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John Baxter (March 5, 1819 – April 2, 1886) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a
United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...
of the United States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit from 1877 to 1886. Initially a Whig, he had previously served several terms in the
North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...
, including one term as
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...
, before moving to
Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
to practice law. Baxter opposed secession on the eve of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, and was a delegate to the
East Tennessee Convention The East Tennessee Convention was an assembly of Southern Unionist delegates primarily from East Tennessee that met on three occasions during the Civil War. The Convention most notably declared the secessionist actions taken by the Tennessee sta ...
, which sought to create a separate, Union-aligned state in East Tennessee. He subsequently took the Oath of Allegiance to the Confederacy, in part to provide legal defense for Unionists charged in Confederate courts. Those he defended during the course of the war included several members of the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy and several participants of the
Great Locomotive Chase The Great Locomotive Chase (also known as Andrews' Raid or the Mitchel Raid) was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army, led by civilian scout James J. And ...
. He ran unsuccessfully for the
Confederate Congress The Confederate States Congress was both the Provisional government, provisional and permanent Legislature, legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861 to 1865. Its actions were for the most part concerned w ...
in September 1861. By mid-1862, he had returned to his pro-Union stance. Baxter supported Democratic presidential candidate
George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...
in 1864, but would eventually join the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
. In 1870, he was a delegate to the state constitutional convention that created the current
Tennessee State Constitution The Constitution of the State of Tennessee defines the form, structure, activities, character, and fundamental rules (and means for changing them) of the U.S. State of Tennessee. The original constitution of Tennessee came into effect on June 1, ...
.


Early life

Baxter was born in Rutherford County,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, the son of William and Catherine (Lee) Baxter. His father, William, was described as a "thrifty and wealthy" farmer who had immigrated from
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
in 1789.George Derby and James Terry White,
The National Cyclopædia of American Biography
' (J.T. White Company, 1900), p. 189.
Oliver Perry Temple,
Judge John Baxter
" ''Notable Men of Tennessee'' (Cosmopolitan Press, 1912), pp. 66-74.
Young John initially worked as a merchant in
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
, but found it unfulfilling, and turned to the study of law. He
read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...
and was admitted to the bar in 1841, initially practicing in Rutherford County before moving to Henderson County, North Carolina in 1845. Baxter aligned himself politically with the burgeoning Whig Party. In 1844, he was an
elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...
for presidential candidate
Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...
. His political activities included ten years of service as a member of the
North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...
, spread across three separate periods. The first was from 1842 to 1843, representing Rutherford County, then from 1846 to 1848, and finally from 1852 to 1857, representing Henderson County. He served as Speaker for the 1852 session. By the end of his final term in the legislature, Baxter began seeking greater opportunities than Western North Carolina afforded. On the advice of fellow attorney and Whig,
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 ...
, Baxter relocated to
Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, which lay across the
Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge ...
to the west. Temple later recalled that Baxter's first argument before a Knoxville court was "so clear and strong that it marked him at once as one of the leaders of the Knoxville bar." In describing Baxter's courtroom style, Temple stated that he quickly seized upon the key facts of the case, ignoring minor or insignificant points. He only showed deference to
precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...
if it sustained his case. Temple wrote that while Baxter was not very well-read, he nevertheless possessed a "massive" intellect which was "astute and logical." By the outbreak of the Civil War, Baxter's earnings from his law practice had made him one of the wealthiest men in Knoxville.Robert McKenzie, ''Lincolnites and Rebels: A Divided Town in the American Civil War'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 56-58, 106-108, 135-137.


Civil War

Although a slaveholder, Baxter opposed secession during the sectional crisis that swept the South in the wake of the election of
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
in November 1860. In an article entitled, "What Shall the South Do?", which was published in the November 24, 1860, edition of the '' Knoxville Whig'', Baxter called for a convention of delegates from all Southern states, believing it would provide an opportunity to calm the secession fervor in the lower South. In February 1861, Baxter was one of Knox County's pro-Union candidates for a proposed statewide convention to consider secession. Along with Temple and ex-Whig leaders such as
William G. Brownlow William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow (August 29, 1805April 29, 1877) was an American newspaper publisher, Methodist minister, book author, prisoner of war, lecturer, and politician who served as the 17th Governor of Tennessee from 1865 to 1869 and ...
,
Horace Maynard Horace Maynard (August 30, 1814 – May 3, 1882) was an American educator, attorney, politician and diplomat active primarily in the second half of the 19th century. Initially elected to the House of Representatives from Tennessee's 2nd Cong ...
, and
John Netherland John Netherland (September 20, 1808 – October 4, 1887) was an American attorney and politician, active primarily in mid-19th century Tennessee. A leader of the state's Whigs, he served in both the Tennessee Senate and Tennessee House of R ...
, he canvassed the region to rally support for the Union. Temple would later write that no one in Tennessee was "so bitter in denunciation of secession and its leaders" than Baxter. At the East Tennessee Convention's Greeneville session in June 1861, Baxter was a member of the Knox County delegation, along with Temple, Brownlow and Maynard. This convention, which met just after Tennessee voted to secede, petitioned the state legislature to allow East Tennessee to withdraw from the state and form a separate, Union-aligned state. Baxter spoke out against a series of resolutions proposed by T.A.R. Nelson that threatened the use of force if the legislature refused the convention's demands. He supported a more peaceful set of resolutions authored by Temple, which were eventually adopted. Following the Confederate victory at the Battle of Bull Run in late July, Baxter gradually abandoned his campaign against secession, and began to reconcile with the new Confederate government. In September 1861, he took the Oath of Allegiance to the Confederacy, in part to provide legal assistance to Unionists who had been arrested, and in part because he felt the North could not defeat the South in a war. While many secessionists, such as
Landon Carter Haynes Landon Carter Haynes (December 2, 1816 – February 17, 1875) was an American politician who served as a Confederate States senator from Tennessee from 1862 to 1865. He also served several terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives, inc ...
, welcomed Baxter's defection, others, such as ''
Knoxville Register The ''Knoxville Register'' was an American newspaper published primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, during the 19th century. Founded in 1816, the paper was East Tennessee's dominant newspaper until 1863, when its pro-secession editor, Jacob Austin Sp ...
'' editor J. Austin Sperry, doubted his sincerity. In September 1861, Baxter ran for the district's seat in the Confederate Congress, but was badly defeated by William G. Swan. Baxter spent much of late 1861 and early 1862 defending Unionists who had been charged with various crimes by Confederate authorities. In August 1861, he travelled to
Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...
, to help secure the release of Nelson, who had been arrested. In the aftermath of the East Tennessee bridge-burnings in November 1861, Baxter defended many of the accused conspirators. In late December, he again travelled to Richmond to help secure the release of Brownlow, who had been jailed in Knoxville. In February 1862, Baxter launched a newspaper, the ''East Tennessean'', the purpose of which was to reconcile Southern Unionists with the Confederacy. By the spring of 1862, Baxter was again waffling on the disunion issue. He delivered a speech in which he stated there was no hope for the Confederacy, provoking the ire of General
Edmund Kirby Smith General Edmund Kirby Smith (May 16, 1824March 28, 1893) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department (comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Louisiana, Arizona Territory and the Indi ...
. Shortly afterward, General
Albert Sidney Johnston Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) served as a general in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, figh ...
, at the request of Smith, arrested Baxter while he was on a business trip to Memphis. Though he was released after a few days, Baxter angrily returned to a pro-Union stance, charging Governor
Isham G. Harris Isham Green Harris (February 10, 1818July 8, 1897) was an American politician who served as the 16th governor of Tennessee from 1857 to 1862, and as a U.S. senator from 1877 until his death. He was the state's first governor from West Tennessee. ...
with orchestrating the arrest. In June 1862, Temple and Baxter provided legal defense for twelve Union soldiers facing
court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
in Knoxville for their participation in the guerilla operation known as the "
Great Locomotive Chase The Great Locomotive Chase (also known as Andrews' Raid or the Mitchel Raid) was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army, led by civilian scout James J. And ...
", or Andrews' Raid. Of the twelve, seven went to trial before the prisoners were moved to Chattanooga. Temple and Baxter argued the raiders were essentially Union Army personnel, not spies or saboteurs, and should therefore have been treated as prisoners of war. All seven were found guilty, and sentenced to hang.William Pittenger,
The Great Locomotive Chase: A History of the Andrews Railroad Raid into Georgia in 1862
' (Jones and Stanley, 1893), pp. 267-272.
When Union forces occupied Knoxville in September 1863, Baxter was recognized as a friend of the Union, and was appointed to the East Tennessee Relief Association, which provided aid to Unionists who had suffered at the hands of the Confederacy. Baxter disagreed with Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...
, and supported
George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...
in the presidential election of 1864. This provoked the wrath of Brownlow, who would align himself with the
Radical Republicans The Radical Republicans (later also known as " Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reco ...
, and the two would assail one another in newspaper columns in subsequent years.


Postwar activities

Following the war, Baxter helped ex-Confederates in Knoxville prepare pardon applications. At the same time, however, he led a movement to purge ex-Confederate members of
East Tennessee University The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...
's Board of Trustees.Jerome Taylor, "The Extraordinary Life and Death of Joseph A. Mabry," East Tennessee Historical Society ''Publications'', No. 44 (1972), pp. 48-64. In the late 1860s, a feud erupted between Baxter and mercurial Knoxville businessman Joseph Mabry. Mabry had been president of the bankrupt Knoxville and Kentucky Railroad, which had been issued millions of dollars in state bonds. In July 1869, Baxter sued Mabry, charging him with looting the company. Mabry likewise accused Baxter of committing fraud in his dealings with the Mineral Home Railroad. The two viciously attacked one another in newspaper columns in early 1870, and sued one another for
libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
. Finally, on June 13, 1870, Mabry shot Baxter in front of the Lamar House Hotel in downtown Knoxville. Though armed, Baxter ran away. Mabry was arrested, but Baxter did not press charges. In January 1870, Baxter was elected Knox County's delegate to the convention which created the current Tennessee State Constitution. At the convention, Baxter was appointed Chairman of both the Bill of Rights Committee and Impeachments Committee, and served on the Permanent Rules Committee, the Common Schools Committee, and the Judiciary Committee. The Bill of Rights Committee drafted Article I ("Declaration of Rights") of the constitution. Baxter introduced the amendment establishing a
poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
. In 1872, Baxter supported the Liberal Republican Party.Charles A. Newell, Jr.,
John Baxter
" ''NCPedia'', 1979. Retrieved: 1 May 2013.
He had aligned himself with the main
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
by 1876, however, when he supported
Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...
for president.


Federal judgeship

Baxter was nominated by President
Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...
on December 6, 1877, to a seat on the United States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit vacated by Judge Halmor Hull Emmons. He was confirmed by the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
on December 13, 1877, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on April 2, 1886, due to his death.


Notable cases

Many of Baxter's opinions involved railroads. In one case, ''
Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...
Company v. Railroad Commission of Tennessee'' (1884), Baxter ruled that a Tennessee state law empowering the state's railroad commission to control rates was vague and unconstitutional. In another, ''Dinsmore v.
Louisville, Cincinnati and Lexington Railway The Louisville, Cincinnati and Lexington Railway was a 19th-century railway company in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It operated from 1877, when it absorbed the failed Louisville, Cincinnati and Lexington Railroad, until 1881, when it was purchased ...
Company'' (1880), he ruled that railroads were "quasi-public instrumentalities," and thus railroad companies could not refuse transportation to any company (in this case an express
courier A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...
), so long as that company paid a reasonable rate. In 1884, Baxter overturned an injunction issued by a lower court that prevented baseball pitcher
Tony Mullane Anthony John Mullane (January 30, 1859 – April 25, 1944), nicknamed "Count" and "The Apollo of the Box", was an Irish Major League Baseball player who pitched for seven teams during his 13-season career. He is best known as an ambidextrous pi ...
from playing for the
Toledo Blue Stockings The Toledo Blue Stockings formed as a minor league baseball team in Toledo, Ohio, in 1883. They won the Northwestern League championship in 1883. Their home ballpark was League Park. The following year, they joined the major league American Assoc ...
, since he had already signed with the St. Louis Maroons. Baxter argued that baseball matters were too insignificant to occupy the courts' time.


Death

Baxter died on April 2, 1886, in
Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
,
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
. He was buried in
Old Gray Cemetery Old Gray Cemetery is the second-oldest cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1850, the cemetery contains the graves of some of Knoxville's most influential citizens, ranging from politicians and soldiers, to artists an ...
in Knoxville.Mary Rothrock, ''The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1972), p. 376.


Family

Baxter's brother,
Elisha Baxter Elisha Baxter (September 1, 1827May 31, 1899) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 10th governor of Arkansas from 1873 to 1874. Early life and career Baxter was born in Forest City, North Carolina. He sought and obtained a ...
, served as
Governor of Arkansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
from 1872 to 1874. His son, Lewis T. Baxter (1852–1927), was a prominent Nashville businessman and an unsuccessful candidate for
Governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state. The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...
in 1890.
Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Representative Men of Chicago and the World's Columbian Exposition
' (American Biographical Publishing Company, 1892), pp. 639-640.
Another son, George W. Baxter (1855–1929), briefly served as the territorial governor of
Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
in 1886. Baxter was married four times: 1) Mahalah Hinds (m. 1836), Orra Alexander (m. 1843), Catherine Alexander (m. 1860) and Kate White (m. 1867).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, John 1819 births 1886 deaths 19th-century American judges 19th-century American politicians Judges of the United States circuit courts Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives North Carolina Whigs People from Knoxville, Tennessee People from Rutherford County, North Carolina People of Tennessee in the American Civil War Southern Unionists in the American Civil War Tennessee Democrats Tennessee lawyers Tennessee Republicans Tennessee Whigs United States federal judges appointed by Rutherford B. Hayes United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law