Governor of Tennessee. This native of Owensboro Kentucky received little formal education, but was an avaricious reader that acquired much knowledge from his study of biographies, history and the Greek and Roman classics. At the age of nineteen he moved to Winchester, Tennessee where he read law and was soon admitted to the bar. He practiced law until the beginning of the Civil War. Although he was a strong opponent of secession, the young attorney enlisted in the Confederate Army after Tennessee left the Union. He was soon promoted to Colonel. In 1862, at the Battle of Stones River, the Confederate officer received a leg wound while leading a charge against a Union battery. The injured leg had to be amputated. After recovering from his surgery he served as a judge advocate until the end of the war. In 1866 he returned to practicing law and was elected as a judge to the Fourth Chancery Court in 1870. In 1878 the Democrat was elected governor. His administration inherited a mounting state debt and two years later he decided not to run for a second term. He returned to his law practice in Winchester where he remained active in state and national politics although he never made another run for public office.

Governor of Tennessee. This native of Owensboro Kentucky received little formal education, but was an avaricious reader that acquired much knowledge from his study of biographies, history and the Greek and Roman classics. At the age of nineteen he moved to Winchester, Tennessee where he read law and was soon admitted to the bar. He practiced law until the beginning of the Civil War. Although he was a strong opponent of secession, the young attorney enlisted in the Confederate Army after Tennessee left the Union. He was soon promoted to Colonel. In 1862, at the Battle of Stones River, the Confederate officer received a leg wound while leading a charge against a Union battery. The injured leg had to be amputated. After recovering from his surgery he served as a judge advocate until the end of the war. In 1866 he returned to practicing law and was elected as a judge to the Fourth Chancery Court in 1870. In 1878 the Democrat was elected governor. His administration inherited a mounting state debt and two years later he decided not to run for a second term. He returned to his law practice in Winchester where he remained active in state and national politics although he never made another run for public office.

Bio by: Bigwoo