James Overstreet

James Overstreet (February 11, 1773 – May 24, 1822) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina during the early national period of the United States. Born near Barnwell Court House in the Barnwell District of the Province of South Carolina, he came of age in the closing years of the colonial era and the early years of the new republic. He attended the common schools available in his rural district, receiving the basic education typical of South Carolina planters’ sons and aspiring professionals of the late eighteenth century.

After completing his early schooling, Overstreet pursued the study of law, a common path for men seeking public life and professional standing in the post-Revolutionary South. He read law under established practitioners, as was customary before the widespread development of formal law schools. In 1798 he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Barnwell District. His legal career placed him among the leading figures of his community and provided the foundation for his subsequent entry into politics.

Overstreet’s public career began at the state level. He served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1808 to 1813, representing his home district during a period marked by national tensions leading up to and including the War of 1812. In the state legislature he participated in the governance of South Carolina as it navigated issues of defense, trade, and state development in the early nineteenth century. His service in the state house helped establish his reputation as a Democratic-Republican aligned with the dominant political currents in South Carolina at the time.

Building on his experience in state government, Overstreet was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States House of Representatives. He won election to the Sixteenth Congress and was subsequently reelected to the Seventeenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1819, until his death in 1822. During his tenure in Congress, he represented South Carolina in the national legislature at a time when the country was addressing issues such as westward expansion, internal improvements, and the balance between federal and state authority. His service placed him among the cohort of Southern Democratic-Republicans who shaped national policy in the so‑called “Era of Good Feelings.”

Overstreet died in office on May 24, 1822, at China Grove, North Carolina, while en route to his home from Washington, D.C. His death made him one of the members of the United States Congress who died while still serving between 1790 and 1899. He was interred in Savitz Cemetery at Mount Zion Reformed Church in China Grove, North Carolina, where his grave marks the resting place of a South Carolina lawyer, state legislator, and congressman who participated in the early legislative history of the United States.