John C. Brown
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John Calvin Brown (January 6, 1827August 17, 1889) was a Confederate Army officer and an American politician and businessman. Although he originally opposed secession, Brown fought for the Confederacy 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 ...
, eventually rising to the rank of major general.Anne-Leslie Owens,
John Calvin Brown (1827-1889)
" ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved: October 31, 2012.
He later served as the 19th Governor of Tennessee from 1871 to 1875, and was president of the state's 1870 constitutional convention, which wrote the current Tennessee State Constitution. A leader of the state's Bourbon Democrats, Brown dedicated much of his time as governor to solving the state's mounting debt issues. Following his gubernatorial tenure, he advocated railroad construction, briefly serving as president of the Texas & Pacific Railroad in 1888, and as president of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company in 1889.


Early life and education

John Calvin Brown was born in Giles County, Tennessee, the son of Duncan and Margaret Smith Brown. He was the younger brother of Neill S. Brown, who served as governor of Tennessee in the late 1840s. John graduated from Jackson College in Columbia, Tennessee, in 1846.Finding Aid for John Calvin Brown Papers
, Tennessee State Library and Archives, website, 2007. Retrieved: October 31, 2012.
He studied law with his uncle, Hugh Brown, in Spring Hill, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. He began practicing law in Pulaski that same year.Phillip Langsdon, ''Tennessee: A Political History'' (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 193-195. Like his brother, Brown was a Whig prior to the American Civil War, and following the Whig Party's collapse in the mid-1850s, he continued to support former Whig candidates. During the presidential election of 1860, he served as an elector for the Constitution Union Party candidate John Bell, who opposed secession, and took a neutral stance on the issue of slavery. In the weeks following the Battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861, however, secessionist sentiment swept across
Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...
, and Brown, along with his brother and, eventually, John Bell, switched sides and supported the burgeoning Confederacy.


American Civil War

In May 1861, Brown enlisted as a private in the Confederate
infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
, and was elected
colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
of the 3rd Tennessee Infantry shortly afterward. He was later placed in charge of a
brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...
consisting of three
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 ...
regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
s. Following the surrender of Fort Donelson, he was held as a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
for six months in Fort Warren, Massachusetts, before being exchanged in August 1862. Soon afterwards, he was promoted to brigadier-general and assigned command of a new and larger brigade composed of troops from
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
and
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
. He took part in Braxton Bragg's campaigns in Kentucky and Tennessee in late 1862 through 1863. Brown was wounded in the battles of Perryville and Chickamauga while leading his brigade. His men were a part of the defensive line on Missionary Ridge in 1863. In 1864, Brown fought in the Atlanta Campaign, at various times temporarily commanding a division. In August, he was promoted to major-general and formally assigned command of a division in Cheatham's Corps. He was again wounded at Battle of Franklin in 1864, where six of his fellow generals were killed. He was incapacitated for several months and did not rejoin the army until the end of the Carolinas Campaign in April 1865. He surrendered with Joseph E. Johnston's forces at Bennett Place and was paroled a month later.


Governor of Tennessee

Brown returned to Pulaski and resumed his law practice following the war. He was elected to the
Tennessee General Assembly 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 1869. In the following year, he was a delegate to the state constitutional convention, and was elected its president by his peers. This convention overhauled the state's 1834 constitution, essentially updating it to meet post-Civil War demands. The document most notably guaranteed the right to vote to all males of at least 21 years of age, regardless of race, but also instituted 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. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...
. Although it has been amended a number of times, it remains Tennessee's current state constitution. Although he had been a Whig before the Civil War, Brown joined the Democratic Party after the war, and was nominated as the party's candidate for governor in 1870. Since the new constitution restored voting rights to ex-Confederates, Brown easily defeated his Republican opponent, William H. Wisener of Shelbyville, by a 78,979 to 41,500 vote. He was reelected by a narrower margin, 97,700 votes to 84,089, over Republican candidate
Alfred A. Freeman Alfred Alexander Freeman (February 7, 1838 – March 27, 1926) was an American politician, judge and diplomat, active during the latter half of the 19th century. He served several terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives in the years f ...
in 1872.
Tennessee Blue Book
' (1890), p. 54.
Brown's most pressing issue was the state's skyrocketing debt. In previous decades, Tennessee had accumulated $43 million in bonded debt, mostly to pay for internal improvements, such as turnpike construction and loans to railroads. Governor William Brownlow exacerbated the problem by issuing more bonds to pay the interest on outstanding bonds in the late 1860s. By the time Brown took office, the state was struggling to pay the interest on this debt. Brown managed to reduce the state's bonded debt to $20 million, and eliminated all of the state's floating debt. His efforts proved futile, however, and the state eventually defaulted following the
Panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "L ...
. Brown's administration enacted the state's first truly effective public school legislation, which called for the establishment of county and city school superintendents, and the creation of the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Brown also advocated a
board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
to govern local school districts, and the organization of separate schools for
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
and white children. To support these schools, Governor Brown called for the
Legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...
to institute a small state tax and give cities and counties the power to raise additional taxes. In 1875, along with several other former Confederate generals, he competed for an open
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
seat, but lost on the 54th ballot in the state legislature to former President
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...
.


Later life

In 1876, Brown, who supported Thomas A. Scott's efforts to build a transcontinental railroad in the South, joined the Texas & Pacific Railroad as a vice president. He was appointed receiver of this railroad in 1885, and was elevated to president in 1888. The following year, he became president of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company, which was one of the largest industrial firms in the South. Brown also served as president of the Bon Air Coal Company, a coal mining operation on the
Cumberland Plateau The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms " Al ...
near Crossville, in the 1880s. Brown fell ill in the Summer of 1889, and traveled to Red Boiling Springs, a mineral springs resort in north-central Tennessee, in hopes of recovering. On August 17, 1889, however, he suffered a stomach
hemorrhage Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, ...
and died. His body was returned to Pulaski and interred in the city's Maplewood Cemetery.


Personal life

Brown's first wife, Anne Pointer, died in 1858. They had no children. He married his second wife, Elizabeth Childress of
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 ...
, in 1864. Her paternal aunt was First Lady Sarah Childress Polk, and her father resided at the Childress-Ray House. They had four children: Marie, Daisy, Elizabeth, and John C. Brown, Jr.Annie Somers Gilchrist,
Some Representative Women of Tennessee
' (Nashville: McQuiddy Printing Company, 1902), p. 15.
Brown's wife, Elizabeth, was among the women featured in Annie Somers Gilchrist's 1902 book, ''Some Representative Women of Tennessee''. The Browns' daughter, Marie, was married to Governor Benton McMillin.


Dates of rank

* Private: May 1, 1861 * Colonel: May 16, 1861 * Brigadier-General: August 30, 1862 * Major-General: August 4, 1864


See also

* List of American Civil War generals


References


Further reading

* * Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders'', Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959, .


External links


John C. Brown
at '' Tennessee Encyclopedia''
John C. Brown
at the
National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American Politics of the United States, political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 U.S. state, states, Territories of the United States, territories ...

Obituary
''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', August 18, 1889 , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, John C. 1827 births 1889 deaths 19th-century Tennessee politicians 19th-century American railroad executives American Civil War prisoners of war Confederate States Army major generals Democratic Party governors of Tennessee People of Tennessee in the American Civil War Grand masters of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee 19th-century American lawyers