John Wesley Crockett (July 10, 1807 – November 24, 1852), was an American politician who represented
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 ...
's
Twelfth Congressional District in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
. It was the same district his father,
David Crockett
David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Re ...
, had represented earlier.
Biography
Crockett was born in East Tennessee on July 10, 1807, to David (Davy) Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) and his first wife, Mary (Polly) Finley (1788–1815). He had one brother named William Finley Crockett and one sister named Margaret Finley (Polly) Crockett. He was educated in the
public schools, studied law, and then 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 ...
. He began his law practice in
Paris, Tennessee. He married Martha Hamilton and they had fourteen children.
Career
Crockett held numerous local and state offices before being elected as a
Whig to the
Twenty-fifth and
Twenty-sixth Congresses; he succeeded
Adam Huntsman
Adam Huntsman (February 11, 1786 – August 23, 1849) was an American lawyer and politician who represented Tennessee's twelfth district in the United States House of Representatives from 1835 to 1837. He was a slaveholder.
Biography
Huntsman ...
, the man who had defeated his father in the 1835 election. He served from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1841. Crockett was next elected by the
Tennessee General Assembly
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 ...
to be the attorney general for the ninth district 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 ...
, and served from 1841 to 1843.
In 1843, Crockett moved to
and became a commission
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
. He was also a newspaper editor, publishing the ''National'' from May 22, 1848, and establishing the ''Crescent'' around 1847.
Death
After moving to
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, Crockett died there the same year on November 24, 1852, at age 45. He is
interred
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
at Old City Cemetery in
Paris, Tennessee.
Crockett family tree
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crockett, John Wesley
1807 births
1852 deaths
Davy Crockett
Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American newspaper editors
19th-century American lawyers
Tennessee lawyers
Editors of Louisiana newspapers
Journalists from Tennessee