Lemuel J. Alston

{{Short description|American politician}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Lemuel James Alston

|image =

|state = South Carolina

|district = 8th

|term_start = March 4, 1807

|term_end = March 3, 1811

|predecessor =Elias Earle

|successor = Elias Earle

|office2 = Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives

|term2 = 1789 – 1790

|birth_date = {{birth year|1760}}

|birth_place = Granville County, Province of North Carolina, British America

|death_date = {{death year and age|1836|1760}}

|death_place = Clarke County, Alabama, U.S.

|resting_place =

|party =Democratic-Republican

|alma_mater =

|profession = lawyer

|spouse =

|religion =

}}

Lemuel James Alston (1760–1836) was a slave owner{{Citation|title=Congress slaveowners|date=2022-01-13|url=https://github.com/washingtonpost/data-congress-slaveowners|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2022-01-15}} and U.S. Representative from South Carolina.

Born in the eastern part of Granville County (which is now Warren County) in the Province of North Carolina, Alston moved to South Carolina after the Revolutionary War and settled near Greens Mill, which soon became the town of Greenville, South Carolina. He studied law and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Greenville. He served as member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1789 to 1790.{{cite BDA1906 |wstitle= Alston, Lemuel James |volume= 1 |pages= 97 |short=1}}

Alston was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Tenth and Eleventh Congresses (March 4, 1807 – March 3, 1811). He moved in 1816 to Clarke County, Alabama, and settled near Grove Hill, Alabama where he presided over the orphans' court and the county court from November 1816 until May 1821. He died at "Alston Place," Clarke County, Alabama, in 1836.