Thomas Battle Turley (April 5, 1845July 1, 1910) was a

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 ...

attorney who served as a Democratic

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 ...

from 1897 to 1901.

Biography

Turley was born in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

and attended public schools and was a private in the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

Army throughout the

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, spending part of that conflict as a

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. Upon its conclusion he attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

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, completing his studies in 1867. In 1870 he was admitted to the Tennessee

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and began practicing in Memphis. A prominent attorney, upon the death in office of Senator

Isham G. Harris Isham Green Harris (February 10, 1818July 8, 1897) was an American politician who served as the 16th governor of Tennessee from 1857 to 1862, and as a U.S. senator from 1877 until his death. He was the state's first governor from West Tennessee. ...

, Turley was appointed by

governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state. The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...

Robert L. Taylor to the vacancy. He was subsequently elected to the balance of the term 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 ...

. Turley declined to stand for any further service in the Senate once the balance of the term to which Harris had initially been elected had expired, serving in the Senate from July 20, 1897 to March 3, 1901. He returned to his Memphis law practice until shortly before his death in 1910. He was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, the final resting place of many

West Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions (Tennessee), Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee River, Tennessee and Miss ...

political figures.

External links

Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turley, Thomas B. 1845 births 1910 deaths Democratic Party United States senators from Tennessee Tennessee Democrats 19th-century American politicians Politicians from Memphis, Tennessee