James Churchwell Luttrell II (March 3, 1813 – July 6, 1878) was an American attorney and politician who served as Mayor of

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, 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 Di ...

, during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same 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 ...

. His eight-year term (1859–1867) was the longest for any Knoxville mayor until the late 20th century, when it was surpassed by

Victor Ashe The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

's 16-year term. Luttrell also served as state

comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

in the late 1850s, and was elected to the state senate following his term as mayor.East Tennessee Historical Society, Mary Rothrock (ed.), ''The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1972), pp. 440-441.

Biography

Luttrell was born in rural

Knox County, Tennessee Knox County is located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 478,971, making it the third-most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Knoxville, which is the third-most populous city in Tennessee. K ...

, the son of prominent Knox County merchant James C. Luttrell, Sr., and Martha Armstrong. Armstrong's brother and nephew built Crescent Bend and the

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

, respectively, both of which still stand on

Kingston Pike Kingston Pike is a highway in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, that connects Downtown Knoxville with West Knoxville, Farragut, and other communities in the western part of the county. The road follows a merged stretch of U.S. Route 1 ...

. Luttrell graduated from East Tennessee College (the forerunner of the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

) in 1832, and commenced practicing law a short time later. Luttrell was elected Register of Knox County in 1848, and was appointed postmaster of Knoxville by President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

in 1849. Luttrell was first elected mayor in 1854, and during this brief term helped oversee Knoxville's acquisition of

Market Square The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a Town square, square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world.Know Nothings The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

, with whom Luttrell had aligned after the collapse of the Whig Party, captured several seats in the Tennessee state legislature, and managed to appoint Luttrell comptroller. Luttrell served in this capacity until 1858, when he was again elected Mayor of Knoxville. In many ways, the Luttrell household epitomized the divided sentiments of Civil War-era Knoxville. Luttrell himself supported the Union, and his son, Samuel, fought for the Union Army.Robert McKenzie, ''Lincolnites and Rebels: A Divided Town in the American Civil War'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 127. However, his two other sons, John and James, Jr., both fought for the Confederate Army. In spite of Luttrell's Union sentiments, he was reelected mayor of Confederate-occupied Knoxville in 1862. Historian

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 ...

recalled that when Union forces occupied Knoxville in September 1863, Luttrell unfurled a large American flag at the corner of Main Street and Gay Street he had painstakingly saved for such an occasion.Oliver P. Temple, ''East Tennessee and the Civil War'' (Johnson City, Tenn.: Overmountain Press, 1995), p. 479. After the war, Luttrell joined the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, complicating his electability in heavily-Republican post-war

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...

. He was finally defeated in the mayoral election of 1866 by Knoxville businessman Marcus De Lafayette Bearden. Luttrell was elected to the state senate in 1869, but served just one two-year term. He died while visiting an associate in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

in 1878.

References

External links

Portrait of James C. Luttrell
— Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Luttrell, James Churchwell 1878 deaths 1813 births Tennessee Whigs 19th-century American politicians Tennessee Know Nothings Tennessee Democrats Mayors of Knoxville, Tennessee University of Tennessee alumni Southern Unionists in the American Civil War

Biography

See also

References

External links