Edward W. Carmack

Edward W. Carmack

Edward Ward Carmack (born November 5, 1858 in Sumner County , Tennessee , †  November 8, 1908 in Nashville , Tennessee) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of Tennessee in both chambers of the US Congress .

Life

After attending school, Carmack studied law and was inducted into the bar in 1878. He worked as a lawyer in Columbia , where he was appointed prosecutor for the city in 1881. He was politically active for the first time in 1884 as a member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee .

From 1889 he worked as a journalist . He joined the editorial board of the Nashville Democrat ; he later became editor-in-chief of Nashville American after the two newspapers were merged. From 1892 he worked as an editor at the Memphis Commercial , today's Commercial Appeal , the largest circulation newspaper in Memphis .

politics

Carmack resumed his political career in 1896 when he was elected to the US House of Representatives, which he served for two terms until March 3, 1901. Immediately afterwards he moved to the Senate . During his six-year tenure, he was a member of the Lodge Committee that investigated war crimes in the Philippine-American War .

In 1907 he was defeated in an attempt to re-elect and returned to his legal practice. In 1908, an equally unsuccessful candidacy for governor of Tennessee followed, whereupon he worked again as an editor at Nashville American .

assassination

On November 8, 1908, Edward Carmack met Duncan Cooper, an influential member of the Democrats in Tennessee for years, on the street in Nashville. Cooper was with his son Robin Duncan. He had been friends with Carmack until his candidacy for governor. The fact that Cooper supported his rival, the later victorious incumbent Malcolm R. Patterson , in the election campaign led to bitter hostility between the two men; Carmack wrote defamatory articles about Cooper for his newspaper. When Carmack saw the two men, he drew a pistol; then Robin Cooper shot him down. Carmack died from his injuries. Duncan Cooper and his son were charged with murder and sentenced. They appealed on appeal, and the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the rifle's sentence, but upheld that against the father. Governor Patterson, however, pardoned his old friend, which led to bitter protests from Carmack's supporters and ultimately cost Patterson the governorship.

Edward Carmack's body was transferred to Columbia and buried there. Not least because of his spectacular death, a large bronze statue of Carmack was erected on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville to commemorate him .

Web links

• Edward W. Carmack in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Edward W. Carmack , Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame
• Tennessee Encyclopedia: Duncan Cooper and his son against the state of Tennessee

Individual evidence

1. ↑ On this also Woman tells how Carmack was slain (English), facsimile from the New York Times of February 16, 1909. Retrieved June 28, 2017.