Parry Wayne Humphreys (1778February 12, 1839) was an American attorney, judge, and 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 ...

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 ...

. After serving one term in the House, he later served eighteen years as a judge on the state judicial circuit. About 1836 Humphreys moved to Hernando, Mississippi, where he worked in banking for the remainder of his life. When established in 1809,

Humphreys County, Tennessee Humphreys County is a county located in the western part of Middle Tennessee, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,990. Its county seat is Waverly. History Humphreys County was established in 1809 from ...

was named for the judge. He had served on the

Supreme Court of Tennessee 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 ...

from 1807 through 1809.

Biography

Humphreys was born in

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...

. As a child, he moved with his family to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

in 1789, part of a westward migration across the Appalachians after the American Revolutionary War. He later settled 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 s ...

. After he finished preparatory studies, Humphreys studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

by apprenticing with an established firm (known as "reading the law"). He 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 1801.

Career

Humphreys opened his practice in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, a major city in Middle Tennessee. He became politically active and was elected to the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

in 1805 and the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...

in 1807. He served as a justice of the

from 1807 to 1809, and a judge of the State judicial circuit from 1809 to 1813. Elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the Thirteenth Congress, Humphreys served one term from March 4, 1813 to March 3, 1815. In 1817 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. Following that, he gained another judicial appointment. He served as a judge on the State judicial circuit or nearly two decades, from 1818 to 1836. Humphreys moved to Hernando, Mississippi. There he engaged in

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

until his death.

Personal life, death and legacy

Humphreys married Mary West, and they had a son,

West Hughes Humphreys West Hughes Humphreys (August 26, 1806 – October 16, 1882) was the 3rd Attorney General of Tennessee and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the United States District Court ...

. He served as a judge during the period of the Confederacy. Parry Wayne Humphreys died on February 12, 1839, at the age of 61. He was

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 Methodist Cemetery.

was named for him when it was established in 1809, when he was serving as judge. His granddaughter Annie Humphreys married John W. Morton. He served as a captain in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the Civil War. Afterward, he was a founder of the Nashville chapter of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

, which worked to maintain

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

over

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

and their allies. Morton reportedly initiated noted Confederate general

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was a prominent Confederate Army general during the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealt ...

into the KKK. Forrest became the Grand Wizard of the organization.

References

External links

Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society
listing on Parry Wayne Humphreys
{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphreys, Parry Wayne 1778 births 1839 deaths Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee state senators Justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court American people of Welsh descent Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee People from Hernando, Mississippi