By Ray Hill Tennessee has been quite fortunate to produce any number of political figures of national importance, as well as those who have wielded enormous influence in Congress.  Aside from Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk (a political protégé of Jackson’s), and Andrew...

By Ray Hill The two most enduring political figures in Tennessee’s modern history are Kenneth McKellar and Cordell Hull.  McKellar holds the record in Tennessee for the longest tenure in Congress at forty-two years; K. D. McKellar remains Tennessee’s longest-serving...

By Ray Hill I am oftentimes asked about Tennessee’s most enduring statesmen or politicians. Without a doubt, the two most enduring political figures in Tennessee’s modern political history are Kenneth D. McKellar and Cordell Hull. McKellar and Hull were contemporaries...

  By Ray Hill It was James A. Fowler who helped to send a murderer to prison for an unusual and spectacular crime in 1906. One of the most prominent cases in Fowler’s long legal career involved a young lawyer, Sam Parker, who had been a stand-out athlete at the...

  By Ray Hill “Cry Aloud and Spare Not” That was the motto of the notorious “Parson” William G. Brownlow’s Whig newspaper. That same motto was adopted by the Parson and his partner, Captain William Rule, when they published the Knoxville Chronicle and Whig....

By Ray Hill Joseph Carlton Loser (pronounced Low-ser) enjoyed a successful career in law and politics for decades.  The long-time district attorney for Nashville and Davidson County, Loser eventually wound up in Congress and became associated with a spectacular case...

  By Ray Hill Hazen Kreis is likely a name unfamiliar to the readers of this column, but there was a time when the six foot, five inch gentleman was wildly popular in Knox County.  Kreis was elected to three two-year terms consecutively as Sheriff of Knox...

By Ray Hill In this column, I have written very little about local political figures but there are a few that would likely make some interesting reading. One is Jack Dance, who was Deputy to the County Clerk and a legitimate contender for Congress when J. Will Taylor...

By Ray Hill This column is written for my friend John R. Mills. Johnny and I have been friends since 1976 and his was the first local campaign I worked on as a volunteer. Johnny’s wife, Charlotte, is a good friend of mine as well and so was her Dad, Mr. Hal Cate. The...

By Ray Hill For twenty years, Tennessee’s Second Congressional District had been served in the United States House of Representatives by J. Will Taylor. “Hillbilly Bill” Taylor was also the last congressman elected from this district who either did not live or later...