Preceded by Emerson Etheridge Succeeded by John M. Taylor Party Democratic Party Preceded by David A. Nunn | Preceded by Robert P. Caldwell Role American Politician Succeeded by Emerson Etheridge Name John Clinton | |
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Succeeded by Washington C. Whitthorne Died June 2, 1908, Paris, Tennessee, United States Books Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Similar People Oscar Branch Colquitt, Andrew Jackson Hamilton, Elisha M Pease | ||
Education University of Tennessee | ||
John DeWitt Clinton Atkins (June 4, 1825 – June 2, 1908) was an American politician and a member of both the United States House of Representatives and Confederate Congress from Tennessee.
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Biography
Atkins was born at Manly's Chapel, Tennessee, in Henry County the son of John Atkins and Sarah (Manley) Atkins. He attended a private school in Paris, Tennessee, graduated from East Tennessee University at Knoxville in 1846. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar, but he did not practice, instead engaging in agricultural pursuits. He married Elizabeth Bacon Porter on November 23, 1847. After her death in 1887, He married Flora Crawford on June 24, 1890.
Career
Atkins was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1849 to 1851. He served in the Tennessee Senate from 1855 to 1857. He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth Congress by Tennessee's 9th congressional district. He served from March 4, 1857 to March 3, 1859, but he was not a successful candidate for re-election to the Thirty-sixth Congress.
During the Civil War, Atkins served as lieutenant colonel of the Fifth Tennessee Regiment in the Confederate Army in 1861. He was a delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress in November 1861. He then was elected to the First Confederate Congress and was reelected in 1863 to the Second Confederate Congress.
Following the war, Atkins was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-third and the four succeeding Congresses by Tennessee's 7th congressional district, and then by the 8th congressional district after reapportionment. He served from March 4, 1873 to March 3, 1883. During the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses, he was the chairman of the United States House Committee on Appropriations. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1882.
Atkins again engaged in agricultural pursuits near Paris, Tennessee in Henry County. He was appointed United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs by President Cleveland on March 21, 1885, and he served until June 13, 1888 when he resigned. During his tenure as commissioner, Atkins forbade use of Native languages in reservation schools, stating in 1887 that "instruction of the Indians in the vernacular is not only of no use to them, but it is detrimental to the cause of their education and civilization". He was an unsuccessful Democratic nomination for United States Senator in 1888. He returned to agricultural pursuits; retired from active pursuits in 1898, and moved to Paris, Tennessee.
Death
Atkins lived there in retirement until his death on June 2, 1908 (age 82 years, 364 days). He is interred at City Cemetery in Paris, Tennessee. A family friend who developed Atlanta's Atkins Park neighborhood named it in honor of the colonel.