OF LOCAL LORE & LAWYERS By: Joe Jarret, J.D., Ph.D Attorney, University of Tennessee
HUGH LAWSON McCLUNG: EAST TENNESSEE LAWYER, JUDGE, PHILANTHROPIST Throughout my public sector legal career, I have been afforded the opportunity to serve as an adjunct instructor for various institutions of higher learning. In so doing, I always made it my practice to learn as much about the history of the institution as possible. My first such opportunity came when I was invited to teach several courses on behalf of students studying at BethuneCookman University (BCU), in Daytona Beach, Florida. BCU is a historically African American college, and I was delighted to learn that several of the African American soldiers with whom I served in the Army were attending there just as I began teaching. During new employee orientation, I learned that Mary McLeod Bethune opened the Daytona Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls— what would become BethuneCookman University—“with $1.50, faith in God and five little girls, along with Dr. Bethune’s son, Albert.” 1 Dr. Bethune went on to become a national and international figure with a long list of notable accomplishments, including counseling US presidents, playing a role in the founding of the United Nations and creating an influential African American women’s organization. She also helped found the United Negro College Fund, of which Bethune-Cookman was a charter member. The University was a crowning achievement in a storied career. 2 When I started practicing law in Knox County, I was offered an adjunct instructor position with the University of Tennessee’s Graduate School of Public Policy and Administration. After accepting the position, I went to work learning as much about the history of UT as possible. By the time I accepted a full-time teaching position with UT, I was pretty glib about its magnificent history and contribution to higher learning in Tennessee. It wasn’t until I became a UT alum (Ph.D., Educational Leadership), that I learned about the namesake of the building in which my office is located, to wit, McClung Tower, named after Hugh Lawson McClung. As fate or coincidence would have it, Hugh Lawson McClung was, among other things, an East Tennessee lawyer and judge. Judge Hugh Lawson McClung was born on June 2, 1858, in Russellville, Tennessee to Hugh Lawson (1810-1891) and Anna Gillespie McClung (1825-1875). A great-grandson of James White,
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Knoxville’s founder, he graduated from the University of Tennessee with his BA degree in 1877 and was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1879. During his professional life, he was a member of the law firm of Webb & McClung (later Webb, McClung & Baker), a Chancellor of the Knoxville Chancery Court, and ultimately, a “Special Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court.” In Judge McClung’s time, the Chief Judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court would occasionally request that the Governor temporarily appoint a special justice during the absence of one of the members of the court. In Judge McClung’s case, it was Governor Benton McMillon, who served as the 27th Governor of Tennessee from 1899 to 1903, who appointed him a special justice at the request of Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice David L. Snodgrass. Justice Snodgrass probably merits an article of his own, considering the fact that his antics outside of the courtroom were, shall we say, un-justice like. For instance, in 1895, after a heated argument with a Chattanooga attorney who was openly critical of the court in general, and Justice Snograss in particular, Justice Snodgrass, claiming his critic was reaching for a firearm, drew his own concealed pistol and shot the critic, inflicting a minor wound to his arm.3 Needless to say, there’s more to the story, best saved for another day. Getting back to Justice McClung, along with his legal duties, he also served as a Trustee of the University of Tennessee, a Trustee and Chairman of the Board of the East Tennessee Institute for Girls, a Trustee and President of the Board of the Robert N. Strong Hospital, a Trustee of the Knoxville Public Library, and the director and president of the Holston National Bank. After a life of public service and philanthropy, Judge McClung passed away on April 25, 1936. He is buried in Knoxville’s Greenwood Cemetery. Presently, over 1000 students a day pass by the building that is his namesake, most of whom are unaware of the legacy of public service left behind by this dedicated, lawyer, judge, philanthropist and civic leader. 1 2 3
DICTA
See https://www.cookman.edu/history/index.html for a history of BCU. Id. For more information on Justice Snograss go to http://www.hamiltoncountyherald. com
March 2022
