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William Carroll (March 3, 1788March 22, 1844) was an American politician who served as the fifth
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 ...
twice, from 1821 to 1827 and again from 1829 to 1835. He held the office longer than any other person, including the state's only other six-term governor, John Sevier. He is considered one of the state's most popular political figures of the 1820s, and is credited with initiating numerous legal and tax reforms.Phillip Langsdon, ''Tennessee: A Political History'' (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 59–63, 78–80, 91–93. Carroll joined the Tennessee militia as a captain in 1812, and quickly rose through the ranks. He participated in several engagements during the
Creek War The Creek War (1813–1814), also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Indigenous American Creek factions, European empires and the United States, taking place largely in modern-day Alabama ...
, and, as a major-general, commanded
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
's center at the
Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...
in 1815.Emma Carroll Tucker,
Governor William Carroll
" ''Tennessee Historical Society Quarterly'', Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 388–396.


Early life

Like two of his predecessors,
Archibald Roane Archibald Roane (1759/60 – January 18, 1819) was the second Governor of Tennessee, serving from 1801 to 1803. He won the office after the state's first governor, John Sevier, was prevented by constitutional restrictions from seeking a fourth ...
and Joseph McMinn, Carroll was a native of
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, having been born near
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. His father, Thomas Carroll, was a business associate of Albert Gallatin, and had established a successful chain of hardware stores in the Pittsburgh area. William Carroll had little formal education as a child, but acquired practical learning from working in his father's business. He moved to
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...
in 1808 and established a branch store in the city.Augustus Buell,
History of Andrew Jackson: Pioneer, Patriot, Soldier, Politician and President
', Vol. I (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904), pp. 284–87.
He presented himself to Andrew Jackson with a letter of introduction from Gallatin.


War of 1812 and Creek War

At the outbreak of the War of 1812, Carroll was appointed captain of the Nashville Uniform Volunteers, and joined Andrew Jackson's Creek campaign. Within a few months, he had been promoted to major, and took part in the
Battle of Talladega The Battle of Talladega was fought between the Tennessee Militia and the Red Stick Creek Indians during the Creek War, in the vicinity of the present-day county and city of Talladega, Alabama, in the United States. Background When General J ...
in November 1813. For his actions in this battle, he was promoted to colonel. He fought at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek in January 1814, and was wounded at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in March 1814. In 1813, Carroll became involved in a quarrel with another Jackson subordinate, Jesse Benton, that culminated in a duel on June 14 of that year. Jackson initially tried to defuse the quarrel, but, unsuccessful, he agreed to be Carroll's
second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ea ...
. In the duel, Carroll lost part of his thumb, and Benton was shot through the hip, but both survived. Benton's older brother, Thomas Hart Benton, was enraged after hearing Jackson had supported Carroll, and would later injure Jackson in a brawl in Nashville over the incident.Tom Horton,
Jackson-Benton Quarrel Typical of Early Southern Politics
," ''Moultrie News'', February 6, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
After the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Carroll returned to Nashville to recruit troops for the defense of
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
. After Jackson resigned from the militia to accept a commission in the federal army, Carroll was elected major-general of the Tennessee militia. Traveling via the
Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
and
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
rivers, his new troops arrived in New Orleans just prior to the British invasion. At the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, Carroll's troops fought near the center of Jackson's line, where some of the most intense fighting occurred.


Politics

Following the war, Carroll resumed his business career in Nashville. In 1818, he became part owner of the New Orleans steamboat, the ''General Jackson''. On March 11, 1819, after a treacherous journey up the Mississippi, Ohio and Cumberland rivers, the ''General Jackson'' became the first steamboat to reach Nashville. During the Panic of 1819, Carroll's business failed, and he was forced into bankruptcy. In 1821, Carroll, still immensely popular from his War of 1812 endeavors, ran for governor. Although his opponent, Edward Ward, was backed by the state's political elite, including Andrew Jackson, Hugh Lawson White and Joseph McMinn, Carroll gained the support of Jackson foes
John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
and
Davy 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 ...
, and was able to harness the anti-establishment sentiment that had arisen in the wake of the financial crisis. He easily defeated Ward on election day, 32,290 votes to 7,294. He immediately set out to reform the state's tax laws, but his call for a constitutional convention was defeated by the legislature. As Tennessee's economy improved, Carroll's popularity soared. He ran unopposed for reelection in 1823 and 1825. In 1827, at the end of his third two-year term, constitutional
term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
prevented him from serving a fourth consecutive term. He was succeeded by
Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...
. After he was passed over for a U. S. Senate seat, he became wary of the Jacksonites, and ran against Houston in 1829. Houston resigned following a scandal shortly after Carroll announced his campaign, however, and William Hall, as Speaker of the Senate, succeeded him. Hall refused to run for reelection, and Carroll was easily elected. Carroll successfully sought the office again in 1831 and 1833, and was elected without opposition. Carrol's governorship was noted for the establishment of a more progressive (for the era)
Penal Code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...
, which replaced corporal punishment with a state prison system, as well as the establishment of an insane asylum and the establishment of a
Chancery Court The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...
. He also persistently advocated for government-funded internal improvements, which helped the state's businesses. During his final term, the state constitution of 1796 was supplanted by a new one which gave more executive power to the governor; although this document was technically superseded by the current one in 1870, that document carries over very many of the provisions of the 1834 constitution, upon which it was largely based. Popular provisions in the new constitution included an equitable land tax (which benefited small farmers) and the requirement that county officials be popularly elected, rather than appointed. Carroll claimed that the new constitution allowed him to seek a fourth consecutive term. He was doomed by rising Whig sentiment in the state, however, and lost the gubernatorial election to Newton Cannon by a vote of 41,970 to 31,205. He persistently campaigned for one of the state's U. S. Senate seats in subsequent years, but was never successful. Carroll served as governor of Tennessee longer than anyone else has to this point, even fellow six-term governor Sevier. Sevier's first term was unusually short due to the time of year of the admission of Tennessee into the Union. Carroll's gubernatorial service totaled twelve years and twelve days.


Death

Carroll lived quietly after his terms as governor ended. He died on March 22, 1844, and is interred at Nashville City Cemetery in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
.


Legacy

Carroll County, Tennessee, is named in his honor. Carroll County, Arkansas, although disputed, is believed by some historians to be named in his honor. As support for this theory, historians point to the fact that a large percentage of the Carroll County, Arkansas population is reported to have emigrated from Overton County, Tennessee during his popular governorship. Carrollton, New Orleans, Louisiana, is named in his honor.Clare D'Artois Leeper,
Louisiana Place Names
' (LSU Press, 2012), p. 58.


Family life

He was married to Cecilia Bradford, and they raised four children. One of their sons was Confederate
Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...
William Henry Carroll.


References


External links


National Governors Association – bio of CarrollThe Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and CultureFind A GraveGovernor William Carroll Papers, 1821 - 1827
Tennessee State Library and Archives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, William 1788 births 1844 deaths Democratic Party governors of Tennessee Tennessee Democratic-Republicans American militiamen in the War of 1812 People of the Creek War Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States Burials in Tennessee 19th-century American politicians American militia generals