Thomas J. Freeman (July 19, 1827 – September 16, 1891) was a

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 ...

lawyer and Civil War soldier who served as a justice of the

Tennessee Supreme Court The Tennessee Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of Tennessee. The Supreme Court's three buildings are seated in Nashville, Knoxville, and Jackson, Tennessee. The Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, and four justice ...

from 1870 to 1886, and as the first

law school dean A law school dean is usually the highest-ranking administrator in a law school. Functions and duties Almost every American law school refers to its highest-ranking administrator as a dean. Most also have several assistant, associate, or vice d ...

for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

Early life and career

Thomas J. Freeman was born on July 19, 1827, in

Gibson County, Tennessee Gibson County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 50,429. Its county seat is Trenton, Tennessee, Trenton. The county was formed in 182 ...

, where he attended the local schools. He never attended college. Freeman first studied medicine, but later changed his mind and entered the legal profession. At age twenty-one, he was admitted to the bar and established a law practice in

Trenton, Tennessee Trenton is the county seat and fourth largest city of Gibson County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 4,240. History Trenton was established in 1824 as a county seat for the newly cre ...

. When 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 ...

broke out, Freeman joined 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 ...

; he became the

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 22nd Tennessee Infantry Regiment. He was wounded at the

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War fought on April 6–7, 1862. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater of the ...

and became temporarily disabled. After his recovery he returned to the battlefield, serving under General

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was an List of slave traders of the United States, American slave trader, active in the lower Mississippi River valley, who served as a General officers in the Confederate States Army, Con ...

. At the end of the war, Freeman moved to

Brownsville, Tennessee Brownsville is a city in and the county seat of Haywood County, Tennessee, United States. Its population as of the 2020 census was 9,788. The city is named after General Jacob Jennings Brown, an American officer of the War of 1812. History Brow ...

, where he resumed practicing law and quickly became one of

West Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, delineated by state law. Its geography consists ...

's most prominent attorneys.

Tennessee Supreme Court

Freeman was first elected to the

in 1870. A strict constructionist, his influence on the court's majority was significant, although his uncompromising views did not always carry the day. According to attorney John W. Green, he "was noted for the stubbornness with which he maintained his views, and the number of his dissenting opinions". In ''Naff v. Crawford'' (1870), Freeman wrote on behalf of the court that contracts involving Confederate notes were not void. Rejecting the

Radical Republican The Radical Republicans were a political faction within the Republican Party originating from the party's founding in 1854—some six years before the Civil War—until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reconstruction. They ca ...

argument that such money was illegal because its use furthered treason, he maintained that the mere fact that a contract involved Confederate money (which during the Civil War was the only accessible currency in the South) did not, in and of itself, make it contrary to public policy. Freeman narrowly won renomination in 1878:

Howell Edmunds Jackson Howell Edmunds Jackson (April 8, 1832 – August 8, 1895) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1893 until his death in 1895. His brief tenure on the Su ...

, who later served on the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

, ran against him, winning just over forty-nine percent of the delegates at the Democratic convention. In the 1886 election, a general dissatisfaction with the large case backlog at the Tennessee Supreme Court led voters to oust three of its incumbents, including Freeman.

Later life and death

Freeman served as the inaugural dean of the Law Department of the

following its establishment in 1889. In early 1891, due to failing health, he moved to the home of his son in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, where he died later that year at the age of 64."Deaths", ''Fort Worth Daily Gazette'' (September 17, 1891), p. 6.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Thomas J. 1827 births 1891 deaths People from Gibson County, Tennessee Confederate States Army officers Justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court University of Tennessee faculty Deans of law schools in the United States