Landon Carter Haynes

Haynes was born near Elizabethton, Tennessee, the eldest child of David Haynes, a land speculator, and Rhoda (Taylor) Haynes. He attended the Anderson School in Carter County and graduated from Washington College near Jonesborough in 1838. Returning to Elizabethton, he read law with Thomas A.R. Nelson. When Nelson moved to Jonesborough in 1840, Haynes followed him to continue his study of law. He was admitted to the bar in late 1840. In 1841, Haynes was hired as editor of the Tennessee Sentinel, a pro-Democratic Party newspaper that had been published by his brother-in-law Lawson Gifford since 1835. Over the next five years, Haynes and Brownlow engaged in a ruthless editorial war. Brownlow described Haynes as a "public debauchee and hypocrite," Haynes mocked Brownlow's lineage, and charged that he had once been flogged for stealing jewelry in Nashville. In 1842, Haynes converted to Methodism and was licensed to preach as a Methodist minister. In December, he began to quarrel with long-time minister C.W.C. Harris, who questioned his behavior during his feud with Brownlow. At a church conference in January 1843, Haynes charged Harris with falsehood, but Harris was acquitted. Harris then charged Haynes with falsehood at a conference in February, and Haynes was found guilty and barred from the ministry. Crowing about the incident in the Whig, Brownlow stated that Haynes had been hanged "on the gallows he prepared for another." ==Tennessee politics, 1844–1859==

Although a Whig in his youth, Haynes joined the Democratic Party in 1839. After a hiatus in which he focused on his law practice, Haynes reentered politics in 1859 when he again ran for Congress. This time, his opponent was his old law mentor Nelson. Haynes championed states' rights and secession, while Nelson ran on a pro-Union platform. Unlike the 1851 campaign, the 1859 canvass was relatively cordial, with Haynes at one point coming to Nelson's defense after a newspaper had misquoted him. On election day, Nelson edged Haynes by just 90 votes. ==American Civil War==

During the presidential election of 1860, Haynes was an at-large elector for John C. Breckinridge, a position which required him to canvass the entire state. At one point, he jointly campaigned with his brother-in-law Nathaniel G. Taylor, who was an elector for John Bell. Johnson granted the pardon a few days later. ==Later life==

Haynes spent the remainder of his life in Memphis practicing law. In 1872 he attended a banquet in Jackson, Tennessee, where he was introduced by Nathan B. Forrest, who pointed out that Haynes was from the "godforsaken" pro-Union region of East Tennessee. Haynes responded with a speech, "East Tennessee: An Apostrophe," in which he reminisced about the region's beauty and longed to return. ==Legacy==

For decades after his death, Haynes was remembered primarily for his speaking ability. Nelson described him as the "Cicero of America", and author Frank Richardson (1831–1912) called him a "silver-tongued orator". During the Civil War, Johnson's Depot, near Haynes's farm, was renamed "Haynesville" in his honor. After the war, the town reverted to its original name and incorporated as Johnson City shortly afterward. Prior to his move to Memphis, Haynes sold his farm, the Tipton-Haynes Place, to his brother-in-law Lawson Gifford. In 1945, Gifford's grandson sold the farm to the Tennessee Historical Commission. The farm is now managed as the Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site. ==Personal life==

Haynes's paternal ancestors were of English (Haynes) and German (Meckendorfer and Kern) descent. His maternal ancestors were of Irish descent. ==References==