Landon Carter Haynes

Landon Carter Haynes – Early Years

The first child of David and Rhoda Haynes, Landon Carter Haynes was born on December 2, 1816, in Carter County, Tennessee. A farmer and slave owner, he was also an attorney, newspaper editor, and briefly, a Methodist minister. However, Landon Carter Haynes is best remembered as a legislator, politician, and Confederate senator from Tennessee.

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Civil War, Pardon, and Reconstruction

Even though Landon Carter Haynes had been defeated in his 1859 Congressional bid, he still had something to celebrate that year. In 1859, the United States government changed the Johnson’s Depot post office name to Haynesville in his honor. As the Civil War began, the United States changed the name back to Johnson’s Depot, but the Confederate States of America still referred to the town as Haynesville.

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Ode to Tennessee

In 1872, Landon Carter Haynes attended a banquet in Jackson, Tennessee in honor of the bench and bar during a session of the Supreme Court. Another dignitary at the banquet was former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who harbored no affection for Unionist East Tennessee. Well aware that Haynes was a native of East Tennessee, Forrest delivered the following toast to the former Confederate senator:  “Mr. Chairman, I propose the health of the eloquent gentleman from East Tennessee, sometimes called the God-forsaken country.”  In response to the toast from General Forrest, Haynes delivered a short speech now known as the “Ode to Tennessee.”

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