John Knight SHIELDS, Congress, TN (1858-1934)

SHIELDS, John Knight, a Senator from Tennessee; born at “Clinchdale,” near Bean’s Station, Grainger County, Tenn., August 15, 1858; was educated by private tutors; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1879 and practiced in Grainger and adjoining counties until 1893; chancellor of the twelfth chancery division 1893-1894; resumed the practice of law in Morristown, Hamblen County, Tenn.; associate justice of the supreme court of Tennessee 1902-1910, chief justice 1910-1913, when he resigned, having been nominated as a candidate for Senator; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1913; reelected in 1918 and served from March 4, 1913, to March 3, 1925; unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1924; chairman, Committee on Canadian Relations (Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth Congresses), Committee on Interoceanic Canals (Sixty-fifth Congress), Committee on Transportation and Sale of Meat Products (Sixty-sixth Congress); resumed the practice of law in Knoxville, Tenn.; died at his country estate, “Clinchdale,” near Knoxville, September 30, 1934; interment in Memorial Cemetery, Knoxville, Tenn.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; McKellar, Kenneth. “John Knight Shields,” in Tennessee Senators as Seen by One of Their Successors. Kingsport, Tenn.: Southern Publishers, Inc., 1942: 564-596.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present