"},"death_date":{"wt":"July 16,1866"},"death_place":{"wt":"[[Knoxville,Tennessee]]"},"resting_place":{"wt":"[[Old Gray Cemetery]]
Knoxville,Tennessee"},"education":{"wt":"[[University of Tennessee|East Tennessee College]]"},"party":{"wt":"[[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]]
[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]"},"occupation":{"wt":"Attorney"},"spouse":{"wt":""},"children":{"wt":""},"parents":{"wt":""},"website":{"wt":""},"footnotes":{"wt":""},"box_width":{"wt":""}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBA">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}
Samuel R. Rodgers | |
---|---|
Speaker of the Tennessee Senate | |
In office April 5, 1865 –June 10, 1865 [1] | |
Preceded by | Burton L. Stovall |
Succeeded by | Joshua B. Frierson |
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee | |
In office 1850–1853 [2] | |
Preceded by | Thomas C. Lyon |
Succeeded by | J. Crozier Ramsey |
Personal details | |
Born | 1798 Greeneville,Tennessee,United States [3] |
Died | July 16,1866 Knoxville,Tennessee |
Resting place | Old Gray Cemetery Knoxville,Tennessee |
Political party | Whig Party Republican Party |
Education | East Tennessee College |
Occupation | Attorney |
Samuel Ramsey Rodgers (1798 – July 14,1866) 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.
Prior to the war,Rodgers served as U.S. Attorney for Tennessee's Eastern District (1850–1853),and taught at East Tennessee College (the forerunner of the University of Tennessee).
Rodgers was born in Greeneville,Tennessee. [3] [4] According to the historian J. G. M. Ramsey,he was the son of James Rodgers,a farmer from Washington County who settled near the Ramsey House in Knox County in the early 1810s. [5] Rodgers trained as a blacksmith before pursuing studies at East Tennessee College in Knoxville. [3] After excelling as a student,he worked as an instructor at the college from 1826 to 1827. [6] He studied law under Senator Hugh Lawson White,and was admitted to the bar in 1831. [3]
During the Black Hawk War (1832),Rodgers served as a commissary colonel,and thus the title "Colonel" would subsequently be associated with his name. [3] In 1834,Rodgers organized a petition calling for the gradual abolition of slavery,which he submitted to the state constitutional convention then in session. [3] [7] In 1849,President Zachary Taylor appointed Rodgers United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee. He served in this position until 1853. [2]
In 1855,Rodgers ran as the American Party ("Know Nothing") candidate for the Tennessee Senate seat representing Knox and Roane counties, [8] and defeated Democrat and popular Knoxville businessman Joseph A. Mabry in the general election. [9] He served on the senate's judiciary,internal improvements,and public grounds committees. [10] During his term,he obtained funding for the Tennessee School for the Deaf and Dumb in Knoxville, [11] and generally supported state funding for railroad construction. [12] [13] He left the senate at the end of his term in 1857.
During the 1860 presidential election,Rodgers supported the Constitutional Union Party candidate John Bell,who sought to preserve the union by opposing both secession and abolition. In September 1860,Rodgers was one of five Bell supporters who confronted radical Alabama secessionist William Yancey during one of Yancey's campaign events in Knoxville. Rodgers was one of the more vocal Unionists at a citywide assembly held in Knoxville in late 1860 to discuss the secession issue. [14]
In May 1861,Rodgers was among the Unionists who signed a call for the region's Union supporters to meet in Knoxville at what would become known as the East Tennessee Convention. He attended this convention as a member of the Knox County delegation. [15]
Rodgers presided over the January 1865 convention that reorganized Tennessee's state government. [16] This convention nominated radical Knoxville newspaperman William "Parson" Brownlow for governor,suggested a slate of candidates (including Rodgers) for the state legislature, [17] and proposed an amendment to the state constitution outlawing slavery. [18] In the March 1865 elections scheduled by the convention,Rodgers was elected to the Tennessee Senate seat for the new fifth district,which consisted of Knox and Roane counties (his previous constituency). [3]
When the state senate convened on April 5,Rodgers was elevated to speaker. In his acceptance speech,he stated the new senate's immediate purpose was to "restore this once proud,prosperous and happy state to its original place among the loyal States of the Union." [19] He further proposed that the legislature take steps to ensure that the loyal people of Tennessee would never again be "governed by rebels." [20] One of the senate's first actions was to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,which outlawed slavery. [21]
In May 1865,the state senate turned to a contentious piece of legislation known as the "Franchise Bill," which would bar former Confederates from voting. While the more radical members of the legislature,including Rodgers,vigorously supported the bill,some of the more moderate legislators (including Rodgers' House counterpart William Heiskell) opposed it. Speaking forcefully in favor of the bill,Rodgers stated that Rebels "had no right to live,much less to vote," and that it was "a piece of impudence for them to come here and ask the immunities of loyal citizens of America." [22] In a subsequent speech,he stated that a truly repentant Rebel would ask only of Union leaders,"let me live in the country,I ask no part in the Government,I come back a hired servant." [23] The bill eventually passed.
In early June 1865,Governor Brownlow appointed Rodgers chancellor (judge) of the state's eighth chancery district,which included Sevier,Blount,Monroe,McMinn,Roane,Knox,and Anderson counties. [24] He resigned from the state senate on June 10,1865,to take this position. [25] He had also reportedly started suffering from the symptoms of tuberculosis,which may have contributed to his decision to leave the senate. [3]
In May 1866,Rodgers chaired a convention of East Tennessee Radicals who sought to form a separate state in East Tennessee,much like the East Tennessee Convention Rodgers had attended in 1861. The Radicals were frustrated with the failure of the state legislature to pass a second,more restrictive Franchise Bill (several legislators who were opposed to the bill had fled the capital several weeks earlier to prevent a quorum,leaving the bill in limbo). Shortly after the convention adjourned,however,the legislature passed the bill,and support for East Tennessee statehood collapsed. [26]
Rodgers died from tuberculosis on July 16,1866. [3] He is buried in Knoxville's Old Gray Cemetery. [27] He was succeeded as chancellor by fellow attorney and Southern Unionist,Oliver Perry Temple. [28]
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.
The Whig was a polemical American newspaper published and edited by William G. "Parson" Brownlow (1805–1877) in the mid-nineteenth century. As its name implies,the paper's primary purpose was the promotion and defense of Whig Party political figures and ideals. In the years leading up to the Civil War,the Whig became the mouthpiece for East Tennessee's anti-secessionist movement. The Whig was published under several names throughout its existence,namely the Tennessee Whig,the Elizabethton Whig. the Jonesborough Whig,the Knoxville Whig,and similar variations.
John Williams was an American lawyer,soldier,and statesman,operating primarily out of Knoxville,Tennessee,in the first part of the 19th century. He represented Tennessee in the United States Senate from 1815 to 1823,when he lost reelection to Andrew Jackson. Williams also served as colonel of the 39th U.S. Infantry Regiment during the Creek Wars,and played a key role in Jackson's victory at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814.
William Henry Sneed was an American attorney and politician,active initially in Murfreesboro,Tennessee,and later in Knoxville,Tennessee,during the mid-19th century. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives for Tennessee's 2nd congressional district during the Thirty-fourth Congress (1855–1857). In the months leading up to the Civil War,he became a leader of Knoxville's secessionist movement. Along with his successful career as an attorney,Sneed was involved in several business ventures,most notably the Lamar House Hotel,which he purchased in 1856.
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.
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.
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.
James Gettys McGready Ramsey was an American historian,physician,planter,slave owner,and businessman,active primarily in East Tennessee during the nineteenth century. Ramsey is perhaps best known for his book,The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century,a seminal work documenting the state's frontier and early statehood periods. Ramsey was also a major advocate for development in East Tennessee,leading efforts to bring railroad access to the region,and helping to organize the region's first medical society.
James Churchwell Luttrell II was an American attorney and politician who served as Mayor of Knoxville,Tennessee,during the Civil War. His eight-year term (1859–1867) was the longest for any Knoxville mayor until the late 20th century,when it was surpassed by Victor Ashe's 16-year term. Luttrell also served as state comptroller in the late 1850s,and was elected to the state senate following his term as mayor.
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.
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 King Byrd was an American soldier and politician. A Southern Unionist,he commanded the Union Army's First Tennessee Infantry during the Civil War,and saw action at Cumberland Gap,Stones River,and in the Knoxville and Atlanta campaigns. He represented his native Roane County at the pro-Union East Tennessee Convention on the eve of the war in 1861,and at the Nashville convention that reorganized the Tennessee state government toward the end of the war in January 1865.
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.