Malcolm Paul Cantrell (August 28, 1895 – July 8, 1962) was a Democratic

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 ...

politician and state senator. He was known for his political "machine" centered in

McMinn County, Tennessee McMinn County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in East Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 53,794. The county has a total area of . Most of the county ...

Biography

Cantrell was born on August 28, 1895, in a small southeastern

, community that later became

Etowah, Tennessee Etowah is a city in McMinn County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 3,613 at the 2020 census. History Etowah was founded in 1906, primarily as a location for a depot on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) line as part o ...

, in 1909. A descendant of Revolutionary War veteran Thomas Cantrell, he came from a large family. After serving as a conductor for the

Louisville and 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 ...

, he managed the Etowah Water, Light, and Power Company. Along with his siblings, he owned and operated a lumber company, a natural gas company, a motor company, and a bank. He also served as a director for Citizen's National Bank in nearby

Athens, Tennessee Athens is the county seat of McMinn County, Tennessee, United States and the principal city of the Athens Micropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 53,569. The city is located almost equidistantly between the major cities of Knoxville a ...

.Biographical Directory of the Tennessee General Assembly Active in the local Democratic Party, Cantrell was elected Sheriff of McMinn County in 1936. He was re-elected in 1938 and 1940. With his local support he built a centered political machine. He was elected to 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 ...

representing McMinn County's district in 1942 and re-elected in 1944. He also served as county judge from 1942–1946. A powerful and influential figure, he served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1944. His political power was broken in 1946 in the " Battle of Athens", a rebellion led by war veterans. After the battle, he remained in McMinn County and worked for the Tennessee Natural Gas Company. Cantrell died on July 8, 1962, at the age of 66 in a hospital in

."Paul Cantrell Dies; Former McMinn 'Boss,'" ''

Nashville Banner The ''Nashville Banner'' is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998. The ''Banner'' was published each Monday through Friday afternoon (as well as Saturdays unt ...

'', July 9, 1962, pg. 8

References

External links

* 1962 deaths 1895 births People from Etowah, Tennessee Businesspeople from Tennessee Tennessee state court judges Tennessee sheriffs Democratic Party Tennessee state senators 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century Tennessee state court judges 20th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly {{Tennessee-politician-stub