James C. Jones
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James ChamberlainJones's middle name is sometimes spelled "Chamberlayne." Jones (April 20, 1809 – October 29, 1859) was an American politician who served as the tenth
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 ...
from 1841 to 1845, and as 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 ...
from Tennessee from 1851 to 1857. A Whig, Jones twice defeated rising politician
James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...
for the governorship (in 1841 and 1843). He was the first native-born Tennessean to be elected governor. Jones's first gubernatorial term was marked by gridlock with the state senate, which was led by a group of Democratic senators known as the "Immortal Thirteen." His second term was more productive, as his fellow Whigs controlled both houses of the legislature. Though he later joined the Democratic Party, Jones's speaking skills and campaign style helped to solidify Tennessee's Whigs as one of the strongest Whig movements in the South.


Early life

A thin man whose nickname was "Lean Jimmy" (he stood 6'2" but weighed only 125 pounds), Jones was born in
Davidson County, Tennessee Davidson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the heart of Middle Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 715,884, making it the second most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Nashville ...
, the son of Peter and Catherine Chappell Jones. His parents died when he was still young, and he was raised by an uncle in
Wilson County Wilson County is the name of four counties in the United States: *Wilson County, Kansas *Wilson County, North Carolina *Wilson County, Tennessee *Wilson County, Texas Wilson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 202 ...
. He occasionally attended public schools. After marrying Sarah Munford in 1829, he purchased a farm near
Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropolit ...
. In 1836, Jones supported the presidential campaign of
Hugh Lawson White Hugh Lawson White (October 30, 1773April 10, 1840) was a prominent American politician during the first third of the 19th century. After filling in several posts particularly in Tennessee's judiciary and state legislature since 1801, thereunder ...
, a former Democrat who had turned against
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 ...
and joined the Whig Party. The following year, Jones was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing Wilson County. He was reelected in 1839. In 1840, Jones was an
elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...
for presidential candidate
William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
.Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 99-103, 127-129. While in the legislature, Jones studied law, but never practiced.


Governor

In 1841, the Tennessee Whigs nominated Jones as their candidate for governor. The Whigs believed that Jones, widely known as an entertaining speaker and storyteller, was their best shot to defeat incumbent governor, James K. Polk. After besting Polk in a series of debates in the Spring of 1841, Jones won the election by just 3,000 votes out of over 100,000 cast. Following the election of 1841, Whigs controlled the state House of Representatives, but Democrats held onto the state senate by a 13 to 12 margin. One of the first tasks of the new government was to fill the U.S. Senate seats left vacant by the resignations of
Alexander O. Anderson Alexander Outlaw Anderson (November 10, 1794May 23, 1869) was an American slave owner and attorney who represented Tennessee in the United States Senate, and later served in the California State Senate, and on the California Supreme Court. Earl ...
and Alfred O. P. Nicholson. Democrats demanded one of the two seats go to a Democrat, a request the Whigs rejected. The 13 Democrats in the state senate, who became known as the "Immortal Thirteen," refused to allow a joint session of the legislature (where Whigs, who controlled the House, would have a numerical majority) to choose the replacement senators, and Tennessee thus had no representation in the U.S. Senate for most of 1842 and 1843. Though the government was mostly gridlocked by the Immortal Thirteen during Jones's first term, it did manage to enact debt reform legislation in 1842. In the election of 1843, Polk canvassed the state extensively in hopes of taking back the governor's office, but he was again unsuccessful. Furthermore, Whigs gained control of the state senate, ending the "Immortal Thirteen" gridlock, and two Whigs were appointed to the state's U.S. Senate seats. Jones's second term saw the establishment of a state school for the blind in
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 the ...
and a
school for the deaf The first school for the deaf was established in France during the 18th century, in 1771 by Charles-Michel de l'Épée. L'Épée was the leader in establishing sign language for the deaf and is notable as the "father" of deaf education. He founded ...
in
Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...
. In 1843, Nashville, which had been serving as the temporary capital of the state for years (as had several other places before it), was officially selected as the state's permanent capital. The cornerstone for the
Tennessee State Capitol The Tennessee State Capitol, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Tennessee. It serves as the home of both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly–the Tennessee House of Representatives and the Tenn ...
was laid while Jones was still governor.


U.S. Senate and later life

Jones did not seek a third term, choosing instead to accept an offer to become president of the
Memphis and Charleston Railroad The Memphis and Charleston Railroad, completed in 1857, was the first railroad in the United States to link the Atlantic Ocean with the Mississippi River. Chartered in 1846, the gauge railroad ran from Memphis, Tennessee to Stevenson, Alabama th ...
. He was an elector for
Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...
in the U.S. presidential election of 1848. In 1851, the state legislature chose Jones to replace Hopkins L. Turney in the U.S. Senate. Jones supported
Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...
in the presidential election of 1852, but afterward began to drift apart from the Whig Party, which was imploding over the issue of slavery. In 1854, he railed against northern Whigs for refusing to support the Kansas-Nebraska Act. After the collapse of the Whig Party, Jones refused to join the American Party with other southern Whigs, and supported
James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...
in the 1856 presidential election. He endorsed
Stephen Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...
in the election of 1860. After serving in the United States Senate, Jones retired to his farm near
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 ...
, where he died. He was interred in the city's Elmwood Cemetery.


See also

*
List of governors of Tennessee The term of the governor of Tennessee is limited by the state constitution. The first constitution, enacted in 1796, set a term of two years for the governor and provided that no person could serve as governor for more than 6 years in any 8-year ...


References


External links

*
Tennessee State Library & Archives, Papers of Governor James Chamberlain Jones, 1841-1845The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, James C. 1809 births 1859 deaths Governors of Tennessee Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee Democrats 1840 United States presidential electors 1848 United States presidential electors Farmers from Tennessee 19th-century American railroad executives People from Davidson County, Tennessee Tennessee Whigs Whig Party United States senators Democratic Party United States senators from Tennessee Whig Party state governors of the United States 19th-century American politicians People from Lebanon, Tennessee