in the legal affairs of Cumberland County. He continued to participate in local public life and, in 1852, served as solicitor of the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Cumberland County, acting as legal adviser to the county’s governing body. This position reflected both his professional standing at the bar and his ongoing engagement in county-level governance.

Hampton remained in Bridgeton for the rest of his life. He died there on September 22, 1861, shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War. He was interred in the Old Broad Street Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Bridgeton, a historic burial ground that contains the graves of many of the community’s prominent nineteenth-century citizens.