In 1850, voters from the central Piedmont district that combined Culpeper County, as well as Greene, Madison and Orange Counties elected Barbour among their three delegates to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850, along with Robert A. Banks and John Woolfolk. In the decade before the American Civil War, Culpeper county's voters elected James Barbour to the Virginia House of Delegates for the 1852–1853 session. However, voters selected Perry J. Eggborn in the next two elections. Barbour resumed the seat during the 1857–58 session, and was re-elected to the 1859–60 and 1861 sessions. By the 1860 census, James Barbour owned 13 slaves and also hired two older slaves to assist with his plantation while he practiced law. Barbour was among the delegates representing Virginia at the 1860 Democratic National Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. A year later, Barbour became Culpeper County's delegate at the 1861 Virginia secession convention.
Marriage and children
Barbour married Fanny Thomas Beckham, daughter of Coleman Coals Beckham and his wife Mary C. Beckham, on September 1, 1857. They had seven children:
During the American Civil War, Culpeper County voters again elected James Barbour to the Virginia House of Delegates; he served during the sessions 1861/62, 1862, 1862, and 1863. However, John H. Rixey succeeded him for the session which began on September 7, 1863. After Virginia's secession, Barbour volunteered to serve in the Confederate States Army and was commissioned as a major on the staff of General Richard S. Ewell. After a dispute with General Jubal Anderson Early, Barbour resigned on January 30, 1863. Other sources cite ill health as Barbour's reason for resigning. About six months later, the Battle of Brandy Station, perhaps the largest cavalry engagement of the conflict, took place on and around the Barbour family's estate. Beauregard mansion is now colloquially known as the Graffiti House because it contains graffiti inscribed both Union Army and Confederate States Army soldiers.
Later life
After the war, Barbour acquired a controlling interest in the Richmond Daily Enquirer and Examiner on July 15, 1867 and became its editor. Barbour owned the newspaper until January 30, 1870, when it was acquired by interests affiliated with the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1877, Barbour returned to the Virginia House of Delegates, succeeding his relative Thomas B. Nalle for one term, after which fellow Confederate veterans Jonathan C. Gibson or Jacob S. Eggborn held the seat. In 1885, Culpeper's delegate Daniel A. Grimsley resigned and Barbour returned to the remainder of the session and then won election again for 1887/1888 session.
