USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee, from 1833 to 1875, their times and their contemporaries > Part 6
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MEIGS COUNTY .- T. J. Matthews, Thomas Miller, Andrew Campbell, Thomas Sessell.
RHEA COUNTY .- James W. Gillespie, William Monger, Washington Monger.
MARION COUNTY .- Robert Roulston, David Rankin, G. W. Duane, William Pryor.
HAMILTON COUNTY .- William Clift, A. M. Cate, D. C. Tre- whitt, William Crutchfield, A. A. Pearson, John H. James, James R. Hood, E. B. James, Presley T. Lomenic (a noted guide), Hon. Reese B. Brabson, George W. Rider, Jesse M. Ra- gan, William Crowder, Monroe Masterson, E. H. Cleveland, J. D. Kenner, E. M. Cleveland.
BLEDSOE COUNTY .- General James G. Spears, Hon. Thomas N. Frazier, A. L. Pitts, A. H. McReynolds, Isaac Robertson.
SEQUATCHIE COUNTY .- Washington Heard, Marion Herson.
THOMAS D. ARNOLD.
Born Two Years After Tennessee Became a State-Served Under Jack- son-Admitted to Bar, 1822-Defeated for Congress, 1827 and 1829- Elected, 1831, Though Anti-Jackson-Moved to Greeneville-Defeated by Blair, 1835-Elector, 1840-Encounter with Felix Grundy at Greene- ville-At Rogersville Next Day-In Congress Again, 1841-43-Second Time, District Changed to Defeat Him-Attitude in 1861-Success in Jury Causes-Peculiarly Emotional Nature.
THOMAS D. ARNOLD stood out by himself with a clear and a distinct individuality. No one altogether like him has lived in the State, and probably ever will. No one could have run the career he ran, and have created the impression upon his generation that he did, without some measure of greatness. He was a native of Virginia, born May 3, 1798-two years after Tennessee became a State-and died May 6, 1870. His father was in humble circumstances, therefore his education was limited. Yet, in after life he had so overcome these disad- vantages that his deficiences were scarcely perceptible. When quite a lad he served as a Volunteer soldier in the War of 1812, under General Jackson. Some years later he studied law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1822. Aggressiveness and native ability soon gave him a respectable clientage. His ambition was boundless. In 1827 he became a candidate for Congress against Pryor Lee, a man of ability and worth, but was de- feated. Again in 1829 he was a candidate, with the same result. But in 1831 his popularity enabled him to defeat his former competitor, and to secure the coveted prize. In those days parties had not taken on very distinct names. Men were divided into parties by leaders rather than by issues. Arnold was admitted to the bar in 1822. Aggressiveness and native called a Whig. He boldly and defiantly denounced the admin- istration of General Jackson, and made personal war upon him. The overpowering popularity of General Jackson in Tennessee, and this open opposition to him on the part of Arnold, fully accounts for his first two defeats. In 1828 he was an ardent supporter of John Quincy Adams for the Presidency, and in 1832 he again opposed General Jackson,
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and at that day few public men had the courage to oppose the iron will of the hero of New Orleans. During Arnold's term in Congress, 1831-33, he acquired almost a national notoriety. During this term the Legislature changed his district, attach- ing Jefferson and Cocke Counties, where his greatest popu- larity existed, to the first district, then and for a long time previously represented by John Blair. Arnold was too proud spirited to submit to defeat in this manner in his ambitious scheme for Congressional honors. He therefore determined to change his residence to the first district, and to become a candi- date against Blair. Accordingly, he moved to Greeneville, and entered the race of 1833 against the able representative who had so long represented that district. The contest was warm and in some respects bitter. But Blair was still too firmly entrenched in the confidence and affections of the people of that district to be overthrown by a comparative stranger and was elected. In 1835 Arnold was again a candidate for Congress, and had for competitors Blair, Wm. B. Carter, and Alex- ander Anderson. The contest was long and exceedingly ani- mated, not to say bitter, and resulted in Blair's re-election.
After these repeated defeats for Congress, Arnold gave up for the time at least, his political aspirations, and returned to the bar. He soon became one of the leading lawyers of that section, and his practice became large and lucrative. He con- tinued to follow his profession with great energy and industry until the first guns were fired in the notable political contest of 1840. The sound of these shots awakened in Arnold his old political ambition, and like a war-steed he panted for the coming battle. By the unanimous voice of the Whig party of his district, he was chosen Presidential elector on the Harrison ticket. He entered the canvass in February or March with all the enthusiasm of a young man, and laid off his armor only after the victory of the November following. Bravely and ef- ficiently he fought for the success of his ticket, with a zeal unsurpassed by that of any other man. Like an armored knight of old, he was ready to meet any champion, however great, who chose to enter the lists. No Democratic orator came into his district without being forced to encounter that redoubtable Whig. Numberless were the battles he fought, and while he was not always victorious, many were the victories he won.
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General Arnold proved in this campaign a hospitable man. He met on the border of his district every Democratic orator who approached, and never left him until he had departed, ex- changing with him on the stump such compliments as were then in fashion. With knightly courtesy he welcomed the com- ing and speeded the parting guest, giving him always a warm reception. I venture to say that no one ever left his district without a vivid recollection of the entertainment he had received. It had been varied, piquant, and highly seasoned.
Among those whom Arnold met in debate was the celebrated Felix Grundy. In 1840 this renowned orator, in returning from his public duties in Washington to his home in Nashville, made a few of his almost matchless speeches in East Tennessee, advocating the re-election of Van Buren. In Greeneville, and at two or three other points, Arnold asked and obtained a division of time. The crowd present at Greeneville was im- mense, composed almost exclusively of Democrats from adjoin- ing counties. They were the real rampant, shouting type of Democrats, and only a stout-hearted Whig could face such a multitude of defiant stalwarts. But Arnold had no fear, and their shouts did not intimidate him. In order to emphasize the republican simplicity of the Whig party, as illustrated by General Harrison, in contrast with the almost royal preten- sions of the Democratic party, so absurdly alleged in that canvass of ridiculous extravagances, Arnold had arrayed him- self in a suit of yellow nankeen, with blue, white, yellow, and perhaps red stripes. His appearance was picturesque in the extreme. Grundy was, on the other hand, dressed elegantly and faultlessly-with a flaunting ruffled shirt, the style at that time, with large diamond studs, and wearing a large showy seal ring on his hand. Arnold was thrust forward to speak before Grundy, but after Harvey Watterson, or Hopkins L. Turney, both members of Congress and traveling companions of Grundy. To show the aristocratic habits of the Democratic party, Arnold in his speech, pointed, in a triumphant manner, to the ruffles, the gold ring, and diamond studs of Grundy. Had he been speaking to a Whig crowd on this point, his speech would have been rapturously received. But there were no Whigs present. The royal tendencies of Van Buren, the "gold spoon of fiction," and "Prince John Van Buren's dancing
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with Queen Victoria," were at that time everywhere proclaimed by Whig orators, and Arnold publicly referred to these. When Grundy came to reply, Arnold was considerably disfigured, and received some severe political wounds. Such wit, such humor, such sarcasm, and such pathos, are seldom heard. Grundy said among other things: "If I were young and handsome as my friend is [ironically ], I could wear anything, even the ring- streaked, striped, and speckled suit, like Laban's sheep, in which he is arrayed, and which so admirably suits him, and so well represents the principles of his party. But I am old, my hair is white, my face is furrowed with wrinkles, and it has lost the ruddy bloom of youth so beautifully marked on my friend's face. [Mr. Arnold's face was scarlet.] I am going to my old friends and constituents. I have put on the best I could find as a compliment to them. I wish to show them the highest respect in my power. The best is not equal to their merits. I go to them arrayed in the best possible way, to hide, as far as possible, the hideous ravages of old age." Thus he continued with irony, ridicule, and pathos for half an hour. Before the finish there was not a man in all the vast assemblage but felt that Grundy was paying a most delicate compliment to the proud people of Tennessee by his elegant attire, which Arnold had attempted to ridicule.
In the meantime, Arnold, in his zebra-like suit of yellow nankeen, standing upon the platform, in full view of five or ten thousand people, interjected from time to time, in a loud voice, happy and witty replies. As Grundy, in the most in- imitable manner, and with consummate irony, criticised the dress of Arnold, pointing out its resemblance to the diversified prin- ciples of the Whig party, the crowd of shouting Democrats sent up a noise that shook the very foundations of the hills around. The sound of ten Niagaras would have been silenced by the shouts of this mighty multitude! But all this did not disturb Arnold. He still continued to "talk back," to inter- ject quick, sharp replies. At length Grundy, turning upon him, said: "General Arnold, you are the noisiest man I ever met. By the old common law, it took two or more disorderly persons to create a riot, but you can create a riot by yourself." But even this did not silence Arnold. A peculiarity of his was that he did not know when he was whipped, and therefore
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never was whipped. The wounds he received, like those inflicted on the ethereal spirits of Milton, healed as soon as given, and left no pain nor scar.
At Rogersville, next day, Arnold got more than even with Grundy. In his way he triumphed gloriously. Not in the least discouraged by the result of the discussion at Greene- ville, he had followed Grundy to Rogersville. The latter was speaking in the court house when Arnold arrived. He had been overtaken by a rain and was muddy and dirty. The thin nankeen suit was wet, and had drawn up and stuck to him as though he had grown in it. Certainly he was a curious sight. Boldly entering the courtroom door, he cried out at the top of his shrill voice: "Here I am again," at the same time demanding a division of time. This was promptly re- fused. "To the street, to the street!" shouted Arnold to the Whigs. Instantly half the crowd was rushing tumultuously to- ward the street, yelling and shouting as it went. Quickly Arnold was mounted on a dry-goods box, across the street, opposite the court house where Grundy was speaking. Here he called out for a Whig song. At once a great number of little campaign songbooks were pulled from the pockets of the crowd. Then hundreds of voices, pitched in the highest key, burst forth sing- ing one of the campaign songs of that day, all joining in the chorus. By this time many of Grundy's friends were quitting the court house, attracted by the unearthly noise on the street. The song was followed by three cheers for "old Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Arnold spoke for a while in his vehement, inflammatory manner, then stopping, he called for another refreshing Whig song, and so he went on until Grundy's crowd had nearly disappeared. The latter at length cut short his speech, and hurrying to the hotel, he and his party ordered their carriage, which quickly entering, they started to their next appointment. Arnold was still on his goods box, con- ducting his varied exercises. Seeing Grundy's carriage ap- proaching, he cried out in an earnest, imploring manner : "Get out of the way, get out of the way there, you common people, or those lordly aristocrats will drive right over you! Get out of the way!" Thereupon a lane was made through the crowd, and the carriage passed on, saluted by another Whig song. Such were the scenes daily witnessed in Tennessee, especially
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wherever Arnold was present, in the memorable and tumultuous campaign of 1840 .*
The prestige won by Arnold, and the faithful work he had done in the canvass of 1840, so endeared him to the great body of his party in his district that, in 1841, he was almost uni- versally looked to as the legitimate candidate for Congress. A feeble effort was made to induce another man to run against him for the nomination and he actually was nominated by a small fraction of the party unfriendly to Arnold. But this man was too sensible, too discreet to accept a nomination with inevitable defeat staring him in the face. Arnold had thus a clear field and was overwhelmingly elected. He served in the Congress of 1841-43 amid the stirring scenes of these memorable years with greater celebrity than he had hitherto attained. It may well be imagined from the aggressiveness and the boldness of Arnold, that his voice was not silent amid the clash and din and uproar of that extraordinary term of Congress, when the dauntless Clay, in the very zenith of his career, was leading the Whig party. Arnold was an ardent admirer and follower of Clay, and, it is said, a warm friend- ship grew up between them.
Arnold seemed firmly seated in the long-cherished desire of his heart-a seat in Congress. He was popular with the masses, with the voting portion of the Whig party of his district, and but for circumstances beyond his control would
*During this canvass Clay visited Nashville to make a speech at the great mass-meeting held there, where it was said forty thousand people were present. S. S. Prentiss was there also. Clay naturally inquired about his old friend and rival, Grundy. He was told that he was making speeches for Van Buren. "Oh, I see," exclaimed Clay; "still following his old profession-defending criminals." Felix Grundy was a most suc- cessful criminal lawyer. As he had been Attorney General of the United States under Van Buren, he must have been a good civil lawyer also. Be that as it may, he was unquestionably a very noted orator, possibly the greatest the State has ever had, excepting William T. Haskell. His style of speaking was soft, persuasive and incisive, captivating and irre- sistible. It was a stream of crystal water, flowing and rippling over a pebbly bottom through green meadows and woodlands, rather than a headlong mountain torrent. A handsome man, of fine person, he pos- sessed every faculty and endowment of the orator. After Hugh Lawson White quarreled with General Jackson, Grundy became the President's defender and his right arm in the Senate. Such gentle, delightful oratory I have never heard. Felix Grundy is one of the men of whom the people of Tennessee are justly proud.
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doubtless have had a succession of terms in the House. Other men, however, not of the Whig party, were as anxious as Arnold for Congressional honors. Both Andrew Johnson and Landon C. Haynes had for some time been casting longing eyes in the direction of Washington, and it happened that the former was a member of the Legislature of 1841-42, which re-districted the State. Johnson was artful enough to have carved out for himself a Democratic district, such as suited him, and to cut off from it the County of Jefferson, in which, as before stated, Arnold had his greatest popularity, and to add to it Sullivan and other Democratic counties. Thus, by two Legislatures, Arnold's district had been changed in order to defeat him. He was for the second time, in the midst of greatest popularity, driven to private life by hostile legisla- tion. With decided Whig principles and the avowal of them, there was no earthly chance of his election to Congress for the next ten years in that district, so he returned to the practice of his profession, which he assiduously and successfully fol- lowed, with brief intervals, until his death. Once during this time, perhaps in 1855, he was a candidate for the State Senate, and was defeated, but by what majority and for what cause it is immaterial to state.
When secession presented itself in this State in 1861, with all its fury and bitterness, Arnold stood like a bulwark for the preservation of the old Government, endeared to him by services as a soldier in the War of 1812. No man in all the land was more earnest or more unflinching, and few brought to bear in its defense stronger or more persuasive arguments. Everywhere, when occasion permitted, his voice was heard in no uncertain tones, in favor of the Union. His splendid speech in the Knoxville Convention, in May, 1861, of which an account is given in another book, was perhaps the most masterly effort of his life. It was indeed a great speech. Thomas D. Arnold justly deserves mention among the noted union leaders of East Tennessee.
After the close of the War Mr. Arnold continued the prac- tice of his profession with unabated zeal, until his sudden death while attending Court at Jonesboro, in 1870, in the seventy- second year of his age. At this advanced age he seemed to have lost none of the vigor nor force of mind which had char-
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acterized him in the days of his early robust manhood. He was still alert, bright, athletic, aggressive. He possessed by nature a wonderful constitution.
Thomas D. Arnold was neither a learned nor an exact law- yer. He knew imperfectly a good deal of law, but this knowl- edge was fragmentary and detached. He did not know the law as a science nor as a whole, but was an able and successful advo- cate, in this respect few men in Tennessee being his superior. For twenty years he constantly came in contact with such lawyers as the Mckinneys, Nelson, and Netherland, and victory fell sometimes to one, sometimes to another. He was on one side of nearly every important jury case in the courts where he practiced, and no lawyer, however able, expected to gain an easy success over him. Arnold's knowledge of human na- ture, of the motives, feelings, and instincts of men, was nearly equal to that of John Netherland, and he could play upon these and move men through them with nearly the same success. Wit, admirable raillery, and a remarkable power of ridicule were combined in him with sarcasm of the keenest character. In important cases he rarely failed to draw tears from the jury. In contests, he was capable of pathetic and eloquent appeals. He was tender-hearted, and could weep like a child over the wrongs of his client. By ridicule on the one hand, and impas- sioned appeals on the other, he constantly excited laughter or tears, while his power of invective was simply terrible. His tongue was as keen as a razor, and his sharp sayings were rained with resistless force, like the discharges of a Gatling gun, upon opposing litigants and witnesses. He had the faculty of seiz- ing upon trivial circumstances, dwelling and harping upon them in his irresistible manner, until he caused the jury to overlook the vital points in controversy. He often thus wrested verdicts from the opposing council when both the law and the facts were against him. A fighter from the start to the close of a case, he never yielded, never gave up, never gave quarter. In every case it was a life-and-death struggle. So when he came in contact with the best lawyers, they expected a con- test. He had the courage to say what he thought, regardless of consequences, and he thought of new and unheard-of things. His mind was prolific in new ideas and in new images. Arnold was often eloquent, and in all cases he was forcible and strong. The truth is, nature came well-nigh making him a genius. As
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it was, it made of him a most successful and dangerous advocate.
When Brownlow's Whig was suspended, in October, 1861, and the voice of that brave man was no longer heard through his paper, the Union leaders who still remained in Tennessee became silent. The arrests and imprisonments that were daily taking place warned them that prudence was absolutely neces- sary for their safety. Arnold, however, formed an exception to this rule. He continued to proclaim his Union sentiments as freely and as independently as before the June election. Although danger encompassed him on every hand, he seemed unconscious of it. In every crowd he praised the old Govern- ment and denounced in no halfway terms the Southern Con- federacy. It mattered not that Confederate soldiers might be present ; they had no terrors for him, and could not silence him. He was impassioned and defiant in his speech. On one occasion, going from Knoxville to his home in Greeneville, on a train filled with Confederate soldiers and officers, he proclaimed his Union sentiments in a vehement manner. Per- haps any other man in the State of Tennessee would have been arrested under the circumstances. His courage and his honesty, however, commanded respect and secured immunity for him. There was something about that lion-hearted old man in his moments of enthusiastic patriotism that was awe- inspiring, even to armed men. His brave and defiant advocacy of the Union from 1861 to 1865, during the terrors of the great Civil War, and amid the persecutions in East Tennessee, was indeed heroic, almost sublime. Alone of his family, excepting one youthful son, he stood for the Union, with a warmth and devotion almost unexampled. Two of his sons were in the Confederate Army, one as a Lieutenant Colonel and the other as a Captain, and yet in his isolation he looked as if he were backed by an army. Undoubtedly his age and distinguished career served to protect him. But more than these, his honesty and dauntless courage constituted his chief shield. No other man could have acted as he did.
When we come to a discussion of General Arnold's personal qualities-and in all cases these make the real man-we are embarrassed, not for want of material, but from the difficulty of so presenting the apparently contradictory facts as to bring into plain view his real character. Anomalous and many sided, he seemed to a casual observer full of contradictions. Yet,
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if we can find the key to his character, all these can be recon- ciled and brought into harmony. Ambitious, courageous, im- pulsive, and belligerent, he was yet kind and tender-hearted. He loved the right and hated wrong. He had at all times a tear for suffering and a sigh for sorrow. He hated deception and hypocrisy and loved candor and manliness. Imagine these qualities united in one person in their utmost intensity, and we have Thomas D. Arnold. They made him, as I have stated, an anomaly, full of tears and sympathy at one moment, a raging storm, or perhaps more appropriately, a furious lion, at another. He could weep at suffering as a woman. An out- rage or a wrong threw him into a furious passion. He was bitter toward his enemies, warm and effusive toward his friends. In one moment the most demonstrative friend; the next in a delirium of rage. His forgiveness was as quick as his passion, and his sympathy as broad and universal as human suf- fering. He could be as gentle as a child, and as terrible as an evil spirit. Arnold was not a bad-hearted man. In passion, and in enthusiasm, he often went to extremes, but these were the result of his boundless and irrepressible emotions. In all he said and did, in all his paroxysms of joy or bitterness, he was honest at heart.
JUDGE JOHN BAXTER.
Rose Rapidly in Profession in North Carolina-Clay Elector in 1844- In Legislature, Speaker of Lower House - Removed to Knoxville, 1857-Rank and Characteristics as a Lawyer-Believed Union Could be Preserved-Bitter Speeches-Favored Moderate Measures at Greene- ville Convention-Followed Nelson to Richmond-Influence of Zebulon Vance-Defeated for Confederate Congress by William G. Swan-Co- operates with Secessionists-Arrested at Memphis-Drifts Back Into Union Ranks-1864, Joins McClellan Movement-Attacks Brownlow- 1870, Elected to Constitutional Convention-1872, Call to Organize New Political Party-Supports Hayes, 1876-Appointed U. S. Circuit Judge -Summary.
AMONG the Union leaders in East Tennessee in 1861 John Baxter deserves conspicuous mention. He was born in Ruther- ford County, North Carolina, in 1819, of Irish (probably Scotch-Irish) parents. The education he acquired, which was very limited, he obtained in that county. After following for a time a calling that was not congenial to his tastes, he abandoned it, and began the study of law. At that time it was difficult to obtain a license to practice law in North Caro- lina, especially in the higher courts, and the standard was high and the examinations rigid. But Baxter passed the ordeal in triumph and while still a very young man was admitted to the bar. He rose rapidly in his profession, and quickly reached the front rank of lawyers in Western North Caro- lina, a region abounding in able men.
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