James Lusk Alcorn (1816-1894) was a prominent member of the Whig party in Mississippi before the Civil War. After the war he became a leader of the Republican party in his state and served as governor and U.S. senator during the Reconstruction period.

James Lusk Alcorn was born on Nov. 4, 1816, in Golconda, Ill., and raised across the Ohio River in Livingston County, Ky. Here as deputy sheriff under his uncle, he learned how to deal with lawlessness, earned a reputation for physical bravery, and studied law, receiving his license to practice in 1838.

In 1844 he traveled down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the newly settled town of Delta in northwestern Mississippi. Aggressive and energetic in his law practice and in the acquisition of land, he quickly became a leading citizen. He joined the aristocratic Whig party and a year after his arrival was elected to the state...