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 Whig Party ideals and opposed secession 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.
Felix Kirk Zollicoffer was an American newspaperman, slave owner, politician, and soldier. A three-term United States Congressman from Tennessee, an officer in the United States Army, and a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War; he led the first Confederate invasion of eastern Kentucky and was killed in action at the Battle of Mill Springs. Zollicoffer was the first Confederate general to die in the Western Theater.
Landon Carter Haynes was an American politician who served as a Confederate States senator from Tennessee from 1862 to 1865. He also served several terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives, including one term as speaker (1849–1851). In the early 1840s, Haynes worked as editor of the Jonesborough-based newspaper, Tennessee Sentinel, garnering regional fame for his frequent clashes with rival editor, William "Parson" Brownlow.
The American Civil War significantly affected Tennessee, with every county witnessing combat. It was a divided state, with the Eastern counties harboring pro-Union sentiment throughout the conflict, and it was the last state to officially secede from the Union, in protest of President Lincoln's April 15 Proclamation calling forth 75,000 members of state militias to suppress the rebellion. Although Tennessee provided a large number of troops for the Confederacy, it would also provide more soldiers for the Union Army than any other state within the Confederacy.
Rev. William Blount Carter was a farmer, an American Presbyterian minister, and the mastermind of the East Tennessee Bridge Burnings, a guerrilla-warfare action of the American Civil War. Per one history, "Whatever else may be said about the burning of the bridges of the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad in November, 1861, there can be no doubt whatever that the plan was conceived by the Rev. William B. Carter, of Elizabethton, Tenn., and it was through his influence that Mr. Lincoln and the War Department sanctioned it and pledged the cooperation of the Government in the execution of his plans." Carter was otherwise known as a "highly educated, cultured Christian gentleman, a minister of the Presbyterian church, and highly respected by all who knew him."
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.
John Baxter was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit from 1877 to 1886. Initially a Whig, he had previously served several terms in the North Carolina House of Commons, including one term as Speaker, before moving to Knoxville, Tennessee to practice law.
Oliver Perry Temple was an American attorney, author, judge, and economic promoter active primarily in East Tennessee in the latter half of the 19th century. During the months leading up to the Civil War, Temple played a pivotal role in organizing East Tennessee's Unionists. In June 1861, he drafted the final resolutions of the pro-Union East Tennessee Convention, and spent much of the first half of the war providing legal defense for Unionists who had been charged with treason by Confederate authorities.
The Knoxville Register was an American newspaper published primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, during the 19th century. Founded in 1816, the paper was East Tennessee's dominant newspaper until 1863, when its pro-secession editor, Jacob Austin Sperry (1823–1896), was forced to flee advancing Union forces at the height of the Civil War. Sperry continued to sporadically publish the Register in Atlanta, and later Bristol, until he was finally captured by Union forces in December 1864.
Christopher Alexander "Alex" Haun was a potter from Greene County, Tennessee, regarded as one of the most notable and skilled of the antebellum period. During the American Civil War, he was executed by the Confederate States of America for participation in the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy.
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.
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.
Samuel Ramsey Rodgers was an American attorney, judge and politician, who served as Speaker of the Tennessee Senate during the months following the Civil War. He oversaw the passage of several important pieces of legislation in the senate, including the state's ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Rodgers remained loyal to the Union during the war, and chaired the convention that reorganized the state government in January 1865.
Frederick Steidinger Heiskell was an American newspaper publisher, politician, and civic leader, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, throughout much of the 19th century. He cofounded the Knoxville Register, which during its early years was the city's only newspaper, and operated a printing firm that published a number of early important books on Tennessee history and law. He also served one term in the Tennessee Senate (1847–1849), and briefly served as Mayor of Knoxville in 1835. He was a trustee, organizer, or financial supporter of numerous schools and civic organizations.
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.
Robert Hatton Hodsden was an American physician, planter, and politician who served three terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives. He worked as a government physician on the Cherokee removal in 1838, and served as president of the East Tennessee Medical Society in the mid-1850s. A Southern Unionist during the Civil War, Hodsden represented Sevier County at the East Tennessee Convention in 1861, and was later arrested by Confederate authorities.
Richard Mitchell Edwards was an American attorney, politician and soldier who served one term in the Tennessee House of Representatives (1861–1862). A Southern Unionist, he represented Bradley County at the East Tennessee Convention in 1861, and served as colonel of the 4th Tennessee Cavalry of the Union Army during the Civil War. He ran unsuccessfully for governor on the Greenback Party ticket in 1878 and 1880.
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.
Lick Creek is a stream in Greene County, Tennessee. It is the largest creek in the county. Beginning north of Greeneville, the creek runs through the northern and western sections of the county before spilling into the Nolichucky River near the Hamblen County line. The creek is often a source of flooding, and usually rises after rounds of heavy rain. The creek is also the site of Civil War-related history. During the East Tennessee bridge burnings, a series of guerrilla operations carried out during the war by Union sympathizers, a bridge over Lick Creek was burned.
