John Janney
| John Janney | |
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| Delegate to the House of Representatives of the Virginia General Assembly from Loudoun County | |
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In office 1834–1845 |
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| Delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850 from Loudoun County | |
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In office October 14, 1850 – October 25, 1851 |
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| Presiding officer to the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 from Loudoun County | |
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In office February 13, 1861 – May 23, 1861 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | November 8, 1798 Alexandria, Virginia |
| Died | January 5, 1872 (aged 73) Loudoun County, Virginia |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse(s) | Alicia Marmaduke |
| Residence | Leesburg, Virginia |
| Profession | Law |
John Janney (November 8, 1798 – January 5, 1872) was an influential member of the Whig Party in Virginia prior to its demise, delegate to the Virginia General Assembly from Loudoun County and served as President of the Virginia Secession Convention in 1861.
John Janney was born November 8, 1798 in Alexandria, Virginia to devout Quaker parents. When Janney was still a boy his parents moved to Goose Creek (present day Lincoln) in Loudoun County where there was a thriving Quaker community. Janney attended school at the local meeting house until he was teenager. He then left to study law at the county court in Leesburg under Richard Henderson. At 18 Janney was admitted to the bar of that court, where he quickly gained the respect of his peers as well as rose through the ranks of the local Whig Party.
In 1831, he helped to draft a bill to abolish slavery in Virginia for the General Assembly. Two years later Janney was elected to that body's lower chamber as a delegate from Loudoun, a seat he held until 1845.
Despite his work on the abolition bill, Janney bought his first slave in 1834. Because Quakers did not allow its members to own slaves, Janney broke with the church and joined the Episcopal Church.
In 1841, Janney purchased a 580-acre tract of land from Thomas Ludwell Lee II in Loudoun County, Virginia as a summer home. That property would eventually be known as Ashburn Farm after it was sold by Janney in 1870.
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