Spencer Jarnagin (1792June 25, 1851) was a
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
from
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 ...
from 1843 to 1847.
Life and career
Jarnagin was born in what was shortly to become
Grainger County, Tennessee. He graduated from Greenville College in 1813 and after the study of
law was admitted to the
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
in 1817. He served in the
Tennessee State 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 1833 to 1835. From 1836 to 1851 he served on the Board of Trustees for East Tennessee College, now the
University of Tennessee
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, ...
. He continued his practice of law after moving to
Athens, Tennessee in 1837. Jarnagin 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 the
Whig ticket of
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
and
John Tyler in the
1840 United States presidential election
The 1840 United States presidential election was the 14th quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, October 30 to Wednesday, December 2, 1840. Economic recovery from the Panic of 1837 was incomplete, and Whig nominee William Henry Har ...
.
In 1841 he was nominated for U.S. Senator by the Whig
caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures.
The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...
in the
Tennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title ...
. However, some of the
Democrats in the legislature decided that no Senator would be preferable to a Whig. Known as the "Immortal Thirteen" by Tennessee Democrats, they refused to allow a quorum on the issue. By the time Jarnagin was eventually elected to the seat and sworn in, over two and half years, almost half of the term, had elapsed. Jarnagin finally assumed office on October 17, 1843 and served until March 3, 1847. During this time, he served as the Chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. The Whigs nominated him for a second term in 1847, but he was not elected, apparently the Democrats being more amenable to
John Bell, another Whig who was eventually elected his successor; a subsequent campaign by Jarnagin for the
Tennessee Supreme Court was likewise unsuccessful. Jarnagin moved to
Memphis and continued his practice of law there. Jarnagin died from cholera at 1 A.M. on the morning of June 25, 1851 in Memphis.
He was interred in that city's
Elmwood Cemetery.
References
External links
*
1792 births
1851 deaths
People from Grainger County, Tennessee
United States senators from Tennessee
Tennessee state senators
1840 United States presidential electors
Lawyers from Memphis, Tennessee
Politicians from Memphis, Tennessee
Politicians from Knoxville, Tennessee
University of Tennessee people
Tennessee Whigs
19th-century American politicians
Whig Party United States senators
Burials in Tennessee
19th-century American lawyers
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