William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow was an American newspaper publisher,Methodist minister,book author,prisoner of war,lecturer,and politician who served as the 17th governor of Tennessee from 1865 to 1869 and as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1869 to 1875. Brownlow rose to prominence in the late 1830s and early 1840s as editor of the Whig,a polemical newspaper in East Tennessee that promoted Henry Clay and the Whig Party ideals,and also that repeated Brownlow's opposition to secession by the southern slave states in the years leading up to the American Civil War. Brownlow's uncompromising and radical viewpoints made him one of the most divisive figures in Tennessee political history and one of the most controversial Reconstruction Era politicians of the United States.
Isham Green Harris was an American and Confederate politician who served as the 16th governor of Tennessee from 1857 to 1862,and as a U.S. senator from 1877 until his death. He was the state's first governor from West Tennessee. A pivotal figure in the state's history,Harris was considered by his contemporaries the person most responsible for leading Tennessee out of the Union and aligning it with the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Alvin Hawkins was an American jurist and politician. He served as the 22nd Governor of Tennessee from 1881 to 1883,one of just three Republicans to hold this position from the end of Reconstruction to the latter half of the 20th century. Hawkins was also a judge on the Tennessee Supreme Court in the late 1860s,and was briefly the U.S. consul to Havana,Cuba,in 1868.
Henry Emerson Etheridge was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for Tennessee's 9th congressional district from 1853 to 1857,and again from 1859 to 1861. He also served one term in the Tennessee House of Representatives (1845–1847) and one term in the Tennessee Senate (1869–1871). After Tennessee seceded in 1861,he was elected Clerk of the United States House of Representatives,serving until 1863.
James Mullins was an American politician who represented Tennessee's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1867 to 1869. He also served a single term in the Tennessee House of Representatives (1865–1867). Described as a "fierce fanatic of the Republican Party," Mullins supported the initiatives of Governor William G. Brownlow in the state legislature,most notably leading efforts to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.
William McFarland was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1875 to 1877,representing the 1st congressional district of Tennessee. He is one of only two Democrats to have won this district's seat since the Civil War. McFarland also served as a state court judge in 1869,and as mayor of Morristown,Tennessee,from 1882 to 1885. A Southern Unionist,he was a member of the Jefferson County delegation at the pro-Union East Tennessee Convention in 1861.
Leonidas Campbell Houk was a lawyer who served in the United States House of Representatives for the 2nd congressional district of Tennessee. Between 1878 and 1891,Houk was elected to seven consecutive terms in the House,during which time he helped solidify the Republican congressional dominance in East Tennessee that remains to the present day. Houk fought for the Union Army during the Civil War,and rose to the rank of colonel within a few months. Largely self-trained as a lawyer,Houk served as a state circuit court judge from 1866 to 1869.
Thomas Amos Rogers Nelson was an American attorney,politician,and judge,active primarily in East Tennessee during the mid-19th century. He represented Tennessee's 1st Congressional District in the 36th U.S. Congress (1859–1861),where he gained a reputation as a staunch pro-Union southerner. He was elected to a second term in 1861 on the eve of the Civil War,but was arrested by Confederate authorities before he could take his seat.
The American Civil War significantly affected Tennessee,with every county witnessing combat. During the War,Tennessee was a Confederate state,and the last state to officially secede from the Union to join the Confederacy. Tennessee had been threatening to secede since before the Confederacy was even formed,but didn’t officially do so until after the fall of Fort Sumter when public opinion throughout the state drastically shifted. Tennessee seceded in protest to President Lincoln's April 15 Proclamation calling forth 75,000 members of state militias to suppress the rebellion. Tennessee provided the second largest number of troops for the Confederacy,and would also provide more southern unionist soldiers for the Union Army than any other state within the Confederacy.
Joseph Alexander Cooper was an American farmer,soldier,and civil servant. A Southern Unionist,he fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War,commanding units at Mill Springs,Stones River,Chickamauga,Franklin,Nashville,Bentonville,and in the Knoxville and Atlanta campaigns. He had achieved the rank of Brevet Major General by the time he was mustered out in early 1866.
The East Tennessee Convention was an assembly of Southern Unionist delegates primarily from East Tennessee that met on three occasions during the Civil War. The convention most notably declared the secessionist actions taken by the Tennessee state government on the eve of the war unconstitutional,and requested that East Tennessee,where Union support remained strong,be allowed to form a separate state that would remain part of the United States split from the rest of Confederate Tennessee. The state legislature denied this request,and the Confederate Army occupied the region in late 1861.
William Heiskell was an American politician,active primarily in Tennessee,in the mid-19th century. He served a tumultuous term as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives in the months following the Civil War,where he opposed the radical agenda of Governor William G. Brownlow,most notably refusing to sign the state house's ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1866. A Whig,he had previously served a single term in the Tennessee House,from 1849 to 1851.
Charles Inman was an American politician,soldier and farmer,who served two terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives,from 1865 to 1869. A Radical Republican,he typically supported the initiatives of Tennessee's postwar governor,William G. Brownlow. He voted in favor of the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment,and supported legislation punishing former Confederates.
William H. Wisener was an American politician,active primarily at the state level in Tennessee during the mid-19th century. He served four terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives,including one term as Speaker (1853–1855). A Southern Unionist,he led the opposition to secession in the House on the eve of the Civil War. After the war,he served in the Tennessee Senate,where he introduced the 13th Amendment for ratification in April 1865.
Alfred Madison Cate was an American politician,soldier and farmer who served two terms in the Tennessee Senate from 1865 to 1869. A Radical Republican,he generally supported the policies of Governor William G. Brownlow,including ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He served as chairman of the Republican State Central Committee in the late 1860s.
John Miller Fleming was an American newspaper editor,attorney and politician,active primarily in Tennessee during the latter half of the 19th century. He rose to prominence as editor of the Knoxville Register in the late 1850s,and worked as the editor of various newspapers,including the Knoxville Press and Herald,the Knoxville Tribune,and the Knoxville Sentinel,in the decades following the Civil War. He also served two terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives,and was appointed Tennessee's first Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1873.
Daniel Coffee Trewhitt was an American attorney,judge,and politician. He served one term (1859–1861) in the Tennessee House of Representatives,where he was one of the few state legislators to oppose secession on the eve of the Civil War. He represented Hamilton County at the pro-Union East Tennessee Convention,and afterward fought for the Union Army. He served as judge of the state's second chancery division from 1864 to 1870,and judge of the state's fourth circuit court from 1878 to 1891.
The 1867 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on August 1,1867,to elect the governor of Tennessee. Incumbent Republican governor Parson Brownlow defeated Conservative nominee Emerson Etheridge with 76.85% of the vote.
The 1869 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on August 5,1869,to elect the next governor of Tennessee. Incumbent Republican governor Parson Brownlow was elected to the United States Senate and resigned as governor on February 25,1869. Republican Dewitt Clinton Senter,being the speaker of the Tennessee Senate,became governor following Brownlow's resignation.
The 1861 Tennessee gubernatorial (Confederate) election was held on August 1,1861,to elect the governor of Tennessee. Incumbent Democratic governor Isham G. Harris won re-election,defeating Independent Democrat William Hawkins Polk,brother of former president James K. Polk,with 63.37% of the vote.
