Joseph Brown Heiskell (November 5, 1823 – March 7, 1913) was a prominent

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politician who served in the

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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 ...

Biography

Heiskell was born in

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 ...

, the son of newspaper publisher Frederick S. Heiskell (1786–1882) and Eliza (Brown) Heiskell. He served in the

Tennessee State Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of 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 issue reg ...

during the 32nd General Assembly from 1857 to 1859, representing

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, Hawkins, and Jefferson counties as a member of the Whig Party. Following the state's

ordinance of secession An Ordinance of Secession was the name given to multiple resolutions drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861, at or near the beginning of the American Civil War, by which each seceding slave-holding Southern state or territory formally Secession in ...

and the outbreak of the Civil War, he represented Tennessee 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 ...

and 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 1862 to 1864. After being captured by Union soldiers in 1864, Heiskell was incarcerated. He remained in prison until the end of the war. Following his release, he established a practice in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, and was active in local politics. He was Tennessee's

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

from 1870 to 1878. Heiskell died in Memphis on March 7, 1913. Interment was in the city's Elmwood Cemetery.politicalgraveyard.com Heiskell was a nephew of William Heiskell, the post-Civil War Speaker 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 ...

Notes

References

* Robert M. McBride and Dan M. Robinson, eds., ''Biographical Directory of the Tennessee General Assembly'', Volume I, 1796–1861. (Nashville: Tennessee State Library and Archives and Tennessee Historical Commission, 1975).

External links

politicalgraveyard.com
1823 births 1913 deaths Democratic Party Tennessee state senators Tennessee attorneys general Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Tennessee Tennessee lawyers Politicians from Knoxville, Tennessee 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly {{Tennessee-politician-stub