Zeboim Lupton Patten (1907-1958), Zeboim Cartter Patten Jr. (1906-1982)

From the Chattanooga Daily Times, January 12, 1950.

  We continue our journey through Tennessee and today examine the lives of two men named Zeboim. The first of these men, Zeboim Lupton Patten, was one of the outstanding civic leaders in his section of Tennessee, being the president of one of that city's oldest businesses, the Chattanooga Medicine Co. Additionally, Patten chaired the University of Chattanooga's Board of Trustees, and achieved further prominence in finance, being chairman of the local community chest campaign and was director of the American National Bank and Trust Co. Long active in Republican politics in his region, Patten was elected as a delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1940 and eight years later was named an alternate delegate.

  The son of John Alanson (1867-1916) and Edith (Manker) Patten (1867-1943), Zeboim Lupton Patten was born in Chattanooga on January 29, 1907. Descended from one of the leading families in Chattanooga, Lupton Patten (as most sources list him) was the great-nephew of Zeboim Cartter Patten (1840-1925), the founder and president of the Chattanooga Medicine Company. A native of New York, Patten removed to Tennessee following his service in the Union Army and in the latter half of the 19th century had become one of the leading industrialists in Tennessee. Additionally, Patten established a life insurance company and as head of the Stone Fort Land Company made major developments to the city infrastructure of Chattanooga.

  Receiving the name Zeboim, Lupton Patten's first name is of biblical origin, and is recorded in the Book of Genesis as "one of the five cities of the plain of Sodom." Zeboim is also mentioned as "a valley or rugged glen near Gibeah" in the First Book of Samuel, and an area populated by the Benjamites in the Book of Nehemiah. As the son of a pioneer Chattanooga business family, Patten was afforded a fine education, graduating from the Baylor School in 1923. He continued studies at the University of Chattanooga and graduated in 1927 with his BA degree. Shortly after his graduation, he returned to his alma mater as a junior instructor in French and Philosophy, teaching from 1927-28.

Portrait from the Moccasin Yearbook, 1927.

   In May 1928 Lupton Patten married Mary McChesney Sanford (1908-1972), to who he was wed until his death. The couple had four daughters, Peggy (1931-2014), twin sisters Charlotte and Phyllis, and Mary Fontaine Patten Moore (1943-2020). In the year of his marriage, Patten joined the Chattanooga Medicine Co., working in its credit department. He quickly rose through the ranks of the business, holding the posts of assistant sales manager, sales manager, and in 1938 was named company president. Just 31 years old, he succeeded his uncle Zeboim Charles Patten (who had advanced to chairman of the board). Lupton Patten held the additional role of president of the board of the Brayton Pharmaceutical Co., and his two-decade stewardship of the Chattanooga Medicine Co. was later profiled in the Chattanooga Daily Times five years after his death, which remarked:

"Lupton Patten had business foresight. He had a vision of a modern drug manufacturing company with hospital-like cleanliness, with automated production lines and a with a thoroughly mechanized office operation...He saw a pharmaceutical division to make new drugs available to the medical profession and he saw a division to make fine chemicals available to industry. Not only did he have a vision for all these things; he set out to bring them to pass. And in less than 10 years this vision became a reality."

  With his name firmly established in Chattanooga by 1940, Lupton Patten could already look back on an impressive career. A champion tennis player during the late 1920s and early 1930s, Patten helped found the Chattanooga Tennis Club, which was later renamed the Manker Patten Tennis Center in honor of his eldest brother (1894-1956). Patten would remain connected to the affairs of his alma mater through his life, serving as chairman of the University of Chattanooga's Board of Trustees from 1957-58. He held seats on the boards of the Bright School and the Girls Preparatory School of Chattanooga, and in 1940 was honored as the Junior Chamber of Commerce's Man of the Year.

From the Chattanooga News, January 14, 1936.

  In addition to his prominence in the pharmaceutical industry, Lupton Patten made additional headway into Chattanooga's business sector with his service as director of the American National Bank and Trust Co. and was on the Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company's board of directors. On the civic front Patten chaired the Chattanooga community chest campaign in 1940, and from 1949-50 was its president. In these capacities, Patten directed fundraising efforts that financed the Chattanooga symphony orchestra, and "many other public service activities in his local community." In 1941 he was vice-chairman of the Greater Chattanooga War Fund and was a progressive on race issues of the day, with his donations to African-American institutions. In a Congressional Record memorial published not long after his death, Patten was acknowledged for his charity, with Congressman Brazilla Carroll Reece remarking:

"Lupton Patten, like his father, gave much of his means to Negroes, particularly Negro ministers. When adversities knocked on Negroes' doors they made a beaten path to the Chattanooga Medicine Co. to see the little man with the big heart, Lupton Patten. When Negro churches needed a roof and other things to keep them in good repair where they may religiously educate their children Mr. Patten furnished the means by which they could do the necessary work needed to be done. In that he was following in the footsteps of his illustrious father because his father, in all probability, gave more money to Negro churches in this community than anyone that I know about. Sometimes it wasn't the need for a church proper, but it was a need for the minister of the church and he also considered their pleas and helped them on their way."

From the Chattanooga Daily Times, September 13, 1940.

  Despite being a political non-office holder, Patten was long an active worker for the Republican party. "An unabashed conservative", he was a prominent backer for Ohio senator Robert Taft in the 1940 Republican primary and was elected as part of the Tennessee delegation to the June 1940 Republican National Convention held in Philadephia. In 1948 Patten was chosen as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention (also in Philadelphia) where Thomas Dewey was nominated for the presidency. In addition to Lupton Patten's long service to the Republican party, attention must also be given to his wife's party service. Mary Sanford Patten attended three RNC conventions (two with her husband) and in 1952 chaperoned their daughter Peggy, who was a convention page. In 1955 Mrs. Patten was a candidate for Republican National Committeewoman from Tennessee and was elected, serving until at least 1960. In the last-named year, she represented Tennessee at the National Federation of Republican Women's "Bridge of Women" pageant held in Washington, D.C.

  Following his service as an RNC delegate, Patten continued prominence in Chattanooga, and in 1949 was named foreman of the Hamilton County grand jury. In the next year, he participated in a "blue ribbon jury" panel that investigated jury irregularities. In 1950 his service to the pharmaceutical industry was acknowledged with his election as president of the Proprietary Association for 1950-52. For an indeterminate period, Patten sat as a member of the board of directors for the National Association of Manufacturers and the Tennessee Manufacturers Association, and in May 1957 was bestowed an honorary doctor of laws degree from Tennessee Wesleyan University. 

From the Chattanooga Daily Times, December 8, 1958.

  The last year of Lupton Patten's life was marred by heart ailments, first being struck in the fall of 1957. After a period of recuperation, he resumed his business dealings, but on December 7, 1958, was felled by a fatal heart attack at his home. The loss of one of Chattanooga's standout figures left the community grief-stricken, and it was left for the Chattanooga Daily News to write:

"For here indeed was a man whose abilities were manifold, whose concern for the betterment for the place of his birth and of his deserved success was without limit, whose willingness to give himself on its behalf was without measure."

  Just 51 years old at the time of his death, Z. Lupton Patten was survived by his wife Mary and four daughters. Following her death in 1972, Mary Sanford Patten was interred alongside her husband at the Forest Hills Cemetery in Chattanooga. Six decades following his death, the memory of Zeboim Lupton Patten remains strong in Chattanooga, and in November 2020 a $1,000,000 endowment was given by the Patten family to the University of Chattanooga's Gary W. Rollins School of Business. The endowment, the brainchild of Patten's youngest daughter Mary Fontaine Patten Moore, came to fruition following the death of her son Douglas B. Moore, with the family noting the endowment to be "a particularly appropriate memorial to Lupton Patten's business, cultural, and civic achievements and lifelong devotion to the University as student, teacher, benefactor, and trustee."

From the Chattanooga Daily News, December 9, 1958.

Senator Zeboim Cartter Patten Jr.

  Public service (and unusual names) continued in the Patten family with Zeboim Cartter Patten Jr., the son of Chattanooga Medicine Co. founder Zeboim Cartter Patten Sr. and uncle of Zeboim Lupton Patten. Like the man who preceded him here, Patten was a long distinguished figure in Chattanooga, being a life insurance company executive, banker, civic leader, and politician. He would serve one term in the state assembly, was a delegate to the 1965 state constitutional convention, and in 1960 was elected to the first of three terms in the state senate.

   Born on February 2, 1903, Z. Cartter Patten Jr. was the only child of Zeboim Cartter and Sarah Avery (Key) Patten (1863-1958). Born when his father was sixty-two years old, distinction carried over to the maternal side of Patten's family with Sarah Key Patten's father, David McKendree Key (1814-1900). Prominent in Tennessee politics, Key served as U.S. Senator from 1875-77, was Postmaster General under President Hayes from 1877-80, and was a U.S. district court judge from 1880-95. 

  Z. Cartter Patten Jr. (as most sources refer to him) attended the Duval French and English School in Chattanooga and later studied for four years at the Asheville, North Carolina School For Boys. His time at this institution saw Patten develop a lifelong interest in conservation and, having grown up on his father's Ashland Farm in the Chattanooga Valley, carried with him a love of the outdoors for the remainder of his life. 

  With his interest in conservation deepening, Patten continued his studies at Cornell University, where he took agricultural courses, and in 1925 graduated with his bachelor of science degree. This was followed by a summer-long trip through Europe with a friend, and in 1926 returned to Tennessee to join his late father's life insurance firm. Becoming an assistant treasurer with the Volunteer Life Insurance Company, Patten later advanced to the post of vice president and after the company's sale continued to sit as a member of its board of directors. 

  Z. Cartter Patten Jr. married in Tennessee on August 19, 1931, to Elizabeth Nelson Bryan (1907-1990). The couple's five-decade marriage produced four children, Sarah Key (1932-2017), Emma Berry (1935-2020), and twin sons Z. Cartter III and Bryan.

  Through the 1930s and 40s Patten's profile continued to rise in the Chattanooga business sphere, with his service as director of the Hamilton National Bank. He was chairman of the board of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association and the Ringdale Bank and Trust Co. and was a director of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce. Further business prominence came with Patten's tenure as president of the WDEF-TV Broadcasting Co., Chattanooga's first television station, and in 1953 served as president of Chattanoogans, Inc.

From the Chattanooga Daily Times, January 4, 1960.

   Z. Cartter Patten Jr. owned and operated the Key Hotel in Chattanooga and as owner of the Grandview Company had over 20,000 acres of timberland on Signal Mountain. Having purchased as a substantial tract of land for growing pine trees on Signal Mountain in 1943, Patten was acknowledged in the Chattanooga Daily News in 1960, where he remarked that "in fifteen years it will be fully developed, growing timber as fast as it is cut." These vast tracts of pinelands later received mention as one of the "favorite conservation tracts" by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Additionally, Patten was a founding organizer of the Tennesee Conservation League in 1946.

  Active as an educational booster in his region, Patten served on the University of Chattanooga's board of trustees and also chaired the Bonny Oaks School board of trustees for several years. A keen historian, Patten devoted much time to the preservation of Tennessee history, and from 1949-51 served as the first president of the Chattanooga Area Historical Association. He added the title of author to his resume in 1951 with the publication of "A Tennessee Chronicle" and in 1961 authored a history of the Signal Mountain and Walden's Ridge areas. 

  Patten first entered the political life of his state in 1958 when he was elected as a representative from Hamilton County to the Tennessee General Assembly. The 1959-61 session saw him named to the committees on Business, Education, Local Government, and Military and Veterans Affairs, and in November 1960 won election to the state senate.

From the 1959 Tennessee general assembly composite.

   Patten's first senate term (1961-63) saw him chair the committee on Insurance and Banking, and in January 1961 made headlines when he announced that he'd prepared legislation that would repeal Tennessee's anti-evolution law. A law that had been on the books prior to the Scopes Trial of 1925, the bill (co-sponsored with Rep. Charles Galbreath) was remarked as having "little prospect" of passage during that year's session, with Patten stating:

"But I think the bill will have a good effect, in that it will concentrate attention of the legislature and the people on this matter, and perhaps it will be a start toward getting something done eventually."

  In 1962 Patten won his second senate term and in 1964 won a third term. During the 1965-67 session he co-chaired the Committee on Conservation, and with fellow senator Hobart Atkins proposed a bill that would "create a board of regents of higher education which would ''develop a master plan for public higher education in the state.''' Additional legislation backed by Patten included a bill to repeal the sales tax on utilities, and in 1965 pulled political double duty when he was elected as a delegate to the state constitutional convention held in Knoxville. This convention discussed term lengths, vacancies, elections, and legislative district reapportionment, and during the proceedings, Patten proposed a constitutional amendment that "would give state clarification of the U.S. Supreme Court's ''one man-one vote reapportionment formula.'''

From the Nashville Tennesseean, May 30, 1965.

  Patten's final senate term concluded in 1967 and in March 1970 he was awarded the Sears  Foundation trophy for Conservationist of the Year for Tennessee. After decades of prominence in Chattanooga and Hamilton County, Z. Cartter Patten Jr. died aged 79 on February 6, 1982. He was survived by his wife and four children and was interred at the Forest Hills Cemetery in Chattanooga.

From the Nashville Tennessean, February 7, 1982.

Ingersoll Osea Remine (1891-1947)

From the Knoxville Sentinel, November 19, 1922.

  Another in a long list of strange name political figures who were without faces to place with their names, the above picture of Ingersoll Osea Remine was found recently via the online archive of the Knoxville Sentinel. This author having located Remine's name way back in 2009, it took eleven years for a picture of him to finally come to light! A railway agent in Loudon County for two decades, Remine was elected to two terms in the Tennessee state senate in the early 1920s, representing the 63rd and 65th district. The son of Calvin Keizel and Laura (Painter) Remine, Ingersoll Osea "I.O." Remine was born on August 6, 1891, in Chuckey, Tennessee.

  A student in schools local to Greene County, Remine later attended the county's Wesleyan Academy and in August 1912 married Pearl Fisher (1892-1954). The couple were wed until Remine's death in 1947 and had four children, including Marion, Dan, and Neil. In April 1906 Remine took employment with the Southern Railroad as a telegraph operator and railway agent, and around 1916 resettled in Loudon, Tennessee. He resided there for the remainder of his life, and during the First World War was active in the war effort. He served as county chairman of the Red Cross Roll Call, and was a speaker with the Four Minute Men, visiting locations throughout the county touting war drives. Remine also chaired the Loudon County United War Workers Campaign. 

   I.O. Remine first entered politics at age 20, serving as secretary of the Greene County Republican executive committee in 1911-12. Following removal to Loudon County, he chaired the county Republican executive committee and was active in fraternal groups, being a member of the Junior Order of United Mechanics, president of the Epworth League, master of the First Veil Royal Arch Masons, and master of the Tennessee Lodge No. 204 of Free and Accepted Masons. 

  In 1922 Remine announced his entrance into the race for state senator from Tennessee's 6th district. Lauded by the Knoxville Journal and Tribune for "his advocacy of political righteousness", Remine was opposed in the Republican primary by incumbent senator John C. Houk. Through June and July Remine took to the stump via automobile to tout his campaign and took aim at Houk's Senate service. Making note of Houk's "disloyalty" to then-Governor Alfred Taylor by his failure to support the administration's policies, Remine also noted Houk's lack of support for the "back tax" and "tax assessment" bill. In August 1922 Remine defeated Houk, with incomplete returns noting a vote margin of a few hundred votes. As Remine's victory was "equivalent" to winning the general election, he faced little to no opposition that November.

From the Knoxville Journal and Tribune, August 4, 1922.

  Following his election in November Remine was remarked as one of the youngest senators to have ever served in state government, and at age 31 was the youngest man in the senate during the 1923-25 term. In January 1923 he was named chairman of the committee on Horticulture, and was a member of the committees on Education; Finance; Game, Fish, and Forestry; Labor; Military Affairs; Railroads; Sanitation; and Ways and Means. Remine was defeated for reelection in November 1924 by Democrat Roy C. Wallace but rebounded politically in November 1926 when he defeated Wallace to win a second term.

  The 1927-29 session saw Remine propose legislation that would "incorporate Loudon and a bill to enable Monroe County to issue bonds to build a bridge over the Little Tennessee river." In April 1927 he delivered the keynote address at the 2nd Congressional district Republican convention, and in May of the following year was elected chairman of the 2nd district Republican convention held in Knoxville. 

  After leaving office Remine continued residence in Loudon, where he and his wife were active in the Methodist Episcopal church. On September 24, 1947, the 56-year-old ex-senator died unexpectedly in Knoxville, shortly after leaving his doctor's office. His obituary notes that he had been receiving treatment for a heart ailment prior to his death, and he was survived by his wife and three children. Following her death in 1954, Pearl Remine was interred alongside her husband at the Steekee Cemetery in Loudon.

From the Johnson City Press, September 25, 1947.

Lonsdale Porter McFarland Sr. (1871-1930)

From the 1907 composite photo of the Tennessee house of representatives.

   A distinguished name in Wilson County, Tennessee during the first half of the 20th century, Lonsdale Porter "Lon" MacFarland Sr was a substantial landholder and stock raiser in his region and was active in Democratic political circles. He served two terms in the state house of representatives, one term in the state senate, and in the year of his death was a candidate for his old senate seat. The son of Dr. James (1818-1903) and Eulalie Cowan McFarland, Lonsdale Porter MacFarland Sr. was born in Tennessee on February 27, 1871. A veteran of the California gold rush, James P. MacFarland practiced medicine in California for a brief period and was a close friend and partner of druggist John Gately Downey (1827-1894), who was later elected to three terms as California governor. During his California residency, MacFarland was elected to two terms in the state assembly, serving from 1852-54. This office is incorrectly listed as the state senate in volume 8 of the 1913 "History of Tennessee and Tennesseans".

  "Lon" MacFarland's early education was obtained in schools local to Wilson County and also studied at the University of Tennessee and the University of Virginia. Having studied law at the latter school, MacFarland continued schooling at Cumberland University in Tennessee and in 1894 graduated with his degree. He later practiced law in Texas and in the 1890s made a sojourn to the Alaska Klondike, where he tried his hand at gold mining.

  After returning to Tennessee MacFarland established himself near Martha, where he purchased and improved a large farm. He was acknowledged as "one of the largest landowners in that section of the state", and gained further repute for his live stock interests. He married in February 1901 to Alabama native Elizabeth Crowe (1881-1965). The couple would have five children, Lynn Childress (died 1914), James Crowe (1904-1966), Lonsdale Porter Jr. (1911-1994), Frank Hays (1913-1927), and Alfred Towson (1917-2006). Of these children, Lonsdale MacFarland Jr. followed his father into law and attained the rank of Colonel following his service in WWII. He later was elected as president of the Tennessee Bar Association and was a civic leader in Maury County.

  With his name widely known amongst the Wilson County citizenry, MacFarland entered politics in 1900 when he announced his candidacy for the state house of representatives. Though unsuccessful in his run, MacFarland made several speaking engagements in his district, and in 1906 announced his second run for the legislature. He was elected that November and at the start of the 1907-09 session was named to the committees on Banks, Elections, Municipal Affairs, and Public Grounds and Buildings. He would also chair the committee on Penitentiaries.

  In November 1912 MacFarland won a second term in the legislature and during the 1913-15 term sat on four new committees, those being Constitutional Conventions and Amendments; Insurance; Jails and Workhouses; and chaired the committee on Waterways and Drainage. This term saw MacFarland's name be mentioned as a candidate for U.S. Senator from Tennessee, as the state legislature was then responsible for electing a senator. This special election occurring due to the death of Robert L. Taylor, MacFarland was one of several men proposed for that body. He was narrowly defeated by educator William R. Webb, who served until March 1913.

  A few months following his senate loss MacFarland made headlines of a different sort when he exchanged heated words with another odd-name legislator, Green Miller, who had recently resigned as a representative. Following an exchange in the lobby of the capital, MacFarland denounced Adams as "having betrayed his confidence, and betrayed the democratic party", with the Nashville Tennesseean reporting that MacFarland's voice could be heard throughout the lobby.

From the Nashville Tennesseean, May 18, 1913.

  Lon MacFarland returned to government service in November 1918 with his election to the Tennessee state senate from the 13th district. He served one term (1919-21) and was a member of the committees on Claims; Manufacture and Mining; New Counties and County Lines; Pensions; Privileges and Elections; Public Roads and Internal Improvements; Railroads; Redistricting; and Sanitation.

  After leaving office Lon MacFarland was a candidate for Democratic state committeeman in the 1928 primary and in 1930 entered into the race to reclaim his old senate seat. While still a candidate, MacFarland died unexpectedly at his home while reading on July 15, 1930, aged 59. He was survived by his wife and three sons and was interred at the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Nashville. 

From the Nashville Tennesseean, July 17, 1930.

Zwingle Whitefield Ewing (1843-1909)

From "The Immortal Six Hundred; a Story of Cruelty to Confederate Prisoners of War" 1911.

    Certainly one of the oddest named men to be elected to public office in Tennessee,  Zwingle Whitefield Ewing was viewed as one of that state's distinguished Confederate veterans. Following his military service, Ewing went on to a noteworthy career in the public forum, being an attorney, college professor, college trustee and two-term state senator, serving as senate speaker. His tenure as speaker of the Tennessee Senate also saw him occupy the office of Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee, as the post of speaker is the first in the line of succession to the Tennessee Governorship.

   The seventh of eight children born to Lile A. (1809-1853) and Rebecca Ann Leeper Ewing (1809-1877), Zwingle W. Ewing was born in 1843 in Pulaski, Tennessee. His unusual first name "Zwingle" is believed to be a corruption in the spelling of "Zwingli", the last name of 15th century clergyman Huldrych Zwingli, the founder of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland. Research has shown that Ewing's first name is sometimes spelled as "Zwingli", which lends even more credence to the probability of his being named in honor of this prominent European scholar and religious worker, who met his end in the Second Kappel War in Zurich in October 1531. 

  Goodspeed's Biographical Appendix of Giles County, Tennessee notes that "Z.W." Ewing's early life centered upon farm work during the summer months and school during the winter. In 1859 he entered into study at the Lewisburg Male Academy and in the following year enrolled at the Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee, studying there until the dawn of the Civil War. Ewing would enlist in Co. H. of the 17th Tennessee Infantry in 1861 and rose through the ranks during his service, eventually being promoted to second lieutenant. Ewing would see action during the Siege of Petersburg and was taken prisoner at South Petersburg in 1864, being taken to Fort Delaware following his capture. 

   Within a few weeks of Ewing's capture, Union forces began to barrage Charleston, South Carolina with cannon fire, even going as far as to fire upon "non-military" portions of the city. Due to this indiscriminate fire, Confederate forces began to position Union prisoners in these areas, believing that Union artillery wouldn't fire upon areas where they knew that their men would be in harm's way. After becoming aware of the Confederate Army's positioning of these Union prisoners, Union forces began a period of retaliation, one which was highlighted in Ewing's death notice in the Confederate Veteran serial published in 1910. As the Veteran noted in its Index, Volume XVII, the Union Army took:

"Six hundred prisoners from Fort Delaware, among whom was Major Ewing, and placed them where they were directly exposed to the Confederate guns. These were kept there three months half starved and less then half clad."

  These six hundred men were placed on Morris Island, near the entranceway to Charleston Harbor. For a period of forty-five days, Ewing and his fellow servicemen were used as human shields between the Union forces and the Confederate gunners at neighboring Fort Sumter. The soldiers were eventually removed to Fort Pulaski by the Union Army in October 1864 and experienced further harsh treatment, having to subsist on meager portions of food, mentioned as being hardtack, moldy cornmeal and soured onion pickles. 
   On March 12, 1865, the remaining prisoners were returned to Fort Delaware. Over half of the "Immortal Six Hundred" (as the men were later known) had died over the previous months of illnesses like dysentery and scurvy, while others had starved. Z.W. Ewing was one of the lucky few who had survived their horrid treatment, and after being released from captivity returned home to Tennessee. He would resume his education in 1866 when he enrolled at the University of Virginia and in 1868 began a stint as Principal of the Richmond Academy in Richmond, Tennessee. 
   In 1870 Ewing spent time in Europe traveling and studying "the German language", returning stateside in 1871, and in that year married Harriet P. Jones, with whom he would have one daughter, Marietta. In the same year as his marriage, Ewing earned his law degree and took on the position as a professor of Latin at Giles College, remaining here until 1872. 
   Throughout the 1870s Ewing practiced law in Pulaski and became active in state politics in the middle of that decade, serving as the chairman of the Tennessee State Democratic Convention of 1876. In 1877 he was named as a Tennessee state railroad assessor and in November 1878 was elected to represent Tennessee's 15th district in the State Senate, serving during the 1879-81 term. Ewing was returned to the senate in the November 1886 election and during the 1887-89 term served as Senate Speaker. His time in this position also saw him serve as Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee, as the post of Senate Speaker is first in line of succession in the event of the death or removal of Tennessee's Governor.
  Both before and after his time in state government Ewing maintained a lengthy connection with the University of Tennessee, serving on that school's board of trustees from 1883 until his death. In addition to his being a trustee, Z.W. Ewing was a past president of the People's National Bank of Pulaski, a past president of the State Bivouac of Confederate Veterans, and a member of both the Masonic and Knights of Pythias Lodges. Ewing continued in the practice of law until poor health necessitated his retirement. He died at age 65 in Pulaski on August 9, 1909, and was later memorialized in the Confederate Veteran as having been one of Tennessee's most "useful and influential citizens", as well as:

"A lawyer of great ability, and his whole life was characterized by devotion to his state and her people and the keeping of a clean legal record that had never a spot or stain."

From the Atlanta Constitution, August 10, 1909.

Dancey Fort (1870-1955)

   Hailing from the city of Clarksville, Tennesee, oddly named attorney and jurist Dancey Fort was regarded as one of the Volunteer State's prominent practitioners of law during his life. A practicing attorney for over three decades, Fort also made substantial headway in state politics, serving as a city attorney, state senator, and State Commissioner of Finance and Taxation .

   Dancey Fort's story begins in the town of Adams, Tennessee, where he was born on October 11, 1870, being the son of Josiah and Eliza Penelope Dancey Fort. He was given the odd first name "Dancey" due to it being his mother's maiden name, and as a young man attended local schools and eventually enrolled at the University of Tennessee. Fort later studied at Cumberland University, graduating in 1891 with a bachelor of laws degree.

  After completing his studies, Fort returned to Clarksville and opened a law practice, which "handled much important litigation before the courts". He is recorded by the 1923 work Tennessee, the Volunteer State as being an attorney for the Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Company and "several other local corporations." He married in November 1896 to Ms. Bennie Gill (1873-1957), with whom he had two children, Josiah and Mary Yancey Fort. 

   In the same year as his marriage, Fort began testing the political waters, running for a seat in the Tennessee State House of Representatives. He was unsuccessful in this attempt but did win election to the state senate in November 1906 from Montgomery County. Fort was reelected to the Senate in November 1908 (serving from 1909-11) and would also be named chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Executive Committee. In addition to the above offices, Fort would serve as City Attorney for Clarksville for twenty-five years (1901-1926) and also held a directorship in the Northern Bank of Tennessee.

   After leaving the Tennessee legislature Fort's public profile continued to rise, and in 1912 and 1936  was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions held in Baltimore and Philadelphia, respectively. In the following year, Tennessee Governor Hill McAllister appointed Fort as State Commissioner of Finance and Taxation. He served as Commissioner until 1936 when he resigned to accept a seat on the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Tennessee. His service on the bench lasted sixteen years, concluding with his retirement in 1952.

  While a figure of distinction in Tennessee politics and law for many years, Fort was a leading light in local civic affairs, holding office as clerk of the Cumberland Association of Baptist Churches for seventeen years, a teacher in the Baranca Sunday School, and was a charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Clarksville. Fort was also an active figure in several local fraternal organizations, holding memberships in the Knights of Pythias and the Junior Order of Odd Fellows.

   Dancey Fort died at age 83 on June 5, 1955, and shortly thereafter was interred at the Greenwood Cemetery in Clarksville. His wife Bennie survived her husband by two years, dying on January 7, 1957, at age 83. She too was interred at Greenwood, and it is presumed that Fort's two children are buried here as well, although no exact gravesite location could be found for them. The rare portrait of Judge Fort shown above was located in the earlier mentioned Tennessee, the Volunteer State, published in 1923.

     This death notice for Dancey Fort appeared in the Kingsport Times on the day following his death. 

Vitruvius Jackson Kennedy (1841-1890)

From the Tennessee legislative composite, 1882.

  This bearded gentleman is Vitruvius Jackson Kennedy of Tennessee, a physician who served in both houses of the Tennessee State Legislature. Details on Kennedy's life are noticeably absent from the internet and very few sources mention him at great length, with the exception being his service during the Civil War.

   Vitruvius J. Kennedy (most sources list him under the initials "V.J.") was born on July 9, 1840, in Clinton, Tennessee. His father, Jackson J. Kennedy, is mentioned as being a cabinet maker by trade, and when Kennedy enlisted for military service during the early months of the Civil War, he listed this as his primary occupation. Genealogical websites have been quite a blessing when it comes to finding any information on Kennedy. A statute book also contains Kennedy's name and lists him as a member of the First Regiment of the Tennessee Volunteer Light Artillery. 

  At some point in the years following the war, Kennedy earned a degree to practice medicine (several sources list him with the title of "Dr.") but no available source states what school he attended or what year he graduated. 

  Following his service in the Civil War, Kennedy entered politics, hence his inclusion here. He was elected to the Tennessee State House of Representatives in 1880 and served in the legislative session of 1881-1882. The portrait of him shown above was found on the House of Representatives composite picture taken during his service. During this term, he chaired the committee on Public Printing and was a member of the committees on Banks, Charitable Institutions, and Sanitation. Kennedy was later elected to the Tennessee State Senate, and served from 1887-1889, representing both Hamilton and Marion County.

Portrait from the Tennessee senate composite photo, 1887-88.

   A death date originally couldn't be found for Vitruvius Kennedy, until a useful book entitled the Congressional Serial Set (1912) gave a passage on his widow applying for a pension. The book lists him as dying on July 7, 1890, of "cancer of the larger intestine", two days before his 49th birthday. He was later interred at the Welsh-Rogers Cemetery in Sale Creek, Tennessee. A small obituary for Kennedy (published in the July 9, 1890 edition of the Nashville Tennessean) denotes his traveling to Nashville for surgery stemming from his stomach and bowel issues. This surgery was performed, but Kennedy died "of secondary shock" a few days later. This same obituary details his being a leading Mason in his area, and in January 1890 had represented his local lodge in the Grand Lodge of Tennessee.

  In an aside note, Kennedy's first name "Vitruvius" stems from a Roman architect, writer, and engineer named Vitruvius. This obscure Roman figure has been called by some sources as the "world's first known engineer", but it is unknown as to why V.J. Kennedy was endowed with this highly unusual first name. 

From the Nashville Tennessean, July 9, 1890.