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{{Short description|American politician (1837–1890)}}
{{Infobox Congressman
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Jacob Montgomery Thornburgh
|name=Jacob Montgomery Thornburgh
|image name=Jacob Montgomery Thornburgh - Brady-Handy.jpg
|image name=Jacob Montgomery Thornburgh - Brady-Handy.jpg
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|preceded=[[Horace Maynard]]
|preceded=[[Horace Maynard]]
|succeeded=[[Leonidas C. Houk]]
|succeeded=[[Leonidas C. Houk]]
|date of birth={{birth date|1837|7|3|mf=y}}
|birth_date={{birth date|1837|7|3|mf=y}}
|place of birth=[[New Market, Tennessee]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|birth_place=[[New Market, Tennessee]], U.S.
|date of death={{death date and age|1890|9|19|1837|7|3|mf=y}}
|death_date={{death date and age|1890|9|19|1837|7|3|mf=y}}
|place of death=[[Knoxville, Tennessee]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|death_place=[[Knoxville, Tennessee]], U.S.
|resting_place = [[Old Gray Cemetery]]<br/>Knoxville, Tennessee
|resting_place = [[Old Gray Cemetery]]<br/>Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
|spouse=Adaline Smith<br/>Laura Emma Pettibone
|spouse=Adaline Smith<br/>Laura Emma Pettibone
|children=
|children=
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|footnotes=
|footnotes=
}}
}}
'''Jacob Montgomery Thornburgh''' (July 3, 1837<ref>Rothrock (''French Broad-Holston Country'', p. 497) lists July 5 as his date of birth. Thornburgh's grave monument at Old Gray Cemetery gives July 3 as his date of birth.</ref>&ndash; September 19, 1890) was an [[United States|American]] attorney and politician who represented [[Tennessee's 2nd congressional district]] in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1873 to 1879. The son of a prominent state legislator, Thornburgh fought in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], and served as [[attorney general]] of the state's third judicial district after the war. Following his congressional term, he formed a law partnership with several prominent Knoxville attorneys, and engaged in philanthropy.<ref name=rothrock>East Tennessee Historical Society, Mary Rothrock (ed.), ''The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1972), pp. 497-498.</ref>
'''Jacob Montgomery Thornburgh''' (July 3, 1837<ref>Rothrock (''French Broad-Holston Country'', p. 497) lists July 5 as his date of birth. Thornburgh's grave monument at Old Gray Cemetery gives July 3 as his date of birth.</ref>&ndash; September 19, 1890) was an American attorney and politician who represented [[Tennessee's 2nd congressional district]] in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1873 to 1879. The son of a prominent state legislator, Thornburgh fought in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], and served as [[attorney general]] of the state's third judicial district after the war. Following his congressional term, he formed a law partnership with several prominent Knoxville attorneys, and engaged in philanthropy.<ref name=rothrock>East Tennessee Historical Society, Mary Rothrock (ed.), ''The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1972), pp. 497-498.</ref>


==Biography==
==Biography==

===Early life===
===Early life===
Thornburgh was born in [[New Market, Tennessee]] in [[Jefferson County, Tennessee|Jefferson County]]. His father, Montgomery Thornburgh, was a Tennessee state senator and attorney general. He attended Holston College (in New Market), and studied law under his father and Judge Robert McFarland. He was admitted to the [[bar association|bar]] in 1861, after which he commenced practice in Jefferson County.<ref name=rothrock />
Thornburgh was born in [[New Market, Tennessee]] in [[Jefferson County, Tennessee|Jefferson County]]. His father, Montgomery Thornburgh, was a Tennessee state senator and attorney general.<ref name=rothrock /> His mother was Olivia.<ref name="1850 cen" /> He attended Holston College (in New Market), and studied law under his father and Judge Robert McFarland. He was admitted to the [[bar association|bar]] in 1861, after which he commenced practice in Jefferson County.<ref name=rothrock /> His brother, Major [[Thomas Tipton Thornburgh]], was commander of Fort Steele and was killed during the [[Battle of Milk Creek]] in 1879.<ref name="MG - funeral">{{Cite news |date=October 29, 1879 |title=Funeral of Maj. Thornburgh |pages=2 |work=The Morristown Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91396047/funeral-of-maj-thornburgh/ |access-date=2021-12-29}}</ref><ref name="1850 cen">{{citation| title=Thomas T. Thornburgh, Jefferson, Tennessee | year =1850 |work=United States Census |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration | location=Washington, D.C. }}</ref>


===Civil War and aftermath===
===Civil War and aftermath===


At the outbreak of the Civil War, Thornburgh fled to [[Kentucky]] and enlisted as a private in a brigade commanded by General [[George W. Morgan]].<ref name=cumberland>''Reunion of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland'' (Cincinnati: Robert Clarke and Company, 1891), p. 283-284.</ref> On July 11, 1863, he was promoted to a [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] in the [[4th Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry|4th Tennessee Cavalry]]. He saw action at the [[Battle of Okolona]], and led one of the first units into [[Mobile, Alabama]], after the city fell in 1865.<ref name=cumberland /> Thornburgh's father, a prominent Unionist, was arrested by Confederate authorities during the war and died in a Confederate prison in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref name=cumberland />
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Thornburgh fled to [[Kentucky]] and enlisted as a private in a brigade commanded by General [[George W. Morgan]].<ref name=cumberland>''Reunion of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland'' (Cincinnati: Robert Clarke and Company, 1891), p. 283-284.</ref> In 1862, he joined what would eventually become the [[4th Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry]] with the rank of [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]]. He became commander of the unit following the resignation of Colonel [[Richard M. Edwards]] in July 1863. He saw action at the [[Battle of Okolona]], and led one of the first units into [[Mobile, Alabama]], after the city fell in 1865.<ref name=cumberland /> Thornburgh's father, a prominent Unionist, was arrested by Confederate authorities during the war and died in a Confederate prison in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref name=cumberland /> His brother, [[Thomas Tipton Thornburgh|Thomas]], enlisted in the Sixth East Tennessee Volunteers and rose through the ranks, establishing a career as an officer in the military. He died in the western frontier during the [[Battle of Milk Creek]] with the [[Ute people|Utes]] in 1879.<ref name="Appletons">{{Cite book |title=Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography | volume=VI | chapter=Thornburg, Thomas T. |publisher=Sunderland-Zurita |pages=102}}</ref>


Thornburgh was appointed [[attorney general]] of the third judicial circuit of Tennessee in 1866, and was elected to this office in 1868 and 1870.<ref name=rothrock /> In spite of his family's hardships during the war, he was conciliatory in his actions toward former Confederates,<ref name=cumberland /> and briefly practiced law with his old mentor, Robert McFarland, who had supported the Confederacy.<ref name=rothrock /> In 1872, Thornburgh was appointed United States commissioner at the [[International Exposition]] held in [[Vienna]], [[Austria]].<ref name=rothrock />
Thornburgh was appointed [[attorney general]] of the third judicial circuit of Tennessee in 1866, and was elected to this office in 1868 and 1870.<ref name=rothrock /> In spite of his family's hardships during the war, he was conciliatory in his actions toward former Confederates,<ref name=cumberland /> and briefly practiced law with his old mentor, Robert McFarland, who had supported the Confederacy.<ref name=rothrock /> In 1872, Thornburgh was appointed United States commissioner at the [[International Exposition]] held in [[Vienna]], [[Austria]].<ref name=rothrock />
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===Congressional career===
===Congressional career===


In the early 1870s, Tennessee's [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]-controlled legislature [[gerrymandered]] the 2nd Congressional District in hopes of breaking Republicans' electoral dominance in the district. Sensing defeat, the district's Republican congressman, [[Horace Maynard]], withdrew from the race for the 2nd District seat and instead ran for the state's [[Tennessee's At-large congressional district|at-large district]] seat. Thornburgh accepted the Republican Party's nomination for the 2nd District seat, and in spite of the Democrats' redistricting efforts, managed to win the seat in the general election.<ref name=mckinney>Gordon B. McKinney, "The Rise of the Houk Machine in East Tennessee," East Tennessee Historical Society ''Publications'', Vol. 45 (1973), pp. 61-78.</ref>
In the early 1870s, Tennessee's [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]-controlled legislature [[gerrymandered]] the 2nd Congressional District in hopes of breaking Republicans' electoral dominance in the district. Sensing defeat, the district's Republican congressman, [[Horace Maynard]], withdrew from the race for the 2nd District seat and instead ran for the state's [[Tennessee's At-large congressional district|at-large district]] seat. Thornburgh accepted the Republican Party's nomination for the 2nd District seat, and in spite of the Democrats' redistricting efforts, won the seat in the general election.<ref name=mckinney>Gordon B. McKinney, "The Rise of the Houk Machine in East Tennessee," East Tennessee Historical Society ''Publications'', Vol. 45 (1973), pp. 61-78.</ref>


In the election of 1874, [[Leonidas C. Houk]] challenged Thornburgh for the Republican nomination for the 2nd District's seat. After a very competitive campaign, both candidates claimed the nomination, and both intended to run in the general election, which would have split the Republican vote and threaten the party's hold on the seat. Senator [[William Gannaway Brownlow|William G. Brownlow]], by this time a revered figure among East Tennesseans, intervened on Thornburgh's behalf, and Houk withdrew, allowing Thornburgh to coast to an easy victory. Thornburgh ran unchallenged in 1876, and decided not to seek reelection in 1878.<ref name=mckinney />
In the election of 1874, [[Leonidas C. Houk]] challenged Thornburgh for the Republican nomination for the 2nd District's seat. After a very competitive campaign, both candidates claimed the nomination, and both intended to run in the general election, which would have split the Republican vote and threaten the party's hold on the seat. Senator [[William Gannaway Brownlow|William G. Brownlow]], by this time a revered figure among East Tennesseans, intervened on Thornburgh's behalf, and Houk withdrew, allowing Thornburgh to coast to an easy victory. Thornburgh ran unchallenged in 1876, and decided not to seek reelection in 1878.<ref name=mckinney />
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===Later life===
===Later life===


Thornburgh largely retired from political life after 1879, although he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1880. He returned to Knoxville and formed a law partnership with Charles D. McGuffey (a nephew of [[William Holmes McGuffey]], author of the (''[[McGuffey Readers]]''), and later formed a partnership with future [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] justice [[Edward Terry Sanford]].<ref name=rothrock /> In 1889, Thornburgh dontated a large number of books to the burgeoning [[Lawson McGhee Public Library|Lawson McGhee Library]].<ref name=rothrock />
Thornburgh largely retired from political life after 1879, although he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1880. He returned to Knoxville and formed a law partnership with Charles D. McGuffey (a nephew of [[William Holmes McGuffey]], author of the ''[[McGuffey Readers]]''), and later formed a partnership with future [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] justice [[Edward Terry Sanford]].<ref name=rothrock /> In 1889, Thornburgh donated a large number of books to the burgeoning [[Lawson McGhee Public Library|Lawson McGhee Library]].<ref name=rothrock />


Thornburgh died on September 19, 1890, and was [[burial|interred]] in [[Old Gray Cemetery]]. His daughter, Laura Thornburgh, was a journalist and author, perhaps best known for publishing one of the first hiking guides to the [[Great Smoky Mountains National Park]] in 1937.<ref name=rothrock /> His son, John Minnis Thornburgh, was a prominent Knoxville lawyer and Republican Party leader during the early 20th century.<ref name=rothrock />
Thornburgh died on September 19, 1890, and was [[burial|interred]] in [[Old Gray Cemetery]]. His daughter, [[Laura Thornburgh]], was a journalist and author, perhaps best known for publishing one of the first hiking guides to the [[Great Smoky Mountains National Park]] in 1937.<ref name=rothrock /> His son, John Minnis Thornburgh, was a prominent Knoxville lawyer and Republican Party leader during the early 20th century.<ref name=rothrock />


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
* {{CongBio|T000239}}
* {{CongBio|T000239}}
* {{Find a Grave|8039090}}
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8039090 Find-A-Grave biography]


{{start box}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{USRepSuccessionBox
{{US House succession box
| state= Tennessee
| state= Tennessee
| district= 2
| district= 2
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| after= [[Leonidas C. Houk]]
| after= [[Leonidas C. Houk]]
| years= 1873&ndash;1879}}
| years= 1873&ndash;1879}}
{{end box}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornburgh, Jacob Montgomery}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornburgh, Jacob Montgomery}}
[[Category:1837 births]]
[[Category:1837 births]]
[[Category:1890 deaths]]
[[Category:1890 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee]]
[[Category:People from New Market, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Tennessee Republicans]]
[[Category:People of Tennessee in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:People from Knoxville, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Politicians from Knoxville, Tennessee]]
[[Category:People from Jefferson County, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Southern Unionists in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]

Latest revision as of 10:03, 9 December 2024

Jacob Montgomery Thornburgh
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1879
Preceded byHorace Maynard
Succeeded byLeonidas C. Houk
Personal details
Born(1837-07-03)July 3, 1837
New Market, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedSeptember 19, 1890(1890-09-19) (aged 53)
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Resting placeOld Gray Cemetery
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Adaline Smith
Laura Emma Pettibone
Alma materHolston College[1]
ProfessionAttorney, Politician

Jacob Montgomery Thornburgh (July 3, 1837[2]– September 19, 1890) was an American attorney and politician who represented Tennessee's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1873 to 1879. The son of a prominent state legislator, Thornburgh fought in the Union Army during the Civil War, and served as attorney general of the state's third judicial district after the war. Following his congressional term, he formed a law partnership with several prominent Knoxville attorneys, and engaged in philanthropy.[1]

Biography

[edit]

Early life

[edit]

Thornburgh was born in New Market, Tennessee in Jefferson County. His father, Montgomery Thornburgh, was a Tennessee state senator and attorney general.[1] His mother was Olivia.[3] He attended Holston College (in New Market), and studied law under his father and Judge Robert McFarland. He was admitted to the bar in 1861, after which he commenced practice in Jefferson County.[1] His brother, Major Thomas Tipton Thornburgh, was commander of Fort Steele and was killed during the Battle of Milk Creek in 1879.[4][3]

Civil War and aftermath

[edit]

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Thornburgh fled to Kentucky and enlisted as a private in a brigade commanded by General George W. Morgan.[5] In 1862, he joined what would eventually become the 4th Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He became commander of the unit following the resignation of Colonel Richard M. Edwards in July 1863. He saw action at the Battle of Okolona, and led one of the first units into Mobile, Alabama, after the city fell in 1865.[5] Thornburgh's father, a prominent Unionist, was arrested by Confederate authorities during the war and died in a Confederate prison in Georgia.[5] His brother, Thomas, enlisted in the Sixth East Tennessee Volunteers and rose through the ranks, establishing a career as an officer in the military. He died in the western frontier during the Battle of Milk Creek with the Utes in 1879.[6]

Thornburgh was appointed attorney general of the third judicial circuit of Tennessee in 1866, and was elected to this office in 1868 and 1870.[1] In spite of his family's hardships during the war, he was conciliatory in his actions toward former Confederates,[5] and briefly practiced law with his old mentor, Robert McFarland, who had supported the Confederacy.[1] In 1872, Thornburgh was appointed United States commissioner at the International Exposition held in Vienna, Austria.[1]

Congressional career

[edit]

In the early 1870s, Tennessee's Democrat-controlled legislature gerrymandered the 2nd Congressional District in hopes of breaking Republicans' electoral dominance in the district. Sensing defeat, the district's Republican congressman, Horace Maynard, withdrew from the race for the 2nd District seat and instead ran for the state's at-large district seat. Thornburgh accepted the Republican Party's nomination for the 2nd District seat, and in spite of the Democrats' redistricting efforts, won the seat in the general election.[7]

In the election of 1874, Leonidas C. Houk challenged Thornburgh for the Republican nomination for the 2nd District's seat. After a very competitive campaign, both candidates claimed the nomination, and both intended to run in the general election, which would have split the Republican vote and threaten the party's hold on the seat. Senator William G. Brownlow, by this time a revered figure among East Tennesseans, intervened on Thornburgh's behalf, and Houk withdrew, allowing Thornburgh to coast to an easy victory. Thornburgh ran unchallenged in 1876, and decided not to seek reelection in 1878.[7]

Later life

[edit]

Thornburgh largely retired from political life after 1879, although he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1880. He returned to Knoxville and formed a law partnership with Charles D. McGuffey (a nephew of William Holmes McGuffey, author of the McGuffey Readers), and later formed a partnership with future Supreme Court justice Edward Terry Sanford.[1] In 1889, Thornburgh donated a large number of books to the burgeoning Lawson McGhee Library.[1]

Thornburgh died on September 19, 1890, and was interred in Old Gray Cemetery. His daughter, Laura Thornburgh, was a journalist and author, perhaps best known for publishing one of the first hiking guides to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1937.[1] His son, John Minnis Thornburgh, was a prominent Knoxville lawyer and Republican Party leader during the early 20th century.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k East Tennessee Historical Society, Mary Rothrock (ed.), The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1972), pp. 497-498.
  2. ^ Rothrock (French Broad-Holston Country, p. 497) lists July 5 as his date of birth. Thornburgh's grave monument at Old Gray Cemetery gives July 3 as his date of birth.
  3. ^ a b "Thomas T. Thornburgh, Jefferson, Tennessee", United States Census, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1850
  4. ^ "Funeral of Maj. Thornburgh". The Morristown Gazette. October 29, 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
  5. ^ a b c d Reunion of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland (Cincinnati: Robert Clarke and Company, 1891), p. 283-284.
  6. ^ "Thornburg, Thomas T.". Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography. Vol. VI. Sunderland-Zurita. p. 102.
  7. ^ a b Gordon B. McKinney, "The Rise of the Houk Machine in East Tennessee," East Tennessee Historical Society Publications, Vol. 45 (1973), pp. 61-78.
[edit]
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 2nd congressional district
1873–1879 		Succeeded by
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