Presidential Biographies

It's been my goal for the past few years to read at least one biography of the American Presidents of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (George Washington to Theodore Roosevelt). So far I've read ones for Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Theodore Roosevelt. (I have books on Zackary Taylor and Abraham Lincoln on my to-read list.) I'm especially anxious to find the essential biographies--the must-reads on a particular President.

If I have any readers out there, I would love to know your thoughts on the essential Presidential biographies I should read. The Presidents I'm especially interested in are James Madison, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, and Franklin Pierce. I look forward to your suggestions!

Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

As part of my writing on the life and political career of Adam Huntsman, I'm researching the Presidential election of 1840 that saw Andrew Jackson's Democratic party suffer its first Presidential defeat to the Whig party. William Henry Harrison of Ohio and running mate John Tyler of Virginia rode the crest of an unprecedented wave of campaign enthusiasm into the President's House. Five years ago, a band called They Might Be Giants actually created their own version of a campaign song from that election. It's kind of catchy after listening to it a few times! (The lyrics "Van is a used up man" refers to the incumbent President Martin Van Buren.)

A Running Fight in Purdy, Tennessee (1859)

I'm taking advantage of a 30-day trial subscription to genealogybank.com and came across this newspaper article dated November 20, 1859 about a pre-Civil War fight between Fielding Hurst and M. Ledbetter on the streets of Purdy, Tennessee that involved pistols, horse shoes, and sticks! (Hurst is the subject of my book Hurst's Wurst: Colonel Fielding Hurst and the Sixth Tennessee Cavalry U.S.A.)

"A difficulty occurred between two of our citizens on last Wednesday night. M. Ledbetter snapped a pistol at F. Hurst, Esq., at the distance of about six feet, and Hurst afterwards fired twice at Ledbetter at the distance of about twenty paces, and one of the balls entered a chair in close proximity to Ledbetter.

Brickbats, horse shoes, sticks and bottles were thrown in wild confusion during a sort of running fight, which continued for several minutes. Much excitement prevalled, and some of our citizens done splendid dodging and running; in the latter list was found leading the way, one of the editors of this paper--we mean the one who lives in town. There was an old grudge between the parties, but we forbear comment."

Plugging Away...

To those who check my blog from time to time, I apologize for the lack of posts. I've been hard at work on my latest book project on the life and political career of Adam Huntsman. So I've been writing, but it's work you won't see for a few more months. The ETA for this book is June or July 2009. For those of you interested in Tennessee history, antebellum politics, and David Crockett, I think you'll find it to be an interesting account of one minor but colorful politician during the Age of Jackson.

"Take Home A Package of Tennessee Pride!"

This has nothing to do with writing, but I suppose it has a little something to do with Tennessee history. Sort of.

I found this old commercial for Tennessee Pride Sausage I wanted to share. When I was a kid, breakfast on Saturday mornings consisted of biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and Tennessee Pride Sausage. (If I was at Grandma's, sometimes there was chocolate gravy!) It's the only brand my mother ever used and I've carried on the tradition in my own household. Once I brought home another brand for a change of pace, but my wife and children didn't care for it. They only wanted Tennessee Pride. I'm sure it's a tradition in other Southern households too.

Adam Huntsman as a Cultural Icon

Everyone has seen the Obama icon image that was used throughout the late unpleasantness (i.e. the 2008 Presidential election). Now there's a website that enables anyone to create their own icon. Using this technology, I thought I would pay homage to the focus of all my writing energies of late.

Adam Huntsman Descendants Make Presentation to East Tennessee Historical Society

A 175-year-old sketch of Adam Huntsman has been donated by his descendants as a gift to the East Tennessee Historical Society.

Patricia Grames Pollock, great-great granddaughter of the one-term congressman from Tennessee, presented it on behalf of her family to Michele MacDonald, Curator of Collections for the society, on February 25. It had been passed down to her father, Charles M. Grames, by his mother Edith (Huntsman) Grames, who was Huntsman's granddaughter.

Adam Huntsman (1786-1849) was a Virginia native who came to Knox County, Tennessee in 1809, where he settled for about three years. It was here that he studied law under John Williams, one of Knoxville's most prominent attorneys in the early nineteenth century and later a United States Senator. The legal skills he learned from Williams he carried with him westward to Overton County and later Madison County, Tennessee, where he became a highly regarded criminal lawyer.

But it was politics that was Huntsman's passion: he was a leader of the Democratic Party in West Tennessee in the 1830s and 1840s and corresponded with notable politicians of his day such as Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, James Buchanan, and John C. Calhoun. He served four terms in the Tennessee state senate and defeated David Crockett for the Twelfth Congressional seat in 1835, a loss that led to Crockett's journey to Texas and his death at the Alamo.

The sketch is believed to have been done circa 1835 or 1836 while Huntsman served in Congress. Family tradition states that it was the work of an African-American woman who drew it with her foot!

Mrs. Pollock is pleased the East Tennessee Historical Society agreed to add it to their collection. “This fine old sketch deserves a permanent home where people can see it,” she said.