John DeWitt Clinton Atkins (June 4, 1825 – June 2, 1908) was an American slave owner, politician and lawyer who served as a member of both the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and

Confederate 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, ...

from

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 ...

Biography

Johnathan Atkins was born at Manly's Chapel, Tennessee, in Henry County the son of Johnathan Atkins and Sarah (Manley) Atkins. He attended a private school in

Paris, Tennessee Paris is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,316. A replica of the Eiffel Tower stands in the southern part of Paris. History The present site of Par ...

, graduated from East Tennessee University at

Knoxville 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 ...

in 1846. John studied law, and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

, but John did not practice, instead of engaging in agricultural pursuits. He owned slaves. John married Elizabeth Bacon Porter on November 23, 1847. After her death in 1887, John married Flora Crawford on June 24, 1890.

Career

Johnathan Atkins was a member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

from 1849 to 1851. John served in the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

from 1855 to 1857. John was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Thirty-fifth Congress by

Tennessee's 9th congressional district Tennessee's 9th congressional district is a congressional district in West Tennessee, covering most of Memphis and its inner suburbs. It has been represented by Democrat Steve Cohen since 2007. The district was re-created as a result of the ...

. John served from March 4, 1857 to March 3, 1859, but John was not a successful candidate for re-election to the Thirty-sixth Congress. 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 ...

, Johnathan Atkins served as lieutenant colonel of the Fifth Tennessee Regiment in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

in 1861. John was a delegate to the

Confederate Provisional Congress The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, fully the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a unicameral congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which became the governing ...

in November 1861. John then was elected to 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 ...

and was reelected in 1863 to 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 ...

. During the last days of the war in February 1865 as the South neared defeat, Atkins urged the Confederate government to purchase "one hundred thousand slaves" and give them to each Confederate soldier to increase their strength on the battlefield. Following the war, J. D. Atkins was elected as a

to the Forty-third and the four succeeding Congresses by

Tennessee's 7th congressional district The 7th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district located in parts of Middle Tennessee, Middle and West Tennessee. It has been represented since January 2019 by Republican Mark Green (Tennessee politician), Mark Green, who h ...

, and then by the 8th congressional district after

reapportionment Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions, such as states or parties, entitled to representation. This page presents the general principles and issues related to apportionment ...

. John served from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1883. The Tennessee Historical Commission describes him as key to defeating

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, saying he was "instrumental in obtaining removal of Federal troops from the South." During the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses, John was the chairman of the

United States House Committee on Appropriations The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Co ...

. John was not a candidate for renomination in 1882. Johnathan Atkins again engaged in agricultural pursuits near Paris, Tennessee in Henry County. John was appointed United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs by President

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

on March 21, 1885, and John served until June 13, 1888, when John resigned. During his tenure as commissioner, Johnathan Atkins forbade the use of Native languages in reservation schools, stating in 1887 that "instruction of the Indians in the vernacular is not only of no use to them but it is detrimental to the cause of their education and civilization". He was an unsuccessful Democratic nomination for

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

in 1888. John returned to agricultural pursuits; retired from active pursuits in 1898, and moved to Paris, Tennessee.

Death

Johnathan Atkins lived there in retirement until his death on June 2, 1908 (age 82 years, 364 days). John is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

at City Cemetery in Paris, Tennessee. A family friend who developed Atlanta's Atkins Park neighborhood named it in honor of the colonel.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, John D. C. 1825 births 1908 deaths People from Henry County, Tennessee Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Tennessee Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Democratic Party Tennessee state senators University of Tennessee alumni Confederate States Army officers People of Tennessee in the American Civil War Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly