Daniel Coffee Trewhitt (January 29, 1823 – January 4, 1891) was an American attorney, judge, and politician. He served one term (1859–1861) in 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 ...

, where he was one of the few state legislators to oppose secession on the eve of the Civil War. He represented Hamilton County at the pro-Union

East Tennessee Convention The East Tennessee Convention was an assembly of Southern Unionist delegates primarily from East Tennessee that met on three occasions during the Civil War. The Convention most notably declared the secessionist actions taken by the Tennessee sta ...

, and afterward fought for the Union Army. He served as judge of the state's second chancery division from 1864 to 1870, and judge of the state's fourth circuit court from 1878 to 1891.

Early life

Trewhitt was born along Daddys Creek in what was then

Morgan County, Tennessee Morgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,035. Its county seat is Wartburg. Morgan County is part of the Knoxville, TN Combined Statistical Area. History Morgan County was fo ...

, but is now part of

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

. He was one of seventeen children of Levi Trewhitt, a county clerk and attorney, and Harriet (Lavender) Trewhitt. In 1836, he moved with his family to

Cleveland, Tennessee Cleveland is the county seat of and largest city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 47,356 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee (consisting of Bradley and neigh ...

, where he attended the Oak Grove Academy from 1837 to 1840. He afterward

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

under his father, and was licensed to practice in 1847.William S. Speer, "Hon. D.C. Trewhitt," ''Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans'' (1884), pp. 505-507. After receiving his law license, Trewhitt commenced practice in Harrison, Tennessee, which at the time was the county seat of Hamilton County. In 1854, he ran for district attorney general, but was defeated by rising politician George W. Bridges. He ran unsuccessfully for the

Tennessee 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 rega ...

in 1857, losing to J.C. Burch. Running on the pro-Union

Opposition Party Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

ticket, Trewhitt was elected to Hamilton County's seat in the

in 1859. Though Southern Democrats had gained control of the state government, Trewhitt joined

William H. Wisener William H. Wisener (April 22, 1812 – December 24, 1882) was an American politician, active primarily at the state level in Tennessee during the mid-19th century. He served four terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives (1847–184 ...

Roderick R. Butler Roderick Randum Butler (April 9, 1827 – August 18, 1902) was an American politician who represented Tennessee's 1st district in the United States House of Representatives from 1867 to 1875, and again from 1887 to 1889. He also served several t ...

, and

Dewitt Clinton Senter Dewitt Clinton Senter (March 26, 1830June 14, 1898) was an American politician who served as the 18th Governor of Tennessee from 1869 to 1871. He had previously served in the Tennessee House of Representatives (1855–1861), where he opposed ...

in providing persistent opposition to secession in the state legislature during the months leading up the Civil War.

Civil War

Throughout the first half of 1861, Trewhitt canvassed the Hamilton County area, speaking out against secession.

Oliver Perry Temple Oliver Perry Temple (January 27, 1820 – November 2, 1907) was an American attorney, author, judge, and economic promoter active primarily in East Tennessee in the latter half of the 19th century.Mary Rothrock, ''The French Broad-Holston Country ...

Mary Boyce Temple Mary Boyce Temple (July 6, 1856 – May 16, 1929) was an American philanthropist and socialite, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was the first president of the Ossoli Circle, the oldes ...

(ed.), "Daniel C. Trewhitt," ''Notable Men of Tennessee'' (Cosmopolitan Press, 1912), pp. 206-207. He was a delegate to both the

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

and Greeneville sessions of the

, and represented Hamilton County on the convention's powerful business committee. The convention sought to create a new state in East Tennessee that would remain in the Union. Trewhitt was elected to Hamilton County's seat in the Tennessee Senate in August 1861, but the state having seceded, he instead fled to Kentucky to join the Union Army. During the Confederate crackdown following the East Tennessee bridge burnings in late 1861, Trewhitt's father, Levi, was arrested and jailed on suspicion of aiding the bridge-burners. Despite pleas for his release, he died in a Confederate prison in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

, in 1862. His death sparked considerable outrage among East Tennessee's Unionists. Having joined the 2nd Tennessee Volunteer Infantry with the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

, Trewhitt took part in operations in the

Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It is famous in American colonial history for its rol ...

area in early 1862, and commanded the 2nd Tennessee at the

Battle of Mill Springs The Battle of Mill Springs, also known as the Battle of Fishing Creek in Confederate terminology, and the Battle of Logan's Cross Roads in Union terminology, was fought in Wayne and Pulaski counties, near current Nancy, Kentucky, on January 1 ...

on January 19 of that year. While stationed at

Barbourville, Kentucky Barbourville is a home rule-class city in Knox County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 3,165 at the 2010 census, down from 3,589 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Knox County. The city was formally established by ...

, however, he fell ill, and resigned his commission. In April 1862, having recovered, he joined the staff of General

James G. Spears James Gallant Spears (March 29, 1816 – July 22, 1869) was an American general who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Leading a unit composed primarily of Tennessee loyalists, he participated in early battles in the Cumberland Ga ...

of the 3rd brigade with the rank of captain, and was appointed the brigade's Assistant Adjuntant General. He was with the brigade at the

Battle of Stones River The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was a battle fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the Ame ...

in early 1863, and at the

Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19–20, 1863, between United States, U.S. and Confederate States of America, Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union Army, Union offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign ...

later that year (though his unit arrived after the battle had mostly ended).

Postwar activities and judgeship

When the East Tennessee Convention reconvened in April 1864, Trewhitt joined Governor

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

and Johnson's eventual successor,

William G. Brownlow William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow (August 29, 1805April 29, 1877) was an American newspaper publisher, Methodist minister, book author, prisoner of war, lecturer, and politician who served as the 17th Governor of Tennessee from 1865 to 1869 and ...

, in endorsing President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...

. He afterward supported the agenda of Brownlow and the

Radical Republicans The Radical Republicans (later also known as " Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reco ...

, including a contentious piece of legislation known as the "franchise bill," which barred ex-Confederates from voting. In May 1866, Trewhitt and dozens of other East Tennessee Unionists, frustrated over the state legislature's inability to pass a more restrictive franchise bill, held a convention in Knoxville that once again called for East Tennessee to break away and form a separate state. In 1864, Johnson appointed Trewhitt chancellor (judge) of the state's second chancery division, which included Chattanooga and surrounding areas of southeastern Tennessee. He held this position until 1870, when the new state constitution restored the voting rights of former Confederates, and he was defeated in his bid for reelection by

David M. Key David McKendree Key (January 27, 1824 – February 3, 1900) was a United States senator from Tennessee, United States Postmaster General and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennesse ...

. He then returned to private practice in Chattanooga. In 1878, Trewhitt ran for the state's fourth circuit court judgeship. On election day, he won easily, capturing 1,222 votes out of 2,017 votes (60%) in a three-way race. During this period, Trewhitt staunchly supported

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

, going so far as to state, "the greatest battle of the age is now being fought, headed on the one side by Satan in the form of intoxicating liquor, on the other hand by Christianity, morality, sobriety, and decency." He was the Republican nominee for the 3rd district seat in Congress in 1882, but was defeated by the Democratic incumbent, George Dibrell. He was, however, reelected to a second term on the fourth circuit court in 1886. In 1890, Trewhitt began experiencing symptoms of what was later described as "softening of the brain." He died at his home in Chattanooga on January 4, 1891.Other Deaths
" ''Indianapolis Journal'', 6 January 1891, p. 1. He is buried in Chattanooga's Forest Hills Cemetery.

Family

Trewhitt married Mary Melissa Winnee in

Gwinnett County, Georgia Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In 2020 United States census, 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the secon ...

, in 1841. They had four children: Thomas, Mary Jane, William, and Martha (William and Martha died in childhood). After his first wife died in 1861, he married Mary Melissa Hunter on July 4, 1865. They also had four children: Addison, Alonzo, Paul, and Ellen.

Notes

References