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John Haywood (1753–1826) was an American jurist and historian known as "the Father of
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 ...
History."
Biography
Haywood was born in
Halifax County, North Carolina
Halifax County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,622. Its county seat is Halifax.
Halifax County is part of the Roanoke Rapids, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is a ...
in 1753, the son of Egbert Haywood, a Patriot officer during the American Revolutionary War. Despite limited educational opportunities on the colonial frontier, Haywood taught himself law and in later life became widely read. Admitted to the bar in 1786, he quickly gained a reputation as one of the best legal minds in the state.
Haywood was appointed as the
North Carolina Attorney General
The Attorney General of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state offici ...
from 1791 to 1794. In 1794, Haywood he was appointed to the bench of the Superior Court of North Carolina, but resigned in 1800 to defend a longtime friend,
North Carolina Secretary of State
The North Carolina Secretary of State is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of North Carolina, and is fourth in the line of succession to the office of Governor of North Carolina. The se ...
James Glasgow
James Glasgow (c. 1735 – November 17, 1819) served as the first North Carolina Secretary of State, from 1777 to 1798.
Biography
Early life
James Glasgow, the son of a Scottish minister, Reverend James Patrick Glasgow and his wife, Marth ...
, who, along with several other prominent citizens, had been charged with land warrant fraud. This scandal proved so unpopular that Haywood's own reputation was injured in defending Glasgow.
Following the trial in which Glasgow was convicted, Haywood moved to
Raleigh
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
and returned to private law practice. At this time he began his career as an important legal scholar.
His ''North Carolina Reports'' (1806) and ''A Manual of the Laws of North Carolina'' (1808) were the first important compilations of the state's statutes. He produced equally important legal texts for Tennessee, including ''A Revisal of All the Public Acts of the State of North Carolina and of the State of Tennessee'' (1809), ''Duty and Authority of Justices of the Peace'' (1810), and ''The Statute Laws of the State of Tennessee'' (1831), the latter completed after his death by Robert L. Cobbs.
Haywood owned land in
Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the ...
. At the encouragement of his friend
John Overton John Overton may refer to:
People
* John Overton (printseller) (1640–1713), seller of prints and maps who succeeded Peter Stent
*John Overton (priest) (1763–1838), English clergyman
* John Overton (judge) (1766–1833), judge at the Superior Co ...
, he moved his family to
Davidson County. He built a home called Tusculum some eight miles south of Nashville and soon added two log offices. There he trained young men for the law in what may have been the first "law school" in the Old Southwest. As in his native state, Haywood quickly established an enviable legal reputation. In 1816 he was appointed to the
Tennessee Supreme Court
The Tennessee Supreme Court is the ultimate judicial tribunal of the state of Tennessee. Roger A. Page is the Chief Justice.
Unlike other states, in which the state attorney general is directly elected or appointed by the governor or state leg ...
of Errors and Appeals, a position he held until his death in 1826.
Though he weighed over 350 pounds in his later life, Haywood was an active and energetic man. He researched and wrote on religion and history in addition to his legal work. His ''The Christian Advocate'' (1819), a slender eccentric religious study, was his first non-legal work. He is best known for his histories of
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 ...
, including ''The Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee'' (1823), an attempt to prove that the native tribes of Tennessee were descendants of ancient
Hebrews
The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still ...
(a popular idea among European Americans in the early 19th century); and ''The Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee'' (1823), a comprehensive history from prehistoric times to statehood in 1796. ''The Civil and Political History'' became an influential source for future Tennessee historians, especially
J. G. M. Ramsey.
Haywood's histories established him as the pioneer in Tennessee
historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
. In researching his histories, Haywood examined early colonial and state records and interviewed many of the pioneers or their descendants. Though later criticized for inaccuracies, the books were groundbreaking works in preserving and interpreting the state's history. An outgrowth of Haywood's research was the formation of the state's first historical society, the Tennessee Antiquarian Society, in 1820; Haywood served as president but it ceased operating after two years. Haywood was also elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...
in 1820.
Haywood and his wife, the former Martha Edwards, had ten children together. Haywood died on December 22, 1826, and was buried on Christmas Eve at his home. Tennessee's
Haywood County, created in 1823, is named for him.
See also
*
Samuel Cole Williams
Samuel Cole Williams (January 15, 1864 – December 14, 1947) was an American jurist, historian, educator, and businessman. He was born and raised in the state of Tennessee, where he primarily had his career in Johnson City in East Tennessee.
...
Notes
External links
Tennessee Encyclopedia article by Ned L. IrwinJohn Haywood Papers, 1768-1796 Tennessee State Library and Archives.
The Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee from its Earliest Settlement Up to the Year 1796, Including the Boundaries of the State (1891 reprint of John Haywood's book).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haywood, John
American historians
Justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court
Tennessee lawyers
North Carolina lawyers
North Carolina Attorneys General
North Carolina state court judges
1762 births
1826 deaths
Members of the American Antiquarian Society
18th-century American historians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
19th-century American lawyers
American male non-fiction writers