Thomas Dickens Arnold Sr. (1798-1870)

U.S. Congressman. Born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, he moved with his parents to Knox County, Tennessee, in 1808 and he served as a drummer boy in the War of 1812. He later studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1820 and commenced to practice law in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1831, he was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-second Congress, served until 1833 and was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress, serving (1841-43). Not a candidate for reelection, he resumed the practice of law in Greeneville, Tennessee. With the advent of the Civil War, he remained loyal to the Union and was openly defiant of the Confederate States for the entire war. He died at age 72 in Jonesboro, Tennessee.

Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith