Joel Holleman

Joel Holleman (October 1, 1799 – August 5, 1844) was an American politician and lawyer from Virginia. A Democrat, he served in the United States House of Representatives and as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.

Holleman was born in Isle of Wight County, Virginia to John Holleman and Nancy Thomas Holleman. He graduated from the University of North Carolina and attended law school there. He was a teacher for some time before his admission to the bar. He eventually set up a law practice at Burwell Bay, Virginia, in Isle of Wight County. "[A]s a criminal lawyer, [he] had few equals and no superiors in lower Virginia."

On November 22, 1828, Holleman married Caroline Carroll of Isle of Wight County. She died in 1842. On April 3, 1844, a few months before his death, he married his erstwhile sister-in-law, Emily W. Carroll.

Holleman was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1832. He moved to the Senate of Virginia in 1836.

Holleman was elected to the Twenty-sixth Congress, taking office in 1839. At the time of his election, he made a public statement that he would resign his seat if the Whigs won his district in the 1840 presidential election. After William Henry Harrison did so, Holleman resigned.

He was reelected to the House of Delegates in 1841 and became Speaker the following year.

He died in Smithfield, Virginia, August 5, 1844. He was interred in Ivy Hill Cemetery.