Edwin Augustus Keeble (February 14, 1807 – August 26, 1868) was a

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 ...

politician who served in the

Confederate States Congress The Confederate States Congress was both the provisional and permanent legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861 to 1865. Its actions were for the most part concerned with measures to establish a new nat ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Early life

Keeble was born on February 14, 1807, in

Cumberland County, Virginia Cumberland County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,675. Its county seat is Cumberland. History Cumberland County was established in 1749 from Goochland County. ...

. He later moved to

Rutherford County, Tennessee Rutherford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in Middle Tennessee. As of the 2021 census, the population was 352,182, making it the fifth-most populous county in Tennessee. A study conducted by the Univers ...

Career

Keeble served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Murfreesboro Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

from 1838 to 1855. He served in the

Tennessee state legislature 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 ...

in 1861. He represented the 6th district of that state in the

Second Confederate Congress The 2nd Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from May 2, 1864, to March 18, 1865, during the last year of Jefferson Davis's presidency, at the Virginia S ...

from 1864 to 1865. Keeble finished third in the election to represent the 6th district of that state in the

First Confederate Congress The 1st Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from February 18, 1862, to February 17, 1864, during the first two years of Jefferson Davis's presidency, a ...

, winning 8% of the vote, but carried the same district handily in the August 6, 1863 Tennessee congressional elections, defeating P.G. Stiver Perkins 11,631 to 950 and carrying the soldier vote 4,620 to 770. It is worth noting that the 6th district was under Union occupation at the time of the election and civilian voting was done by refugees. As was true of many congressmen whose districts were under Union occupation, Keeble was a strong supporter of the Davis administration, part of a voting bloc that approved "higher taxes that would not be levied on their constituents and for tougher conscription laws that would take no men from their districts."McPherson, 692

Personal life and death

Keeble married Sally Bell, the daughter of U.S. presidential candidate John Bell. Keeble died on August 26, 1868 in Murfreesboro. He was buried in Rutherford County, and later re-buried in

Mount Juliet, Tennessee Mt. Juliet (also referred to as Mount Juliet) is a city located in western Wilson County, Tennessee. A suburb of Nashville, it is approximately east of downtown Nashville. Mt. Juliet is located mostly between two major national east-west routes, ...

Notes

References

*Martis, Kenneth. ''The Historical Atlas of the Congresses of the Confederate States of America: 1861–1865''. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1994 * McPherson, James M. ''

Battle Cry of Freedom The "Battle Cry of Freedom", also known as "Rally 'Round the Flag", is a song written in 1862 by American composer George Frederick Root (1820–1895) during the American Civil War. A patriotic song advocating the causes of Unionism and abolit ...

''. New York: Oxford University Press. 1988. 1807 births 1868 deaths People from Cumberland County, Virginia People from Murfreesboro, Tennessee Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Tennessee 19th-century American politicians Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives {{Tennessee-politician-stub