occurring when he was about eighty-five. It consisted of two volumes of some nine hundred pages. To say that Colonel Colyar was a profound admirer of Andrew Jackson is to say something that is well known to the legal profession, public officials, and educated men generally in Tennessee. Being connected by family ties with "Bonny Kate," wife of John Sevier, Colonel Colyar was also a profound admirer of the first Governor of Tennessee, and never hesitated to eulogize him as one of the State's greatest benefactors. His "Life of Jackson" is practically a strong lawyer's brief to prove that Andrew Jackson was one of the greatest men of the Republic. In 1858 Colonel Colyar opened a law office in Nashville, and moved there in 1866. In politics he was an old line Whig of a very pronounced type, and when the Civil War came on he was as pronounced a Union man as was Andrew Jackson when he fired his proclamation at the nullifiers of South Carolina; but the majority in Tennessee being in favor of Secession, Colonel Colyar, like hundreds of Union men in the South, Robert E. Lee being one of them, went with his State, and was elected a member of the Confederate Congress, and served his term. He was a delegate from Tennessee to the Whig Convention that met in Baltimore in 1860, and was under instructions to vote for the nomination of John Bell for President, but he declined to do so, and voted for Sam Houston for the nomination, and gave as his reason for so doing, that he believed that Sam Houston could be elected, and that his election would save the Union. After the close of the Civil War, Colonel Colyar affiliated with the Democratic party, but was not always in line with some of the principles of the party, as, for example, the tariff, he being a protectionist. He was charged with inconsistency in this and some other political matters, and he was accustomed to make the reply that "he was as good a Democrat as one could make out of an old line Whig." Prior to the Civil War, Colonel Colyar became interested in the development of coal properties in Marion, Grundy, and Franklin Counties, and conferred monumental benefits upon Tennessee in the development of industries of that kind. The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company, which today is one of the great coal and iron corporations of America, was developed from the Sewanee Mining Company, the name of which was changed to the Tennessee Coal and Railroad Company, and finally to the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company. Colonel Colyar sold his interest in this latter Company for a large sum of money with which he bought the controlling interest in the Nashville American in 1881, and he became the editor of that paper, and so continued until 1884, when he went back to the practice of the law. As editor of the American, he was a protectionist. Colonel Colyar was not a specialist in the law, but tried cases in all the courts, and was a power in whatever court he appeared. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1878, but failed of the nomination, that prize going to Albert S. Marks, who was his cousin, and who had been Chancellor, and who was duly elected Governor. Public spirited always, free from the taint of graft or scandal, bold in every word and act, he was, before his death, probably the representative Tennessean. Even men who did not agree with him on public matters conceded his great intellectual capacity, and his power in impressing his views upon men. He died in 1907 at the age of 89 years. United States Senator from Tennessee fifteen years and defeated as a candidate for President by Martin Van Buren. He carried Tennessee by ten thousand majority over Van Buren. CHAPTER 36.. Hugh Lawson White, Chronology. 1773 1781 1788 1793 1793 HUGH LAWSON WHITE, CHRONOLOGY. Born October 30, Iredell County, North Carolina. Studied classics under Rev. Samuel Carrick and Archi- Studied mathematics in Philadelphia, Pa., under Professor Patterson. 1795 Studied law at Lancaster, Pa., under James Hopkins. 1796 Began practicing law at Knoxville, Tenn., and continued for five years. 1798 Married Miss Elizabeth Moore Carrick, daughter of Rev. 1801 Judge of the Superior Court of Tennessee. 1807 Elected to the State Senate from Knox County, Tenn. 1809 District Attorney of the United States. 1809 Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, and held position six years. 1809 Re-elected to State Senate of Tennessee. 1812 November-Went with Luke Lea and T. L. Williams to relief of Jackson on Coosa River, Alabama. 1815 President of the Bank of Tennessee till July 1827. Re-elected to the State Senate of Tennessee. 1817 1817 Author of the Tennessee law against dueling. 1821 March 31, Appointed by President Monroe as one of the Commissioners to ascertain the claims against Spain under the Florida Treaty, and held position to June 9, 1824. |