Harvey Magee Watterson
Encyclopedia
Harvey Magee Watterson was an American lawyer
, newspaper editor, and politician. He was what his only child Henry
later described as an "undoubting Democrat
of the schools of Jefferson
and Jackson
", active in Tennessee
politics at both the state and federal level.
studies, studied law, was admitted to the bar
, and commenced practice in nearby Shelbyville
. He established and edited a newspaper in Shelbyville in 1831. He was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
in 1835.
He was elected as a Democrat
to the Twenty-sixth
and Twenty-seventh Congresses
, representing Tennessee
's ninth district
in the U.S. House of Representatives
from March 4, 1839 to March 3, 1843. His son Henry described those years in his autobiography:
Watterson was sent by President John Tyler
on a diplomatic mission to Buenos Aires
, where he remained for two years. From 1845 to 1847, he was a member of the Tennessee Senate
and served as speaker.
He was the editor and proprietor of the Nashville Union from 1847 to 1851 and editor of the Washington Union starting in 1851. With his friend Pierce's election as President of the United States in 1853, the Washington Union became the "organ of the Administration." Again according to Watterson's son, the two's "rather conspicuous frivolity" resumed:
He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention
at Baltimore, Maryland in 1860, and was a presidential elector on the Douglas
ticket for that year's presidential election
. After the Civil War
, he was appointed by President Andrew Johnson
as one of a commission to investigate the behavior in the states "lately in rebellion."
He practiced law in Washington, D.C.
for fourteen years. He moved to Louisville, Kentucky
and was a member of the editorial staff of the Louisville Courier-Journal, the newspaper founded by his son Henry
. He died in Louisville on October 1, 1891. He was interred at Cave Hill Cemetery.
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, newspaper editor, and politician. He was what his only child Henry
Henry Watterson
Henry Watterson was a United States journalist who founded the Louisville Courier-Journal.He also served part of one term in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat....
later described as an "undoubting Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
of the schools of Jefferson
Jeffersonian democracy
Jeffersonian Democracy, so named after its leading advocate Thomas Jefferson, is a term used to describe one of two dominant political outlooks and movements in the United States from the 1790s to the 1820s. The term was commonly used to refer to the Democratic-Republican Party which Jefferson...
and Jackson
Jacksonian democracy
Jacksonian democracy is the political movement toward greater democracy for the common man typified by American politician Andrew Jackson and his supporters. Jackson's policies followed the era of Jeffersonian democracy which dominated the previous political era. The Democratic-Republican Party of...
", active in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
politics at both the state and federal level.
Biography
He was born in Bedford County, Tennessee. He pursued classicalClassics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
studies, studied law, was admitted to the bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
, and commenced practice in nearby Shelbyville
Shelbyville, Tennessee
Shelbyville is a city in Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. It had a local population of 16,105 residents at the 2000 census. Shelbyville, the county seat of Bedford County, was laid out in 1810 and incorporated in 1819...
. He established and edited a newspaper in Shelbyville in 1831. He was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
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:...
in 1835.
He was elected as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
to the Twenty-sixth
26th United States Congress
-House of Representatives:- Leadership :- Senate :*President: Richard M. Johnson *President pro tempore: William R. King - House of Representatives :*Speaker: Robert M.T. Hunter -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...
and Twenty-seventh Congresses
27th United States Congress
The Twenty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1841 to March 3, 1843, during the one-month...
, representing Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
's ninth district
Tennessee's 9th congressional district
The 9th Congressional District of Tennessee is a Congressional district in southwestern Tennessee. The district is located entirely within Shelby County, and includes most of the city of Memphis...
in the U.S. House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from March 4, 1839 to March 3, 1843. His son Henry described those years in his autobiography:
- Immediately succeeding Mr. PolkJames K. PolkJames Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...
, and such a youth in appearance, he attracted instant attention. His father, my grandfather, allowed him a larger income than was good for him — seeing that the per diemPer diemPer diem refers to a specific amount of money that an organization allows an individual to spend per day, to cover living and traveling expenses in connection with work...
then paid Congressmen was altogether insufficient — and during the earlier days of his sojourn in the national capital he cut a wide swath; his principal yokemate in the pleasures and dissipations of those times being Franklin PierceFranklin PierceFranklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...
, at first a representative and then a senator from New Hampshire. Fortunately for both of them, they were whisked out of Washington by their families in 1843.
Watterson was sent by President John Tyler
John Tyler
John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...
on a diplomatic mission to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, where he remained for two years. From 1845 to 1847, he was a member of the Tennessee Senate
Tennessee Senate
The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the Tennessee state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.The Tennessee Senate, according to the state constitution of 1870, is composed of 33 members, one-third the size of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Senators...
and served as speaker.
He was the editor and proprietor of the Nashville Union from 1847 to 1851 and editor of the Washington Union starting in 1851. With his friend Pierce's election as President of the United States in 1853, the Washington Union became the "organ of the Administration." Again according to Watterson's son, the two's "rather conspicuous frivolity" resumed:
- [T]he national capital was still rife with stories of their escapades. One that I recall had it that on a certain occasion returning from an excursion late at night my father missed his footing and fell into the canal that then divided the city, and that Pierce, after many fruitless efforts, unable to assist him to dry land, exclaimed, "Well, Harvey, I can't get you out, but I'll get in with you," suiting the action to the word. And there they were found and rescued by a party of passers, very well pleased with themselves.
He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
at Baltimore, Maryland in 1860, and was a presidential elector on the Douglas
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Northern Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed...
ticket for that year's presidential election
United States presidential election, 1860
The United States presidential election of 1860 was a quadrennial election, held on November 6, 1860, for the office of President of the United States and the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout the 1850s on questions surrounding the...
. After the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, he was appointed by President Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
as one of a commission to investigate the behavior in the states "lately in rebellion."
He practiced law in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
for fourteen years. He moved to Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
and was a member of the editorial staff of the Louisville Courier-Journal, the newspaper founded by his son Henry
Henry Watterson
Henry Watterson was a United States journalist who founded the Louisville Courier-Journal.He also served part of one term in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat....
. He died in Louisville on October 1, 1891. He was interred at Cave Hill Cemetery.
External links
- October 1865 letter from Watterson to President Johnson, from the website of the Georgia Historical SocietyGeorgia Historical SocietyGeorgia Historical Society is the premier independent statewide institution responsible for collecting, examining, and teaching Georgia history...