Joseph Meriwether Terrell (June 6, 1861November 17, 1912) was a

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

and the 57th Governor of

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Background

Born in Greenville, he was the son of Sarah Rebecca (née Anthony) and Dr. Joel Edgar Green Terrell. He attended the common schools, studied law, and 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 1882, commencing practice in Greenville. On October 19, 1886, he married Jessie Lee Spivey. They had no children. Terrell was a self-declared "uncompromising friend of common school education." Terrell was of

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ancestry and of partial Norman descent.

Career

Terrell was a member of the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. T ...

from 1884 to 1887, and a member of the

Georgia Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia Ho ...

in 1890. He served as state

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from 1892 to 1902, and

Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...

from 1902 to 1907, marred by the

Atlanta race riot Violent attacks by armed mobs of White Americans against African Americans in Atlanta, Georgia, began on the evening of September 22, 1906, and lasted through September 24, 1906. The events were reported by newspapers around the world, includi ...

of 1906. He resumed the practice of law in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, and was appointed to the U.S. Senate as a

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to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

Alexander S. Clay Alexander Stephens Clay (September 25, 1853November 13, 1910) was a United States senator from Georgia. Biography Clay was born in Powder Springs, Georgia, and graduated from Hiwassee College in Tennessee in 1875. He was admitted to the bar ...

, serving from November 17, 1910 to July 14, 1911, when he resigned. Terrell suffered a stroke in February 1911.

Death and legacy

He again resumed the practice of law in Atlanta although in poor health and died there from

Bright's Disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...

on November 17, 1912. He was survived by his wife. Interment was in the City Cemetery, Greenville. The

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

''Joseph M. Terrell'' was named for him. Terrell Hall, on the campus of Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, was also named for him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terrell, Joseph M. 1861 births 1912 deaths Democratic Party governors of Georgia (U.S. state) Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Georgia (U.S. state) Attorneys General Democratic Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Meriwether County, Georgia American people of Norman descent 19th-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers People born in the Confederate States