USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee, from 1833 to 1875, their times and their contemporaries > Part 15
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"His life was gentle, and the elements So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up, And say to all the world, 'This was a man !'"
JOHN NETHERLAND.
Born in Virginia-Educated at Tusculum Under Doak-Two Years in Franklin, Tenn .- State Senator in 1833-Elector for State at Large in 1848-Defeated by Harris in 1859-Constantly in Politics-Jury Lawyer-Personal Characteristics.
AMONG the prominent Union leaders of East Tennessee in 1861 was John Netherland, of Hawkins County. Of this re- markable set of men, he was by nature, in some respects, per- haps, the most remarkable. In person he was more striking than any one of them. He was endowed with a native intellect scarcely inferior to that of the ablest. He possessed qualities for winning popular favor superior to any of his associates, ex- cepting one. His personality was captivating. Mr. Nether- land was born in Virginia, September 20, 1808, and died in Rogersville, Tenn., October 4, 1887. He was educated at Tusculum Academy, now Greeneville and Tusculum College, under old Dr. Samuel Doak, and read law under Judge Samuel Powell. Before he was twenty-one years of age, he obtained a law license, and soon thereafter located in the town of Franklin, Middle Tennessee, where he remained two years, then return- ing to East Tennessee. In 1833 he was a State Senator from the First District, and in 1835 represented Sullivan County in the Legislature .* In 1836, though quite a young man, he was Presidential Elector on the White electoral ticket, and cast his vote in the Electoral College for that venerable states- man. In the division of parties in the country, in 1835, he became an ardent Whig. In 1848, he was elector for the State-at-Large on the ticket for General Taylor, and cast his vote for him as President. In 1851 he was elected to the Legislature for the third time, and served with distinction in that body. In 1859 he was selected by the general voice of his party throughout the State, as the Whig candidate for Gov- ernor against Isham G. Harris, the then Democratic incumbent of that office, but was defeated by a considerable majority. His
*By the Constitution of 1796 a man was eligible to a seat in the Senate at the age of twenty-one.
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aspirations were always high. In 1847 he was a candidate before the Legislature for United States Senator, but was de- feated by the Hon. John Bell, then in the zenith of his power and popularity. In 1870 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention of the State.
During all his life John Netherland took a prominent part in politics. In every canvass, whether personally an applicant for office or not, he was zealous in behalf of the success of his party. Because of his great sagacity, his advice and his counsel were constantly solicited by the leaders throughout the State. His knowledge of men, and his shrewdness as to the effect of party measures were so well known, that his opinion had great weight. No man in the State had a keener perception of what would prove popular and what unpopular in a can- vass. He knew the people, their instincts, and their thoughts. Even Andrew Johnson could not fathom the popular mind more perfectly than he. He possessed a fund of common sense and forethought, in this regard scarcely equaled by any of our public leaders.
The strong position which Mr. Netherland won in the coun- cils of the State, and in the estimation of its distinguished men, and the reputation which he achieved as a lawyer, prove that he was no ordinary man. In olden times, in 'Tennessee, only men of real ability and great popularity were selected for the higher positions of honor and trust. The very names of the Whig leaders in the State, Bell, Jones, Foster, Brown, Campbell, Henry, Gentry, Etheridge, Nelson, and Maynard, prove that men of mediocrity were not put forward. There was such an array of talent that inferior men were not sought for the high positions. The selection of Mr. Netherland as the Elector for the State at large, in 1848, at the very time of the high noon of greatness in the State, proves that he was regarded by his party as one of its ablest defenders. And his almost unanimous nomination for Governor, in 1859, against Governor Isham G. Harris, the most adroit Democratic poli- tician, excepting Andrew Johnson, in the State, was an emphatic endorsement of his ability.
His pre-eminence as a jury lawyer was well established. His circuit embraced large portions of the first and twelfth judicial districts, extending from Sullivan County to Campbell, along the northern border of the State, a distance of more than one
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hundred miles. In these circuits, he constantly came in contact with the best legal talent in East Tennessee, possibly in the State. At every court, and in every important case, he had to encounter such lawyers as John A. Mckinney, Robert J. Mckinney, Thomas A. R. Nelson, Thomas D. Arnold, William H. Sneed, Horace Maynard, Grey Garrett, and Robert H. Hynds. These were all first-class lawyers in some department of the law, and some of them in all departments. Thomas A. R. Nelson, for illustration, was not only a technical lawyer, but he was also a jury lawyer. Yet Mr. Netherland, for more than twenty years, held the unquestioned supremacy as a jury lawyer throughout the length of his large circuit. Certainly no mean distinction.
Another fact must be taken into consideration. Mr. Nether- land's position in this respect was won solely by natural ability. He had but little literary culture, and never worked assiduously. He knew little of books, either in his profession, in history, or in general literature. He was familiar with few books-the Bible, Shakespeare, Byron, and Burns were his favorites. He was not thoroughly posted on the current events of the day. He read newspapers, but read them hurriedly and cursorily. Yet so retentive was his memory that he had a fair knowledge in reference to nearly all passing events. He had but little of the philosophy of political economy. From his calling and associa- tions, he necessarily knew something about the science of gov- erment, though he never gave it much study. His reliance at all times was upon his strong common sense, and in this he was exceptionally superior. His power and success as a jury lawyer were all due to his natural ability. His addresses, before juries and on the stump, were plain, simple, and un- adorned. There were no flights of imagination, no displays of rhetoric. He addressed the minds of men, not their fancy. His success lay in the use of his intellect, power of analysis, happy illustrations, remarkable clearness of statement, and skillful massing of facts. In the knowledge and judgment of human nature, of the motives which sway men, of their passions and prejudices, he was almost phenomenal. He could play upon the passions of jurors as an artist plays upon the strings of a violin. Yet he was no demagogue. Never was he accused of any thing dishonorable, either in the use of arguments or in appeals to juries. Trusting in his ability to win his causes,
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he disdained to resort to little or unworthy tricks. In the selection of jurors, he seemed to know intuitively whether the person presented for election or challenge was the kind of man he needed in the particular case. He read the countenances of men as an open book. He knew everybody in the wide region where he practiced, knew their history, their prejudices, their peculiarities. Hence he was scarcely ever mistaken in his choice. It was indeed a bad case where he did not win a verdict before juries.
Mr. Netherland was an upright man. While artful and shrewd in accomplishing his ends, outwitting those with whom he came in contact, it cannot be said that he resorted to questionable means. He was indeed the very prince of good fellows-genial, sociable, delightful. His fund of anecdotes was inexhaustible, and his manner of telling them inimitable. He delighted in his leisure hours-and he was rarely much pressed for time-in having around him a crowd to whom he told innocent stories, and recounted reminiscences. He was a wit and a humorist. Humor bubbled up in him like a perennial spring. All his speeches abounded in it, yet it was only used to illustrate weighty facts. In repartee and sarcasm he was rarely surpassed. To illustrate: an old lawyer friend between whom and himself there had always been a little jealousy, but great intimacy, were in the habit of indulging their wit upon each other, sometimes in rather rough terms. They were both together at court in the presence of two or three friends, among them myself, when they began to rally each other. Said this friend to the company: "Mr. Netherland is the closest man I have ever known. If he were traveling along the highway and came to the forks of the road, and one fork led down to perdition, and the other up to Paradise, and he had to pay toll of ten cents along the road to the Celestial City, he would refuse to pay it, and would take the road to the regions below." "Yes," said Mr. Nether- land, quick as thought, "if you were already in Paradise in Abraham's bosom, and some boon companion were to shake a bottle of liquor at you from the bottomless gulf, and say, 'Come down and let us take a drink of good old whiskey together,' you would say 'Farewell, father Abraham,' and at once start for the regions below." This colloquy ended the conversation without ill-feeling on the part of either.
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I have noted that Mr. Netherland would not confine himself to hard study. He often did himself injustice by the habit of relying upon his natural ability. An illustration of this is given by Governor Harris, in accounting for his success over Mr. Netherland (the race in 1859). Harris said that when he heard that Netherland was to be his competitor, know- ing his reputation as a man of ability and his skill as a public debater, he felt a little uneasy as to whether he should be able successfully to meet him on the stump. He therefore went to work, preparing himself thoroughly for the discussion of every public question that was likely to arise between them. Harris entered the contest, therefore, armed at every point for their joint debates. When the canvass opened, it soon became evident to everybody that Harris had the advantage over Netherland in detailed information upon the issues involved in their discus- sions. The result was while in natural ability Netherland was the equal of Harris, he did not gain the advantage over him that his friends expected, and was not elected Governor.
And yet, in his old age, Governor Harris told a mutual friend, that so fertile were the resources of Mr. Netherland, that, in this canvass, in order to keep upon his feet, he had to be more cautious than with any other antagonist he had ever en- countered. Netherland could, in fact, turn the most serious charge of an opponent, or destroy the force of it, by a shrewd answer or by his wit and irresistible humor, and he seldom failed to do this.
In person, Mr. Netherland was tall and slender, being fully six feet high. His body was straight, round, very symmetrical and graceful. In his younger and better days he dressed in faultless manner, which set off his person to advantage. His head was large, round, and intellectual in contour. His face could hardly be called handsome, and yet it was of such a character, so well molded, that he would everywhere impress the beholder. The face had something of sternness, and yet, he was neither stern nor sour. He was, however, a man of determination, and this the face indicated. He could not be moved from his purpose when once fixed, by any ordinary opposition. Wary and cautious in committing himself in favor of new measures, he always weighed carefully all considerations and consequences. He never ran off after new theories until he fully saw the results that were to follow. Hence he seldom
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committed the errors which politicians so often have to lament. He had, however, often to regret the use of his wit and sarcasm. He once remarked to me that these talents had been a drawback, instead of an advantage in his public life; that in moments of excitement, he had often inflicted wounds which rankled, making enemies of those against whom they were directed. This is per- haps always the case when these weapons of speech are heed- lessly used.
When the Southern States, in 1860 and 1861, began to withdraw from the Union, Mr. Netherland, being an old-time Whig of very decided conviction, naturally espoused the cause of the Union. It were needless to say that his influence among his thousands of friends in the region where he lived was very great. He was earnestly for the preservation of the Union, and took the stump in its behalf, in his own county. When the election of February, 1861, was ordered, and a Constitutional Convention was proposed to determine the status of Tennessee in the great conflict then pending, Mr. Netherland, by common consent was turned to as the ablest representative of the Union party to be sent to that Convention. After canvassing the county, he was elected by a large majority. But as that Con- vention never convened, being defeated by the people at the ballot box, in common with all other Union delegates, he never took his seat. In the succeeding canvass, upon the straight and direct question of separation, or no-separation, Mr. Nether- land remained unflinchingly on the side of the Union. His standing and ability gave him great weight in holding East Tennessee loyal to the government. He deserves therefore to be ranked as one of the prominent Union leaders of East Tennessee. But as he was not so active as some others in the great fight that took place in the spring of 1861, the same honor cannot be claimed for him in the success which followed, that right- fully belongs to those whose efforts covered a wider field.
Mr. Netherland was a member of the celebrated Knoxville- Greeneville Convention. He took no active part in its delibera- tions, but singular to say, the only speech in that body, given even in brief terms is his. It was wise and patriotic and doubt- less made an impression. It was spoken early in the delibera- tions ; he earnestly advised moderation and conservatism. In the subsequent proceedings Mr. Netherland took no active part. But it was evident from his speech that he was opposed to any
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wild, revolutionary measures. Thus he stood firm and deter- mined in his opposition to secession to the closing scenes of the agitation. Throughout the long months that intervened be- tween June, 1861, and September, 1863, Mr. Netherland's sympathies were all on the side of the Union. He was, however, prudent and conciliatory, and demeaned himself in such a man- ner as to escape arrest, or to avoid bringing upon himself any serious odium on the part of the authorities of the Southern Confederacy. In the Spring of 1864, when a majority of the Union leaders of East Tennessee conceived it to be their duty to separate from the Administration of Mr. Lincoln, and unite in a conservative course in favor of the election of General McClellan, he united with them. From that time until his death he co-operated with and supported the Democratic party. The little faults of Mr. Netherland were so overshadowed by the multitude of his good qualities, that no friend would venture for a moment to suggest them. So striking were his qualities, so lovable was he personally, so superior in point of intellect, that long after most of his contemporaries shall have been for- gotten, his name will be an endeared household word among those who remember him as he was in his prime, and his wit, his sayings, and his kindly deeds will descend as pleasant recollections. What man who once knew John Netherland in- timately,-that warm, genial, sunshiny nature,-can ever for- get him !
THOMAS A. R. NELSON.
His Phenomenal Rise at the Bar-An Old-line Whig-Nelson and Haynes Canvass of 1858-First Speech in Congress, December, 1859-Nelson and Johnson in Tennessee, Spring of 1861-Re-elected to U. S. Con- gress-Captured and Taken to Richmond-Letter Published on Return to His Home-Attitude Toward Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipa- tion-Attitude in 1872.
AMONG the great Union leaders of East Tennessee in 1861 Thomas A. R. Nelson was not the least. In all that was manly and brave, he had no superior. If courage, ability, and honor are qualities that make a leader in dangerous times, then this man was born to lead.
Mr. Nelson, a native of Roane County, East Tennessee, ob- tained his education at the University at Knoxville. When quite young he obtained a license to practice law. Very soon after this he moved to Jonesboro, in the eastern part of the State, where he settled to practice his profession. The bar of that circuit was at that time an unusually able one, perhaps equal to any, if not one of the strongest in the State. It embraced two lawyers, John A. Mckinney and Robert J. Mckinney, who had no superiors in the State. Besides these, there were Seth J. W. Lucky, afterward both Circuit Judge and Chancellor ; Jacob Peck, a former Judge of the Supreme Court ; Alfred Tay- lor, John Kennedy, General Thomas D. Arnold, John Nether- land, John Brabson, and others.
Soon after the settlement of Mr. Nelson in Jonesboro, he was appointed prosecuting attorney for the circuit embracing that town. As such, he had constantly to measure his strength against that of the able men I have just named. They soon found that it required all their ability to meet the strong, brave young man who had so suddenly risen up among them. He underwent no long probation at the bar, as most young men had to do in that circuit, but leaped at once into a full practice, taking his place by the side of the older lawyers. In nearly fifty years of observation I have seen no parallel to his early success.
There was much, however, in Mr. Nelson that seemed to ex-
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plain his phenomenal rise at the bar. He possessed fine natural talents. These had been polished and strengthened by education, and by most diligent study. He had a splendid con- stitution, and could endure almost incredible labor. In his profession he knew no rest, no relaxation, no cessation from work. In the preparation of his cases, every authority bear- ing on the points at issue was examined and full notes were made of it. He had a strong, deep, commanding voice, which at once arrested attention. But above all, he was the most ambitious of men. To excel, to deserve success, rather than to gain a mere empty triumph, spurred him to almost super- human efforts. But all this toil, all this boundless ambition was regulated and controlled by the keenest and the highest sense of honor and right and the most sacred regard for truth. I doubt if any man during his whole life for a moment questioned either his veracity or his honor. He possessed one other quality, without which there would have been a weak place in his charac- ter, and this was an undaunted courage that knew no fear. This courage was so conspicuous that it was never questioned.
With all these qualities there were united frankness, openness, directness, generosity, sympathy, and magnanimity, and rarely has any man possessed these in a higher degree. It can at once be seen that a man endowed with such attributes would soon impress himself favorably on a brave people like those of East Tennessee. Soon he was regarded as the very impersonation of all that was brave and manly. And so it came to pass that men never dreamed of anything little or mean or unworthy in connection with the name of T. A. R. Nelson.
All this is high praise, but it falls short of justice to this remarkable man. There was in him a combination of high qualities such as is seldom seen united in any single individual. His defects were small in comparison with his splendid charac- teristics. It may be safely said that no man in the State ever commanded the confidence of the people more unreservedly and more universally. Even his political enemies, in times of high excitement, never doubted his honesty and his good faith, and but few of them personally disliked him. Though the most positive of men, and the boldest and severest in the denunciation of wrong, he made few enemies. So thoroughly did he impress men with the idea that he spoke alone from honest convictions, that utterances which would have given the deepest offense if
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spoken by others, gave none coming from him. He was tolerant of the opinions of others, and his own manly and frank words were always received in good part.
Mr. Nelson was an old-line Whig. In the exciting canvasses of 1840 and 1844 he took an active part, and established a high reputation as a debater and orator. In 1850 Senator Bell procured for Mr. Nelson, from President Fillmore, the appoint- ment of Minister to China. But as the acceptance of this office, high and honorable as it was, involved the sacrifice of a large practice, and as the salary was only $6,000 a year, he promptly declined its acceptance. In 1851 General William B. Campbell, the Whig candidate for Governor, became ill, in the midst of the joint canvass of himself and of his competitor, Governor Trousdale, and Mr. Nelson was selected to take the place of General Campbell on the stump. In this position, with charac- teristic self-denial, he canvassed a large part of the State with marked ability. Campbell was elected, and with him a Whig Legislature, thus securing for the party a United States Sen- ator. Mr. Nelson became a candidate for this office, and was beaten by Ex-Governor James C. Jones, after a long and some- what bitter contest. Jones had made himself famous by his celebrated contests with and triumphs over James K. Polk for Governor of the State in 1841 and 1843. In 1859 he was elected to Congress from the first district, after an animated and noted canvass with Landon C. Haynes. This is one of the memorable canvasses of Tennessee. Mr. Haynes had the repu- tation of being one of the finest Democratic orators in the State. He was a fluent speaker, and possessed all the arts of a skilled politician. His voice was remarkably musical; his manner pleasing and his fancy exuberant. A few years before he had run against Andrew Johnson for Congress, and, though beaten, he was the most perfect match Johnson had perhaps ever met. Haynes was an adept in the very mode of speaking that his great rival had always used so successfully.
The discussions between Nelson and Haynes were able and high toned. Indeed, no man would have ventured to violate the rules of gentlemanly propriety in a canvass, or' a debate, with T. A. R. Nelson. He was so fair and honorable himself that he universally secured the respect of and honorable treatment from his competitors. Great crowds were attracted to the meet- ings of these two able men, and followed them from point to
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point. The partisans of each claimed the victory. In argu- ment and the marshaling of facts, Mr. Nelson was the superior ; in mere declamation, perhaps Mr. Haynes had the advantage. The district being Whig in sentiment, the former was elected. He took his seat in Congress on the 5th of December, 1859. Two days afterward, while the election of speaker was pending, he made his début in that body, and at once won national fame. In his speech he gave utterance to the most devoted at- tachment to the Federal Union. It was received with bound- less enthusiasm. During its delivery he was interrupted almost constantly by questions from Southern Democrats, and always with discomfiture to the questioners. Mr. Garnett of Virginia, and Mr. Lamar of Mississippi, had made hot, fiery Southern speeches. When Mr. Nelson arose, his voice at once arrested the attention of the House. He proceeded to discuss the politi- cal situation with great moderation and fairness, but with per- fect candor and independence. As he advanced he warmed up, and began to utter with great energy sentiments in favor of the preservation of the Union. Finally he burst forth in a magnificent appeal for our glorious united country. It was such an overflow of eloquence as schoolboys delight to declaim. The applause in the galleries, and finally on the floor, became uncontrollable.
When Mr. Nelson resumed his seat, Roger A. Pryor, the former celebrated editor of Virginia, rose to reply. He was the Hotspur of the House, and a man of ability. His speech was in that arrogant style then peculiar to Southern "Fire- eaters." He evidently did not know and had not heard of Mr. Nelson. No one knowing him would have ventured to indulge in an insulting manner toward him. In one of his first sentences he spoke of his "indignation" at the sentiments just uttered by Nelson. Pryor's speech throughout was in keeping with the manner and tone so common at the time in the South. Among other things he criticised Nelson because he had eulo- gized the Union, but had said nothing in defense of the Consti- tution. In his rejoinder Mr. Nelson was exceedingly happy on this point. He said:
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