Henry Hollis Horton (February 17, 1866 – July 2, 1934) was an American attorney, farmer and politician who served as the 36th

Governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state. The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...

from 1927 to 1933. He was elevated to the position when Governor

Austin Peay Austin Peay (June 1, 1876 – October 2, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Tennessee from 1923 to 1927. He was the state's first governor since the Civil War to win three consecutive terms and the first to die ...

died in office, and as Speaker of the Tennessee Senate, he was first in the line of succession. He was subsequently elected to two more two-year terms. Horton's tenure as governor was marred by a scandal after the Stock Market crash in 1929. The related collapse of the financial empires of his political allies, Luke Lea and

Rogers Caldwell Rogers Caldwell (January 25, 1890 – October 8, 1968) was an American businessman and banker from Tennessee. He was known as the " J. P. Morgan of the South." He was the founder and president of Caldwell and Company and its subsidiary, the Bank o ...

, cost the state more than $6 million in funds deposited in their banks by Horton's administration. The legislature voted to impeach the governor, but the measure did not carry and he served out his term.Jeanette Keith,
Henry Horton
" ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved: 9 December 2012. He retired from politics and returned to his farm in Marshall County.

Early life

Horton was born in 1866 in the Princeton community of

Jackson County, Alabama Jackson County is the northeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 52,579. The county seat is Scottsboro. The county was named for Andrew Jackson, general in the United States Army and afterw ...

, one of 12 children of Henry Hollis Horton, a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

minister, and Anne (Moore) Horton.Phillip Langsdon, ''Tennessee: A Political History'' (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 312-318. He attended Scottsboro Academy in

Scottsboro, Alabama Scottsboro is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Alabama, United States. The city was named for its founder Robert T. Scott. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 14,770. From its incorporation in 1870 until 1890, ...

, before graduating from Winchester College in Winchester, Tennessee, in 1888. He moved to Hillsboro, Texas to teach school, but returned to Tennessee after about a year. He attended the University of the South in

Sewanee Sewanee may refer to: * Sewanee, Tennessee * Sewanee: The University of the South * ''The Sewanee Review'', an American literary magazine established in 1892 * Sewanee Natural Bridge * Saint Andrews-Sewanee School See also * Suwanee (disambiguati ...

in the early 1890s to study law. Horton 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 1894, and practiced law in Franklin County.Nancy Capace,
Encyclopedia of Tennessee
' (North American Book Dist. LLC, 2000), pp. 139-140. He held various local offices, including school director and election commissioner, and worked as director of the Home Bank of Winchester.

Marriage and family

Horton married Adeline Wilhoite in 1896. They had one son.

Early political career

Horton was elected to represent Franklin County for one term 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 ...

, from 1907 to 1909. He was a supporter of

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 ...

. In 1911, Horton and his family moved to Marshall County, Tennessee. He operated a farm and mill that had been established by his in-laws, the Wilhoites, on the Duck River near

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to: Places Antarctica * Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia *Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area Canada * Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbo ...

Governor

Horton was elected to the Tennessee Senate in 1926 for the district of Marshall and Lincoln counties. He served as Speaker of the Senate from 1926-1927. When Governor

died in office on October 2, 1927, Horton became governor according to Tennessee’s gubernatorial succession law. Unfamiliar with running a statewide campaign, Horton turned to Peay's longtime adviser, Luke Lea, publisher of the ''

Nashville Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, w ...

'', to help him win reelection in 1928. Lea's rivals, Memphis political boss

E. H. Crump Edward Hull "Boss" Crump Jr. (October 2, 1874 – October 16, 1954) was an American politician from Memphis, Tennessee. Representing the Democratic Party, he was the dominant force in the city's politics for most of the first half of the 20t ...

and Nashville political boss Hilary Howse, endorsed Hill McAlister, who had been defeated by Peay in 1926. A third candidate, Lewis S. Pope, also sought the Democratic nomination, and had the backing of Peay's widow. After a hard-fought primary campaign, Horton won the nomination with 97,333 votes to 92,017 for McAlister, and 27,779 for Pope. In the general election, he defeated the Republican candidate, Raleigh Hopkins, 195,546 votes to 124,733. During Horton's second term, he and Lea began using state

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

to distribute jobs in Memphis in an attempt to weaken Crump's influence there. Crump, who was running for Congress and wanted to focus on his own campaign, agreed to support Horton in the 1930 governor's race if he and Lea would stop providing patronage to his foes. With Crump out of the way, Horton defeated his chief opponent,

Lambert Estes Gwinn Lambert Estes Gwinn (February 19, 1884 – December 4, 1958) was a Tennessee educator, politician, and attorney. He served as a state senator (1919–1921) and ran for governor in the Democratic primaries in 1922 and 1930. As a prominent crimi ...

, 123,642 to 88,416 in the Democratic primary. He defeated C. Arthur Bruce in the general election, winning 144,995 votes to Bruce's 101,285. Four days after Horton was reelected governor, the Bank of Tennessee, owned by Lea associate Rogers Caldwell, was declared

insolvent In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company (debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet inso ...

following the stock market crash in 1929, and Caldwell’s banks throughout the South soon followed. Horton had deposited more than $6 million in state funds in Caldwell's banks, all of which was lost. A Tennessee General Assembly investigation produced charges that Horton had conspired with Lea and Caldwell to run branches of state government for their own financial gain in exchange for Lea’s political support. Crump and his allies assailed Horton for depositing state funds in the banks of his political allies. They also attacked Horton for awarding

no-bid contract Multisourcing is the concept of working with multiple suppliers who are also competitors. Large-scale buyers, such as the U.S. federal government, may want to feel assured that there is more than one supplier for an item. It has been described as t ...

s to Caldwell's road-paving company, Kyrock. A motion calling for Horton's

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

was voted on by the state House in June 1931, but the motion failed, 58 to 41. Horton finished his term and did not seek reelection. During Horton's tenure as governor, he continued most of Peay's reform initiatives. He abolished a land tax that had been unpopular with farmers, established a

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

board, created a state division of aeronautics, and developed a secondary state highway system. He supported statues of

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

and John Sevier being placed in

Statuary Hall The National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along th ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Later life and legacy

Following his final term as governor, Horton retired to his farm in Marshall County. He died from an apparent stroke on July 2, 1934. He was buried in Lewisburg, Tennessee. In 1961, the state purchased Horton's Marshall County farm from his heirs. It adapted the land for use as

Henry Horton State Park Henry Horton State Park is an American state park located near Chapel Hill, Tennessee. It was constructed in the 1960's on the estate of the former Governor of Tennessee Henry Horton. The park offers various outdoor recreational activities ...

, dedicated to his memory. The ruins of a mill operated by Horton and his in-laws, the Wilhoites, still stand in the park. A portion of

U.S. Route 31 U.S. Route 31 or U.S. Highway 31 (US 31) is a major north–south U.S. highway connecting southern Alabama to northern Michigan. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with US 90/ US 98 in Spanish Fort, Alabama. It ...

in Marshall County has been named in Horton's honor.

References

External links

Governor Henry H. Horton Papers (finding aid)
– Tennessee State Library and Archives

– entry at the National Governors Association
Portrait painting of Governor Horton
– Tennessee Portrait Project
Profile photograph of Governor Horton
– Tennessee State Library and Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Horton, Henry Hollis 1866 births 1934 deaths Democratic Party governors of Tennessee Democratic Party Tennessee state senators People from Chapel Hill, Tennessee People from Jackson County, Alabama 20th-century American politicians