Representative James Barroll Ricaud

James Barroll Ricaud (February 11, 1808 – January 24, 1866) was an American lawyer, legislator, and jurist who held a series of important state and federal offices in Maryland during the mid-nineteenth century. Little is recorded in the available sources about his family background or early youth, but he came of age in a period of rapid political and constitutional change in Maryland and the nation, developments that would shape his long public career.

Ricaud received a legal education and was admitted to the bar, after which he commenced the practice of law in Chestertown, the county seat of Kent County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Establishing himself as an attorney in this regional center of commerce and politics provided the foundation for his entry into public life. His legal practice, conducted in a community closely tied to the agricultural economy and maritime trade of the Chesapeake Bay, brought him into contact with many of the local interests he would later represent in the state legislature and in Congress.

Ricaud’s formal political career began in the Maryland House of Delegates, where he served as a member representing Kent County in 1834. He soon advanced to the upper chamber of the state legislature, serving in the Maryland State Senate and representing the Eastern Shore from 1836 to 1837, during which time he held the position of president pro tempore. Over the course of his state legislative service, he represented Kent County in the senate from 1834 to 1843 and again in 1864, giving him a long association with the region’s political affairs. In addition to his legislative duties, he participated in national politics as a presidential elector on two Whig Party tickets in the 1830s and 1840s, reflecting his alignment with the Whig program of economic development and cautious expansion of federal power.

Ricaud also played a role in reshaping Maryland’s fundamental law. In 1850 he served as a delegate to the Maryland constitutional convention, which undertook a comprehensive revision of the state’s constitution. His participation in that body placed him among the leading figures responsible for redefining the structure and powers of Maryland’s government at mid-century, a time when issues such as representation, suffrage, and the balance between eastern and western parts of the state were vigorously contested.

At the national level, Ricaud was elected as the candidate of the American Party, commonly known as the Know-Nothing Party, to the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Congresses. Representing Maryland’s 2nd congressional district, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1859. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history marked by intensifying sectional conflict over slavery, immigration, and the future of the Union. As a member of the American Party representing Maryland, he contributed to the legislative process during two terms in office, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents. During his tenure he served on the Committee on Manufactures and took part in the investigation of the accounts of House clerk William Cullom, reflecting his involvement in both policy deliberations and oversight of administrative integrity within the legislative branch.

After leaving Congress in 1859, Ricaud resumed the practice of law, returning to his profession in Maryland. His legal experience and long record of legislative service led to his appointment to the judiciary during the Civil War era. In 1864, Governor Augustus Bradford appointed him associate judge of the 7th Maryland judicial district. In this capacity, he served on the state bench from 1864 until his death in 1866, presiding over cases at a time when Maryland, a border state with divided loyalties, was adjusting to the end of slavery and the broader consequences of the conflict.

James Barroll Ricaud died in Maryland on January 24, 1866, while still serving as an associate judge. Over the course of more than three decades in public life, he held positions in both houses of the Maryland legislature, participated in a state constitutional convention, served as a presidential elector, represented Maryland’s 2nd district in the U.S. House of Representatives, and concluded his career on the state judiciary, leaving a record of sustained engagement in the political and legal affairs of his state.