Edwin Augustus Keeble (February 14, 1807 – August 26, 1868) was a

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

politician who served in the

Confederate States Congress The Confederate States Congress was both the provisional and permanent legislative assembly/legislature of the Confederate States of America that existed from February 1861 to April/June 1865, during the American Civil War. Its actions were, ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Early life

Keeble was born on February 14, 1807, in

Cumberland County, Virginia Cumberland County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,675. Its county seat is Cumberland. History Cumberland County was established in 1749 from Goochland County ...

. He later moved to

Rutherford County, Tennessee Rutherford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in Middle Tennessee. As of a 2023 estimate, the population was 367,101, making it the fifth-most populous county in Tennessee. A study conducted by the Univer ...

Career

Keeble served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Murfreesboro Murfreesboro is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 165,430 according to the 2023 census estimate, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010 United States census, 2010. Murfreesboro i ...

from 1838 to 1855. He served in the

Tennessee state legislature The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Tennessee Senate, Senate and a Tennessee House of Representa ...

in 1861. He represented the 6th district of that state in the

Second Confederate Congress The 2nd Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from May 2, 1864, to March 18, 1865, during the last year of Jefferson Davis's presidency, at the Virginia ...

from 1864 to 1865. Keeble finished third in the election to represent the 6th district of that state in the

First Confederate Congress The 1st Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, convened between February 18, 1862, and February 17, 1864. This assembly took place during the first two years ...

, winning 8% of the vote, but carried the same district handily in the August 6, 1863, Tennessee congressional elections, defeating P.G. Stiver Perkins 11,631 to 950 and carrying the soldier vote 4,620 to 770. The 6th district was under Union occupation at the time of the election and civilian voting was done by refugees. As was true of many congressmen whose districts were under Union occupation, Keeble was a strong supporter of the Davis administration, part of a voting bloc that approved "higher taxes that would not be levied on their constituents and for tougher conscription laws that would take no men from their districts."McPherson, 692

Personal life and death

Keeble married Sally Bell, the daughter of U.S. presidential candidate John Bell. Keeble died on August 26, 1868, in Murfreesboro. He was buried in Rutherford County, and later re-buried in

Mount Juliet, Tennessee Mt. Juliet (also referred to as Mount Juliet) is a city located in western Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. A suburb of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is approximately east of downtown Nashville. Mt. Juliet is located mostly between ...

Notes

References

*Martis, Kenneth. ''The Historical Atlas of the Congresses of the Confederate States of America: 1861–1865''. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1994 * McPherson, James M. '' Battle Cry of Freedom''. New York: Oxford University Press. 1988. 1807 births 1868 deaths People from Cumberland County, Virginia People from Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Edwin The name Edwin means "wealth-friend". It comes from (wealth, good fortune) and (friend). Thus the Old English form is Ēadwine, a name widely attested in early medieval England. Edwina is the feminine form of the name. Notable people and char ...

Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Tennessee Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly {{Tennessee-politician-stub