About Albert S. Marks: American Statesman (1836-1891)
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albert smith max (October 16, 1836 – November 4, 1891) was an American lawyer, soldier, and statesman. From 1879 to 1881, he served as governor of Tennessee. Before that, he served as a state court judge. Max, who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, had part of his leg amputated after being injured at the Battle of Stones River in 1862.
early life
Marks was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, one of seven children of Elisha Marks and Elizabeth (Lashbrook) Marks. His parents, devout Methodists, initially wanted Albert to become a priest. He attended school in Owensboro until the age of 14, when his father died, and he focused on helping his mother maintain the family farm. Although he later had little formal education, he was an avid reader and read several books on history and ancient literature.
At 19, Max moved to Winchester, Tennessee, to work at the law firm of his mother’s cousin, Arthur S. Colyar. He studied law with Colyar and was admitted to the bar in 1858. The firm subsequently practiced under the names Colyar, Marks and Frizzell. After Frizzell exited in 1861, the company continued to be named after Colyar and Marks.
civil war
Although he is a Southern Democrat, Max is a divisive opponent. In early 1861, as a pro-union candidate, he represented his district at the state’s proposed secession convention and canvassed with his opponent, future Governor Peter Turney. When the war broke out, Max still joined the Confederate army. He was elected captain of Company E, 17th Tennessee Infantry, originally commanded by Felix K. Zolikov, and served with the Kentucky Wildcat Battalion (October 1861) and Mill Springs (October 1861). January 1862). After Zollikov was killed in the latter engagement, the 17th Regiment was reassigned to General Bushrod Johnson’s forces. In May 1862, Max was promoted to major.
During the reorganization of the Confederate army in June 1862, Max was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the 17th Regiment. His regiment was assigned to General Simon B. Buckner’s division, which launched the invasion of Kentucky in the fall of 1862. Max’s regiment took part in the Battle of Mumfordville, and Buckner chose him to accept the official surrender of Union forces. Following this invasion, the 17th Regiment was assigned to General Patrick Claiborne’s division and fought against the division at the Battle of Stones River on December 31, 1862. As Max’s regiment charged Union batteries during this engagement, his right leg was shattered by a projectile and subsequently amputated below the knee.
Max spent much of the remainder of the war recuperating at a hospital in Winchester and La Grange, Georgia, although he later joined General Nathan B. Forrest’s staff as a judge’s advocate. After the war, he practiced with Colyar in Winchester until Colyar moved to Nashville in 1866. He then formed a firm with partners James Fitzpatrick and TD Gregory.
Governor
Max was elected to the state’s Fourth Chancery District in 1870. He was re-elected in 1878, but resigned after receiving the Democratic nomination for governor later that year. In the general election, he won the election comfortably, with 89,958 votes to 42,284 for Republican mayor Eli White of Chattanooga and 14,155 for Cleveland’s dollar candidate Richard M. Edwards . Max was the first post-Civil War Democrat to be elected for life (his two predecessors, John C. Brown and James D. Porter, were Whigs before the war).
Like his two predecessors, the main problem facing the Max administration is the national debt crisis, caused by the accumulation of bonded debt over the past four years to pay for internal improvements and railway construction. The Panic of 1873 greatly reduced property tax revenue, and the state defaulted on bond payments in 1875. In addition, the yellow fever epidemic has devastated Memphis, putting even more pressure on the economy. By the time Max took office, his party had split into two factions — those in favor of paying off the debt in full to protect the nation’s credit, and those in favor of only partial repayment.
Max appointed a legislative committee to look into the debt. The committee determined that rail agents had acted unethically during the Brownlow government and attempted to defraud the state and should therefore only be entitled to partial repayments. Max agreed and negotiated a new repayment plan with the bank. However, when the plan was presented to voters in the state, who rejected it outright by a vote of 76,333 to 49,772, the issue remains unresolved.
Max did not seek re-election in 1880 because he realized that his party was still deeply divided over debt. The divided Democrats were defeated in the gubernatorial election later that year.
future life
Following his term as governor, Marks entered into a new legal partnership with Colyar and John Childress, Jr. called Colyar, Marks and Childress. The company operated until 1883. Max remained active in politics in his later years. He was the Democratic presidential candidate for the Tennessee district in 1888 and attended the Democratic National Convention later that year.
Max died on November 4, 1891, at the Maxwell Hotel in Nashville. He was buried in Winchester Municipal Cemetery.
family and inheritance
Hundred Oaks
Max married the novella Davis in 1863, while he was recovering from his wounds at the Battle of Stone River. They were engaged before this fight, and after his leg was amputated, he offered to break her engagement, but she refused. They have two children, Arthur Handly Marks and Albert Davis Marks.
Max lived on a plantation near Winchester, which he purchased around 1870. In 1889, his son Arthur began building a huge house on this plantation, which was later known as Hundred Oaks Castle. After Arthur’s death, his son John continued to expand. Hundred Oaks was occupied by the Catholic Patriarch Paul in the first half of the 20th century. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, recorded by the American Historic Buildings Survey in the mid-1980s, and is currently maintained by the nonprofit Kent Bramlett Foundation.
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