John P. Buchanan
John P. Buchanan | |
---|---|
25th Governor of Tennessee | |
In office January 19, 1891 – January 16, 1893 | |
Preceded by | Robert Love Taylor |
Succeeded by | Peter Turney |
Personal details | |
Born | John Price Buchanan October 24, 1847 Williamson County, Tennessee |
Died | May 14, 1930 Murfreesboro, Tennessee | (aged 82)
Resting place | Evergreen Cemetery, Murfreesboro |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Frances McGill (m. 1869) |
Relations | James S. Buchanan (brother) James M. Buchanan (grandson) |
Profession | Farmer |
John Price Buchanan (October 24, 1847 – May 14, 1930) was an American politician and farmers' advocate. He served as the 25th
Early life
Buchanan was born on October 24, 1847
In the decades after the Civil War, Tennessee's farmers struggled with both falling crop prices and rising transportation costs, and called for regulation of railroad rates.
Governor
By the late 1880s, the TFLU and its supporters comprised a significant faction of the state Democratic Party, known as the "Hayseed" or "Wool-hat" Democrats.[4] In the gubernatorial race of 1890, incumbent Robert Love Taylor was not seeking reelection, and at the party's July convention, various factions put forth their own candidates for the party's nomination. The Bourbon faction supported Congressman Josiah Patterson, the New South faction supported railroad magnate Jere Baxter, and the Hayseeds supported Buchanan. After six days and multiple ballots, Buchanan was declared the nominee.[4] Many Democrats blasted Buchanan as too unsophisticated to run as the party's nominee,[3]: 92 and he was ridiculed by newspapers across the state.[4]
Along with the farmers' vote, Buchanan courted the labor vote by promising to appoint a commissioner of labor. He argued that banks and financiers had too much political influence, and proposed regulating railroad rates.
After his inauguration in early 1891, Buchanan, working with a coalition of Hayseed Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature, enacted several measures aimed at helping farmers and labor, including laws regulating fertilizer products and recognizing
Coal Creek War
In July 1891, an open insurrection, known as the Coal Creek War, erupted in East Tennessee when the Tennessee Coal Mining Company (TCMC) attempted to replace striking miners at its Briceville mine with convicts leased from the state. The striking miners had rounded up the convicts and had sent them to Knoxville via train, and the TCMC demanded Buchanan call up the state guard and put down the insurrection. This presented a difficult dilemma for Buchanan, who had campaigned on labor rights, but as governor was obligated to enforce the law. Furthermore, while the Farmers' Alliance sought to end convict leasing, Buchanan supported it, arguing it saved the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.[3]: 53
On July 16, Buchanan, at the head of three state guard companies, personally escorted the convicts from Knoxville back to the stockades in the Coal Creek Valley. He met with the leaders of the striking miners near Briceville, and assured them that while he was a friend of labor, he had no choice but to uphold the law. One of the strike leaders, a blacklisted miner named Eugene Merrell, rejected Buchanan's statements. He argued that if Buchanan were intent on enforcing the law, he would also uphold laws requiring independent checkweighmen (who weighed the coal for which the miners were paid) and payment in legal tender (as opposed to scrip), which the TCMC had consistently ignored.[3]: 85 The governor returned to Nashville the following day, leaving the valley's stockades under the protection of 107 guardsmen.[3]: 85
On July 20, just a few days after Buchanan left the valley, the striking miners overwhelmed the guardsmen protecting the stockades at Briceville and nearby
The state legislature met in a special session in September 1891 to consider the convict lease system and the events surrounding the Coal Creek War. Buchanan suggested they modify existing contracts to protect free miners, and called for the establishment of a state penitentiary. While the legislature upheld miners' rights to independent checkweighmen and payment in legal tender, it refused to end the convict lease system, and passed bills making it a felony to interfere with state convicts.[3]: 128
When the legislature failed to end convict leasing, Buchanan's labor commissioner, George Ford, tried to help the miners by suing the state on behalf of the convicts, arguing that the state's primary lessee, the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company (TCI), had no authority to sublease the convicts to TCMC. In October 1891, the Tennessee Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Peter Turney, ruled against Ford. With nowhere else to turn, the striking miners launched a series of attacks against mining company stockades in late 1891 and early 1892, in some cases freeing the convicts and burning the stockades. By April 1892, the revolt had spread to mines in Grundy County to the south. In August, Buchanan dispatched General Samuel T. Carnes to Coal Creek with over 500 militiamen, and order was finally restored.[3]: 184–194
Buchanan was vilified by both miners and mining company owners as ineffective and incompetent, and was frequently assailed in the press. In the gubernatorial race of 1892, the Democratic Party's Bourbon and New South factions thwarted his bid for reelection, instead choosing Chief Justice Turney as the party's nominee. Buchanan entered the race as an independent, still claiming to represent farmers' interests, and winning the backing of the rising
Death
After his defeat in the 1892 election, Buchanan returned to his farm in Rutherford County, and never again sought public office.[1] He died in Murfreesboro on May 14, 1930, and was buried in the city's Evergreen Cemetery.
Family
Buchanan's ancestors were
Buchanan married Frances McGill in 1867. They had nine children.[6] Buchanan's grandson, James M. Buchanan (1919–2013), was a noted economist who won the Nobel Prize in 1986.[6]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Connie Lester, "John Price Buchanan," Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2009. Retrieved: November 13, 2012.
- ^ Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Karin Shapiro, A New South Rebellion: The Battle Against Convict Labor in the Tennessee Coalfields, 1871–1896 (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1998).
- ^ a b c d e f g Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 220–222.
- ^ a b The World Almanac and Encyclopedia (Press Publishing Company, 1894), p. 416.
- ^ a b c Reuben Kyle, From Nashville to the Nobel Prize: The Buchanans of Tennessee[permanent dead link] (Twin Oaks Press, 2012).
External links
- Governor John P. Buchanan (1847–1930) 1891–1893 Archived February 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Online finding aid to the gubernatorial papers of Tennessee Governor John P. Buchanan. PDF document. Retrieved August 26, 2006.
- Farmer's Alliance (Farmer's and Laborer's Union). At Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Retrieved August 26, 2006.