USA > Tennessee > Williamson County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 44
USA > Tennessee > Maury County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 44
USA > Tennessee > Rutherford County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 44
USA > Tennessee > Wilson County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 44
USA > Tennessee > Bedford County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 44
USA > Tennessee > Marshall County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 44
USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present , together with an historical and a biographical sketch of from twenty-five to thirty counties of east Tennessee, besides a valuable fund of notes, original observations, reminiscences, etc., etc. V. 1 > Part 44
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George W. Campbell was an early member of the bar at Nashville, and at different times during his long and varied career enjoyed a large
#Bench and Bar of the South and South west.
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and lucrative practice. He was a native of Scotland and possessed all the indomitable perseverance of his race. He was reared in poverty, and at an early age was thrown upon his own resources by the death of his father. By teaching school he worked his way through Princeton College, taking the junior and senior courses in one year and yet gradu- ating with third honors. He then resumed teaching school in New Jer- sey, and meanwhile began the study of law. He completed his legal education in North Carolina and soon after located at Knoxville, where he immediately took rank with the best lawyers in Tennessee. He was not what is usually termed a ready debater, and rarely spoke upon any important question without previous preparation. During his brief ca- reer upon the bench he exhibited the same untiring diligence which characterized him in every other sphere. He removed to Nashville in 1810 and served as judge of the supreme court. For about a year after his resignation he filled successively the offices of United States senator, Secretary of the Treasury and Minister to Russia.
Parry W. Humphreys was appointed a judge of the superior court in 1807 and continued to act as such for three years. He was afterward elected a member of the XIII Congress, and was also one of the com- missioners elected to settle the disputed boundary line between Ken- tucky and Tennessee. He was finally appointed by the Legislature to be judge of what was then the Fourth Judicial Circuit, which position he filled for a period of fifteen years. He is still remembered for the courtesy and urbanity of his deportment to the bar and for his incorrupt- ible integrity.
One of the best known and most highly esteemed members of the legal profession in East Tennessee during the early times was Pleasant M. Miller. He was born and reared in Virginia, but immigrated to Ten- nessee in 1796, locating at Rogersville. Four years later he removed to Knoxville, where he remained until 1824, when he again removed, locat- ing this time in West Tennessee. He is said to have been a most civil and affable gentleman, easy and unaffected in conversation, and a great lover of wit. He was consequently a general favorite with other mem- bers of the bar, as well as with the public.
In making mention of the early members of the profession in Ten- nessee, the name of Gen. Sam Houston must not be omitted, although he never won much distinction at the bar. After the war of 1812 he read law for a short time with James Trimble and was admitted to prac- tice. His legal knowledge was not very extensive, nor was the profes- sion much suited to his taste. He consequently soon abandoned it for the more congenial sphere of politics, where his native ability, strong
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force of character and fine personal appearance gave him great influence with the people. With his entrance into political life his connection with the profession ended.
Of the many illustrious names in the history of the bar of Tennessee during the early part of the century none is more conspicuous than that of Jenkin Whiteside .* Jenkin Whiteside has come down to the men of this generation exclusively as a great land lawyer. No one was more familiar than he with all that Coke and Blackstone and the other En- glish writers have said in their labored and profoundly reasoned treatises upon the laws of real property. No one had mastered more fully than himself the principles involved in the doctrine of executory devises and contingent remainders. No lawyer of his time could talk more learned- ly and luminously upon the celebrated rule in Shelley's case, and he man- ifested a steady energy and masterly dexterity in the management of all the sharp points and subtle devices that appertain to the trial of actions of ejectment, which things gave him many advantages over a sluggish and less wily adversary. No man could be more conversant than was Jenkin Whiteside with the whole history of land titles in Tennessee, as well as with the operations of the land offices both in that State and . North Carolina-a species of knowledge quite indispensable to success in the arduous but profitable vocation in which he had enlisted and upon which his attention had been concentrated in a manner rarely exempli- fied. He was undoubtedly a man of vigorous understanding, of wonder- ful sagacity and acuteness, devoted much to money-making, and especial- ly delighting in what was known as speculation in uncultivated lands, of which he had, in one way and another, at different times accumulated large bodies, the titles to which were not rarely involved in troublesome and expensive litigation.
Personally he is described as a man of rough and unimposing ex- terior, of awkward and ungainly manners, and had no relish whatever for those elegant and refined pursuits which are understood to distin- guish polished and aristocratic communities. He was, however, civil and unobtrusive in his general demeanor, not deficient in public spirit, and of a coarse and unpretending cordiality which made him many friends and no enemies.
Contemporary with this great land lawyer was Felix Grundy, the greatest criminal advocate that ever practiced in the courts of Tennessee. As a more extended sketch of him is given in another chapter, only a brief characterization by Judge Guild is here inserted. "Judge Grundy was not what may be called a book man or a book lawyer. To his fine
* Beuch and bar of the South and Southwest.
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voice and inimitable action there was added a brilliant intellect, through which ran a vein of strong common sense. He was good at repartee, and his wit fairly sparkled. He possessed in a marked degree the pow- er to arouse and sway the passions of the heart, to excite sympathy or indignation, to parry the blows of an adversary, and to carry his point by brilliant charge. He was a consummate judge of human nature, and this rendered him unrivaled in the selection of a jury. He was unsur- passed in developing the facts of a case, and wonderful in the cross-ex- amination of a witness introduced against his client. He generally re- lied upon his associate council to bring into court the books containing the law of the case on which they were employed, and the law was read and commented upon by those associates, and then when Mr. Grundy came to close the case, so clear were his deductions, so striking his illustra- tions, so systematically would he tear to pieces the superstructure of the op- posing council, and so vividly portray the right and justice for which he contended, that all who heard him regarded him as the finest lawyer of that or any other age. So thoroughly did he carry the crowd with him that he may be aptly likened to Paul when he made his great speech be- fore King Agrippa, and extorted from that monarch the expression 'al- most thou persuadest me to be a Christian.'"
Another contemporary, in many respects the opposite of Judge Grundy, was Hugh Lawson White, a man remarkable alike for his eccen- tricities, and for the very high order of his mental and moral endow- ments. He had but little taste for general literature, but in all that per- tains to his profession he was well versed, and there was no one for whom he had greater contempt than for the " case lawyer," except it was a mere " case judge." His incorruptible integrity, and his straightfor- ward contempt for any advantage obtained from legal quibbles gave him so strong a hold upon the esteem and confidence of the community, that it would have been difficult to empanel a jury not biased in his favor. He was a deep and comprehensive thinker, was remarkable for his powers of comparison, had an acute sense of the ludicrous and was a lover of wit. His sentences were generally short, and so selected and arranged that whatever he said could be readily followed. He was appointed a judge of the superior court of law and equity in the fall of 1801, and continued on the bench until April, 1807. Two years later he was elected a judge of the supreme court of errors and appeals, which office he held until December, 1814. While on the bench his intercourse with the members of the bar was marked by that kindness and genuine courtesy which characterized him in every relation in life. The perspicuity, accuracy and uncompromising honesty of his opinions raised him into such high
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and universal estimation that his final resignation of his seat was re- ceived with great regret.
Another member of this galaxy of brilliant legal minds was, for a time, Thomas H. Benton, who removed from the State in 1810. He be- gan the practice of law in Franklin, and it is said that from the first he was "much fonder of political pursuits than of the study of law books, and greatly preferred the making of stump speeches to the argument of legal cases." He seems not to have applied himself with diligence to his profession, and his practice as a lawyer was never large. But he was destined for a broader field of usefulness. Possessed of a commanding intellect, of large and liberal culture, industrious, temperate, resolute and endowed with a memory whose tenacity was marvelous, he soon placed himself in the front rank of those who shaped the councils of the nation, and for many years he exercised almost unbounded control over the politics of not only his own State but the entire .West, where he molded public opinion to suit himself. His history, however, belongs rather to Missouri than to Tennessee.
Without doubt the greatest jurist ever upon the bench in Tennessee was John Haywood,* who, previous to his coming to the State in 1807, * had already secured the highest judicial and professional honor in the courts of North Carolina. That he was especially adapted to his chosen profession is evident from the fact that without the advantages of a library, or the benefit of legal tuition in a lawyer's office, he fitted him- self for the practice of law, and so thorough was his preparation that when at the age of twenty-four years he made his first argument before the supreme court, he is said to have displayed as much learning and as comprehensive a view of the great landmarks of the law as any argu- ment that had ever been made before it. The following characterization of him by a contemporary is an eminently correct one: "Judge Haywood was a fine genius and a most powerful and unrivaled advocate. In tact and eloquence-such eloquence as reaches the heart and convinces the judgment-he had no equal in Tennessee. He was often employed with and against the late Felix Grundy in the most critical criminal cases, and it would not be saying too much, perhaps, to say that as an orator lie was equal if not superior to that distinguished advocate. Both had been on the supreme bench of their respective States, and both came to Ten- nessee preceded by the most brilliant reputations. Both were men of great learning and attaiments, but in all the learning which pertained to his profession Judge Haywood stood far in advance of his great rival. He possessed inexhaustible stores of imagination; was quick and ready
*The publishers designed to have the portrait of Judge Haywood appear in this work, but notwith- standing wide inquiries were made, no likeness of him of any description could be found .- ED.
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in argument, and prompt in reply. But withal his judgment was too much under the dominion of imaginative faculty, which gave to some of his opinions too great an air of eccentricity and uncertainty. He had many sympathies in common with his fellow-men, and highly cherished their good opinion, particularly of his own fame. He was ambitious in the highest degree, somewhat overbearing in his desire to be considered 'the court,' and perhaps thought too highly of his own and too little of his brother judges' opinions, and felt that he was the master-spirit in the settlement and determination of all leading questions of jurisprudence. I do not think I should do him injustice if I should say he never deliv- ered an opinion without desiring the presence of a large audience."
Associated with Judge Haywood for a time, upon the bench of the supreme court of Tennessee, was William L. Brown, a man possessing many traits of character in common with that eminent jurist. He began the practice of his profession in Clarksville, Tenn., but considering that field too narrow for his abilities he removed to Nashville. He was ambi- tious in the highest degree, and his tenacity of purpose was such that no difficulty, however great, could deter him from an undertaking. His knowledge of the law was such as few men succeed in acquiring, and his scholarly attainments, although not so extensive, were yet respectable. Gov. Foote says of him: "A man of a more fervid and insatiable ambi- tion has never lived, though the purity and elevation of his nature effect- ually held him from all those low and debasing arts by which a mere- tricious fame is so often acquired. A legitimate and honest celebrity he sought for with all the earnestness of a zealous and hopeful tempera- ment; he toiled for it with exhaustless assiduity. He meditated upon the means by which it was to be realized through many an anxious day and many a restless night. He seemed to have been born with an indom- itable confidence in his own capacity for self-advancement, and his ulti- mate realization of a splendid destiny commensurate with his aspirations and indispensable to his earthly happiness." In 1822 he was appointed a judge of the supreme court, but remained upon the bench only two years. The duties of the office were distasteful to him, and he preferred the excitement of the advocate rather than the calm dignity of the judge. The chief cause of his resignation, however, is said to have been that "he was not content to occupy a place where the overshadowing influence of Judge Haywood's long established fame necessarily held him in sec- ondary dignity." His retirement was a subject of universal regret.
In striking contrast with this remarkable man was his successor, John Catron, a man as "simple minded and as simple mannered as a child." Yet with all his innocence and generous simplicity he had a mind of
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wonderful vigor and acuteness, and his powers of judicial analysis have rarely been excelled. His capacity for labor was enormous, and his incorruptible integrity as a judge was never questioned. Born of obscure parentage and reared in poverty his early education was some- what limited, and he was never able in later years to entirely supply its deficiency. He began his legal career in the town of Sparta, where he soon gained a reputation for ability, but like many other ambitious young men he longed for a broader field of activity, and accordingly, in a short time, removed to Nashville, where his superior talents in a few years elevated him to the highest judicial position in the State. He remained on the bench of the supreme court until the change of the judicial sys- tem by the constitution of 1834, when he again resumed the practice of his profession. President Jackson, on the last day of his second term, appointed him as a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, which office he held until his death, a period of more than thirty years.
Henry Crabb, the successor of Judge Haywood upon the bench of the supreme court, was for many years a member of the Nashville bar, and a rival of William L. Brown, in opposition to whom he often ap- peared in the most important cases. He was a well-balanced, dignified, imperturbable, polished gentleman, of more than ordinary talents and of considerable learning. He had a decided advantage over his more ex- citable rival whenever they were thrown into professional antagonism. His calm self-possession, quiet sarcasm, and half-concealed raillery so excited the feelings of his adversary that on more than one occasion an appeal to "the code " seemed imminent. The opinions delivered by him during the brief period that he occupied his seat upon the bench show him to have possessed a thoroughly judicial mind. Cave Johnson, a sketch of whom appears in another chapter, was for many years a prac- titioner of law, and accumulated a handsome fortune by his energy, shrewdness and practical intelligence. He was always a persuasive, ear- nest and eloquent speaker, and thoroughly skilled in debate, but for some thirty years of his life he was too deeply immersed in politics to achieve the highest distinction in his profession.
William E. Anderson, who came to Nashville about 1825, was a man who attracted universal attention, not only on account of his gigantic stature, but from his otherwise commanding appearance. His distin- guishing characteristic was strength, both physical and mental. He was not, however, a very diligent student, and was somewhat inclined to ex- cessive self-indulgence and conviviality. He stood high at the bar and his services were eagerly sought, but he was too negligent in the prepar- ation of his cases to be a truly successful lawyer. He was for a time a
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judge of the circuit court, and removed to Mississippi about 1845. Ser- eral other members of the profession of this period possessed scarcely less ability than those already noticed, but perhaps through force of cir- cumstance or lack of ambition did not attain the eminent distinction accorded to their more fortunate contemporaries. In this class may be mentioned James Trimble, who practiced his profession in Knoxville and Nashville for nearly twenty years, and for a time was upon the bench of the circuit court. He was well acquainted with all that pertained to his profession, and was also a thorough student of general literature. In his law cases he was laborious, and was indefatigable in his efforts for his clients. His style of speaking was conversational, but the zeal and interest which was manifested by the tone of his voice and the flash of his eye carried conviction to the minds of a jury. His energy, however, proved too much for his strength, and while yet in the prime of life he died from the effects of overwork.
Another talented member of the profession at this time who was cut off in early manhood was John Dickinson. Born and educated in Mas- sachusetts he came to Nashville a young man, and while serving as deputy clerk of the United States Court prosecuted the study of law. His energy and industry soon qualified him for his profession, in which he soon rose to distinction and took his place by the side of the ablest advo- cates of the time. He was faithful to his business, and manifested the most unswerving honesty in all his dealings. He was one of the able land lawyers of his day, and acquired a large and remunerative practice. Had a longer life been granted him it is doubtful if his fame would have been circumscribed by the narrow limits of the State.
"Toward the close of the last century a very worthy Dutch family was residing in the town of Lebanon, Tenn., now so celebrated for its institu- tion of learning and specially for its law school. The Terger mansion is still standing and in a comfortable state of preservation. In this house were born eight worthy gentlemen, all brothers, and all but one of them practitioners of law."* None of the brothers remained permanently in Tennessee, but at least two of them won high reputations before remov- ing from the State. George S. Terger, the eldest brother, officiated for some years as reporter of the judicial decisions of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, at first alone and afterward with his younger brother. His early education was somewhat limited, but this deficiency was more than supplied by his great store of legal knowledge, which, although it had been obtained in a somewhat irregular manner, was thoroughly digested and ready for use at any moment it might be wished. He possessed in-
*Bench and Bar of the South and Southwest.
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tellectual faculties of a high order, was kind and generous in all his im- pulses, and was alike "devoid of envy, of low selfishness, of narrow and ir- rational prejudices and of overweening ambition." He moved to Missis- sippi in 1839, and in the courts of that State he succeeded in maintaining his high reputation unimpaired to the end of his life. J. S. Terger pos- sessed many qualities of mind in common with his elder brother, but was perhaps of a more sociable disposition, and possessed conversational pow- ers of a most entertaining and instructive order. He was widely read, and his general education was thorough and complete. He was a good judge of both men and their motives of action, and consequently was un- surpassed in the selection of a jury. He, too, removed to Mississippi, where he became eminent both as a judge and an advocate. ..
Thomas H. Fletcher began life as a merchant, but becoming in- volved financially during the crisis of 1818-19, he was led to the study of law, and soon came to be recognized as one of the leading members of the bar. "Although he had a large and general practice, he stood pre-em- inently high as a criminal advocate, and possessed all the requirements for success in that special forensic field. A good judge of human nature, knowing its strong and its weak side, he selected his jury with great dis- crimination, and having a heart as tender as a woman's his feelings were naturally with his clients in their distress, and he always made their cause his own. There have been great criminal lawyers in Tennessee, but few his equal and none his superior. His voice was clear and strong, his manner earnest and excited but never rude and boisterous ; pathetic or humorous as the occasion suggested, he always spoke with good taste and made perhaps fewer failures than almost any other lawyer at the bar. He was very popular with the profession, especially among the younger lawyers, whom he always treated with the utmost kindness and courtesy. His reading was extensive, and not confined to professional works, and often beguiled his leisure hours in composition for the news- papers on the ephemeral subjects of the day. There was in his manner no rudeness, in his speech no coarseness or invective, and his sympathy for the misfortunes of his fellow-men was unbounded."* His death, which occurred from apoplexy brought on by over-exertion, was the sub- ject of universal regret.
Jacob Peck, for twelve years a judge of the supreme court of errors 1 and appeals, and at the time of his death one of the oldest attorneys in the State, was licensed to practice in 1808. He was a native of Vir- ginia, but removed to Tennessee at a very early period of his life. He was a man of varied talents and extensive knowledge, and his genius was
*John M. Lea in Nashville Banner.
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of a high order. He had an especial fondness for painting, poetry, and music, and also took much delight in the study of zoology and mineral- ogy, in which sciences he was looked upon as an authority.
Edward Scott, who presided on the bench of the Knoxville Circuit for nearly thirty years, was a man of great eccentricities, and many amus- ing stories are told of him. He was a native af Virginia, but came at an early day to Tennessee. He was a hard student of text-books and re- ports, but failed to get down to the broad, underlying principles of the law, and was consequently looked upon as a case lawyer. While on the bench, he administered the law as he remembered it, and seldom threw himself upon his own mental resources. He was never partial to young lawyers either in manner or speech, but was frequently rude and uncivil, though he was a man of kindness and tender sensibilities. In 1820 he published his revisal of the laws of Tennessee in two large volumes. This served the lawyers and judges of the State for their principal refer- ence until the compilation of Caruthers & Nicholson was published in 1838.
Pryor Lea was a prominent member of the early bar of East Tennes- see. He was a native of Grainger County, and attended Blount College while under the presidency of Samuel Carrick. He was an indefatigable student, and at the bar his forte was special pleading. He removed to Mississippi about 1836 or 1837, and later went to Texas, where he re- cently died at a very advanced age.
Col. John Williams was one of the pioneer lawyers of East Tennes- see, but his career as a politician eclipsed his legal career. He served as a member of the General Assembly, as a United States Senator, and was sent as minister to Guatemala by President Adams. He was a brother of Thomas L. Williams, who rather excelled him as a lawyer. He was most courtly and fascinating in his manners, and although not an elo- quent speaker, possessed a wonderful personal magnetism.
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