Joseph Brown Heiskell
Office8th Attorney General of Tennessee
Term start1870
Term end1878
Governor
PredecessorThomas H. Coldwell
SuccessorBenjamin J. Lea
Office 2Member of the Confederate States
House of Representatives

from Tennessee's 1st district
Term start 21862
Term end 21864
Office 3Member of the Tennessee Senate
for Hawkins, Hancock, and Jefferson
Term start 31857
Term end 31859
Predecessor 3B. F. McFarland
Successor 3William M. Bradford
Birth dateNovember 5, 1823
Birth placeKnoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Death dateMarch 7, 1913 (aged 89)
Death placeMemphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Resting placeElmwood Cemetery
Spouse
  • Sarah McKinney (m. 1846; died 1890)
  • Lucy Watkins
    (m. 1891)
FatherFrederick Heiskell
Party

Joseph Brown Heiskell (November 5, 1823 – March 7, 1913) was a prominent Tennessee politician who served in the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War.

Biography

Heiskell was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of newspaper publisher Frederick S. Heiskell (1786–1882) and Eliza (Brown) Heiskell. He served in the Tennessee State Senate during the 32nd General Assembly from 1857 to 1859, representing Hancock, Hawkins, and Jefferson counties as a member of the Whig Party.

Following the state's ordinance of secession and the outbreak of the Civil War, he represented Tennessee in the First Confederate Congress and the Second Confederate Congress from 1862 to 1864. After being captured by Union soldiers in 1864, Heiskell was incarcerated. He remained in prison until the end of the war.[1]

Following his release, he established a practice in Memphis, Tennessee, and was active in local politics. He was Tennessee's attorney general from 1870 to 1878.

Heiskell died in Memphis on March 7, 1913. Interment was in the city's Elmwood Cemetery.[2]

Heiskell was a nephew of William Heiskell, the post-Civil War Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Notes

  1. ^ McBride & Robinson, pp. 354-55.
  2. ^ politicalgraveyard.com

References

  • Robert M. McBride and Dan M. Robinson, eds., Biographical Directory of the Tennessee General Assembly, Volume I, 1796–1861. (Nashville: Tennessee State Library and Archives and Tennessee Historical Commission, 1975).