Historical Marker approved for Horace Maynard

On October 15, 2010, the Tennessee Historical Commission approved an historical marker for the Honorable Horace Maynard. The marker will be installed in about four months and a dedication ceremony will be planned at that time. The marker has been funded by the City of Maynardville, and we are grateful to the City for making this important historical marker possible. For those newcomers to Union County and those too young to know, this is Horace Maynard:

Horace Maynard
Congressman
Diplomat
Postmaster-General

Horace Maynard was born August 30, 1814 in Westboro, Worcester County, Massachusetts. He was the son of Ephraim and Diana Harriet (Cogswell) Maynard. He was prepared for college at Millbury Academy, and in 1838 received the degree of B.A. from Amherst College. In that same year he came to Knoxville, having been appointed a tutor in the preparatory department of East Tennessee College. He held this position until 1842 when he became a professor of mathematics in the institution, now called East Tennessee University (the forerunner of The University of Tennessee). During the time that he was connected with the University, he studied law under Judge Ebenezer Alexander, and in 1844, he was admitted to the bar. He gave up teaching and began the practice of law, in which profession, through industry, scholarship and natural ability, he was successful.
In 1850 when the Act passed to establish Union County was challenged in the courts, Horace Maynard came to the aid of Union County and defended it without charge. The court case was settled in 1854 and the County began functioning in 1856. Because he refused to take payment for his services, in gratitude the county named the county seat for him and deeded him two lots on what was later known as the J. H. Carr property or the Mulberry tract and is now owned by K. David Myers. We're told, by the late John B. Sharp, that he often defended residents of the county without charge and would walk from Knoxville to do so! Sometimes he would come by buggy and usually stayed at the home of John Buckner on Ailor Gap Road.
But after a few years he turned to a political career. He was nominated for Congress as a Whig, Knoxville district, in 1853, but was defeated by William Churchwell. In 1857, he was elected to Congress and reelected in 1859 and 1861. He was a strong Union man, and was therefore disliked by many Southerners. In 1863, while Tennessee was under the military rule of Andrew Johnson, Maynard was made attorney-general for the state. He served until 1865, when, after the readmission of Tennessee, he was elected to Congress as a Republican representative from the second district. He was reelected four times as a representative from the same district (1865-1872) and he was a member of Congress from the state at large, 1872-1874. In 1875, President Grant appointed him minister to Turkey. After five years of foreign service he returned to the United States to accept from President Hayes the appointment of postmaster-general. He held this office until March 1881, when he retired to private life. He was appointed a trustee of East Tennessee University in 1865. From 1849 until his death, he was a ruling elder in the Second Presbyterian Church of Knoxville. Nonetheless, a stained-glass window was placed and remains in his memory in the chapel of St. John's Cathedral in downtown Knoxville. During his political life, Maynard was often called "The Little Narragansett" in reference to his small stature, dark complexion and rumored admixture of Indian blood. He was an intellectual man and an eloquent speaker. William Rule called him the most cultured man who was ever in public life from Knoxville.
In 1840 Maynard married Laura Ann Washburn, daughter of Azel Washburn of Royalton, Vermont. There were seven children of this marriage, one of whom, James Maynard, a distinguished lawyer, was for many years a resident of Knoxville. Horace Maynard died May 3, 1882 in Knoxville and was buried in Gray Cemetery.
When the new county high school was opened in 1922, it was only natural that the school be named Horace Maynard High School. His son, the Honorable James Maynard, gave the address. He also presented the school with an oil portrait painted by Union County artist Lloyd Branson. This painting and Horace Maynard's Bible are housed at the Roy Acuff Union County Museum. The painting was presented to the county in 1909 and hung at the courthouse until the school was completed. James also gave the school many books from his father's extensive library as well as his father's family Bible. The Bible was presented to Horace Maynard in 1870 as a Christmas gift.
We have read that the old people who remembered him said that he had more ambition and more energy than anyone they had ever seen. Among the sources of the above information is: Rothrock, Mary U., Ed. French Broad - Holston Country. ETHS, Knoxville, TN.

November 1, 2010