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 Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

in 1922 and 1930. As a prominent criminal and appellate lawyer, he represented many clients before 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 ...

, the

United States Circuit Court of Appeals The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals fr ...

, and the

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Biography

Gwinn was born and raised in the rural community of Burlison in

Tipton County, Tennessee Tipton County is a county located on the western end of the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Mississippi Delta region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,970. Its county seat is Covington. Tipton County is part of the Memphis, TN-MS ...

, and attended a small public school near there. His formal education ended in 1900 when he became qualified as a teacher at 16 years old. Despite little formal education, he was a prodigious reader and possessed the determination for continued self-study. For the next 7 years, he taught in the Tipton County school system and also served as a principal. He left the ranks of teaching in 1907 to become editor/publisher of the ''Tipton Weekly Record''; this position brought him into contact with many prominent people of the community and the state. Gwinn studied law in the offices of Stephenson and Simonton in

Covington, Tennessee Covington is a city in central Tipton County, Tennessee, United States. Covington is the second largest city and county seat of Tipton County. The city is located in West Tennessee, east of the Mississippi River. The city's population was 9,038 at ...

, and passed the state

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to become a lawyer in 1909. In addition to his law practice, he served as: Tipton County School Superintendent (1911–17), president of the Tennessee Teachers Association (1917), president of the Covington Board of Education (1923), and member of the Tennessee Democratic Committee (1914–1920). During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Gwinn was one of the 75 thousand "

Four Minute Men The Four Minute Men were a group of volunteers authorized by United States President Woodrow Wilson to give four-minute speeches on topics given to them by the Committee on Public Information (CPI). In 1917–1918, over 750,000 speeches were give ...

", a group of volunteers who gave brief speeches supporting the war effort wherever and whenever they could get an audience. Gwinn's other business interests included being the president of Planters Bank of Atoka and on the board of directors of Union Savings Bank in

. In 1918, Gwinn was elected as a state senator in the 61st General Assembly (1919–1920) representing Shelby and Tipton Counties. In 1922, he ran in the Democratic primaries against Austin Peay, former Governor

Benton McMillin Benton McMillin (September 11, 1845 – January 8, 1933) was an American politician and diplomat. He served as the 27th governor of Tennessee from 1899 to 1903, and represented Tennessee's 4th district in the United States House of Representativ ...

, and General Harvey H. Hannah. Peay won the primary election and ultimately defeated the sitting Governor Alfred Taylor, who was the last

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

governor of Tennessee for nearly 50 years. Moving to Memphis in 1923, Gwinn became a strong supporter of Mayor Rowlett Paine, who served in opposition to the political machine led by "

Boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

" E. H. Crump. Paine lost the 1927 mayoral election to Watkins Overton, who represented the Crump machine, and this marked the resurgence of Crump's dominance in the politics of western Tennessee. In 1930, Gwinn ran in the Democratic gubernatorial primaries against the sitting Governor Henry Horton, who had the support of Caldwell-Lea political machine in Nashville. Gwinn was supported by two ex-governors,

and Albert H. Roberts, and by

Hill McAlister Harry Hill McAlister (July 15, 1875 – October 30, 1959) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 37th governor of Tennessee from 1933 to 1937. He also served as Nashville's city attorney in the early 1900s, and as Tennessee's st ...

. Crump, who had opposed Horton's election in 1928, threw his support behind Horton in the Democratic primaries of 1930. Horton won the primary election by 123,642 votes to Gwinn's 88,416. Shelby County made the difference, giving Horton 27,634 votes compared to Gwinn's 2,267. Virtually all statewide political contests in Tennessee during this era were resolved in the Democratic primaries rather than in the general elections. Crump had made a governor, but most remarkable was that over 20 thousand voters who had been against Horton in 1928 changed their minds at Crump's suggestion and voted for Horton in 1930. After the 1930 election, Gwinn focused on his law practice. One of his more noteworthy cases involved Luke Lea's trial for bank fraud.Tidwell, Mary Louise Lea, 1993. Luke Lea of Tennessee. Bowling Green State University Popular Press. Bowling Green, OH. 330 p. Gwinn was well known for his love of practicing courtroom law, and he often represented needy clients '' pro bono''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwinn, Lambert Estes 1884 births 1958 deaths Democratic Party Tennessee state senators Burials in Tennessee People from Tipton County, Tennessee History of Memphis, Tennessee 20th-century American politicians