James Madison Gudger, Jr., was born in Marshall (Madison County), North Carolina, on October 22, 1855. Gudger was a farmer and attorney who served as a state legislator (elected 1900), solicitor of the Fifteenth Judicial District (appointed 1901), and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1903-1907 & 1911-1915). He died in Asheville (Buncombe County) on February 29, 1920.