Spencer Jarnagin

Spencer Jarnagin
Spencer Jarnagin
United States Senator; from Tennessee
	In office; October 17, 1843 – March 3, 1847
Preceded by	Alexander O. Anderson
Succeeded by	John Bell
Member of the Tennessee Senate
	In office; 1833–1835
Personal details
Born	1792; Grainger County, Tennessee
Died	June 25, 1851 (aged 58–59); Memphis, Tennessee
Political party	Whig
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

Spencer Jarnagin (1792 – June 25, 1851) was a United States Senator from Tennessee 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 in 1817. He served in the Tennessee State Senate from 1833 to 1835. From 1836 to 1851 he served on the Board of Trustees for East Tennessee College, now the University of Tennessee. He continued his practice of law after moving to Athens, Tennessee in 1837. Jarnagin was an elector for the Whig ticket of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler in the 1840 United States presidential election.

In 1841 he was nominated for U.S. Senator by the Whig caucus in the Tennessee General Assembly. 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.^[1]^[2] He was interred in that city's Elmwood Cemetery.

References

^ "Death of the Hon. Spencer Jarnagin". Mississippi Palladium. June 27, 1851.
^ "The Memphis papers announce the death of the Hon. Spencer Jarnagin". New Orleans Crescent. July 1, 1851.

External links

United States Congress. "Spencer Jarnagin (id: J000059)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

U.S. Senate
Preceded by Alexander O. Anderson	U.S. senator (Class 2) from Tennessee October 17, 1843 – March 3, 1847 Served alongside: Ephraim H. Foster and Hopkins L. Turney	Succeeded by John Bell

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[1] "Death of the Hon. Spencer Jarnagin". Mississippi Palladium. June 27, 1851.

[2] "The Memphis papers announce the death of the Hon. Spencer Jarnagin". New Orleans Crescent. July 1, 1851.

[1]

[2]

v t e United States senators from Tennessee
Class 1	Cocke A. Jackson Smith J. Anderson Campbell Eaton Grundy Foster Grundy Nicholson Foster Turney Jones Johnson Patterson Brownlow Johnson Key Bailey H. Jackson Whitthorne Bate Frazier Lea McKellar Gore Sr. Brock III Sasser Frist Corker Blackburn
Class 2	Blount J. Anderson Cocke Smith Whiteside Campbell Wharton Williams A. Jackson White A. Anderson Jarnagin Bell Nicholson Fowler Cooper Harris Turley Carmack Taylor Sanders Webb Shields Tyson Brock I Hull Bachman Berry Stewart Kefauver Walters Bass Baker Gore Jr. Mathews Thompson Alexander Hagerty

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