James Churchwell Luttrell II (March 3, 1813 – July 6, 1878) was an American attorney and politician who served as Mayor of

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. His eight-year term (1859–1867) was the longest for any Knoxville mayor until the late 20th century, when it was surpassed by

Victor Ashe Victor Henderson Ashe II (born January 1, 1945) is an American former diplomat and politician who served as United States Ambassador to Poland. From 1987 to 2004, he was mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. Ashe is a Republican. Ambassador Ashe conclu ...

's 16-year term. Luttrell also served as state

comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accountancy, accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior- ...

in the late 1850s, and was elected to the state senate following his term as mayor.East Tennessee Historical Society, Mary Rothrock (ed.), ''The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1972), pp. 440-441.

Biography

Luttrell was born in rural

Knox County, Tennessee Knox County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 500,669 as of a 2023 estimate, making it the third-most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Knoxville, which is the third-most populous city in Te ...

, the son of prominent Knox County merchant James C. Luttrell, Sr., and Martha Armstrong. Armstrong's brother and nephew built

Crescent Bend Crescent Bend is a historic home at 2728 Kingston Pike in Knoxville, Tennessee. The building is known as ''Crescent Bend'' because of its location on a meander, bend of the Tennessee River. It is also known as the Armstrong-Lockett House, Longvi ...

and the

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by th ...

, respectively, both of which still stand on

Kingston Pike Kingston Pike is a highway in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, that connects Downtown Knoxville with West Knoxville, Farragut, and other communities in the western part of the county. The road follows a merged stretch of U.S. Route&nb ...

. Luttrell graduated from East Tennessee College (the forerunner of the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

) in 1832, and commenced practicing law a short time later. Luttrell was elected Register of Knox County in 1848, and was appointed postmaster of Knoxville by President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...

in 1849. Luttrell was first elected mayor in 1854, and during this brief term helped oversee Knoxville's acquisition of

Market Square A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...

.Jack Neely, ''Market Square: A History of the Most Democratic Place on Earth'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: Market Square District Association, 2009), p. 29. In 1855, the

Know Nothings The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock nativist political movement in the United States in the 1850s. Members of the m ...

, with whom Luttrell had aligned after the collapse of the Whig Party, captured several seats in the Tennessee state legislature, and managed to appoint Luttrell comptroller. Luttrell served in this capacity until 1858, when he was again elected Mayor of Knoxville. In many ways, the Luttrell household epitomized the divided sentiments of Civil War-era Knoxville. Luttrell himself supported the Union, and his son, Samuel, fought for the Union Army.Robert McKenzie, ''Lincolnites and Rebels: A Divided Town in the American Civil War'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 127. However, his two other sons, John and James, Jr., both fought for the Confederate Army. In spite of Luttrell's Union sentiments, he was reelected mayor of Confederate-occupied Knoxville in 1862. Historian

Oliver Perry Temple Oliver Perry Temple (January 27, 1820 – November 2, 1907) was an American attorney, author, judge, and economic promoter active primarily in East Tennessee in the latter half of the 19th century.Mary Rothrock, ''The French Broad-Holston Country: ...

recalled that when Union forces occupied Knoxville in September 1863, Luttrell unfurled a large American flag at the corner of Main Street and Gay Street he had painstakingly saved for such an occasion.Oliver P. Temple, ''East Tennessee and the Civil War'' (Johnson City, Tenn.: Overmountain Press, 1995), p. 479. After the war, Luttrell joined the Democratic Party, complicating his electability in heavily-Republican post-war

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 coun ...

. He was finally defeated in the mayoral election of 1866 by Knoxville businessman Marcus De Lafayette Bearden. Luttrell was elected to the state senate in 1869, but served just one two-year term. He died while visiting an associate in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in 1878.

References

External links

Portrait of James C. Luttrell
— Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Luttrell, James Churchwell 1878 deaths 1813 births Tennessee Whigs Tennessee Know Nothings Tennessee Democrats Mayors of Knoxville, Tennessee University of Tennessee alumni Southern Unionists in the American Civil War

Biography

See also

References

External links