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John Overton: 1766-1833
Born: April 9, 1766 in Virginia, United States
Died: April 12, 1833
Occupation: Jurist, Pioneer, Politician

Source Database: Dictionary of American Biography

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY
Overton, John (Apr. 9, 1766 - Apr. 12, 1833), jurist, pioneer, and politician, was born in Louisa County, Va., the son of James and Mary (Waller) Overton (Overton family data, compiled by Edyth Rucker Whitley, Nashville, Tenn.). His family, of English origin, was well connected but poor, and young Overton taught school for several years in order to assist in the education of his brothers and sisters. In 1787 he migrated to Kentucky for the purpose of studying law and took board in the home of a Mrs. Robards, of Mercer County. Completing his studies two years later, he decided to practise law in the frontier town of Nashville, Tenn. Making his way thither, he became a boarder in the home of the widow of Col. John Donelson. Here he was the bed-fellow of Andrew Jackson, another young lawyer who had shortly preceded him to Nashville (Parton, post, I, 149). In 1790 the western part of North Carolina became the Southwest Territory, and Overton was made supervisor of the federal excise (Knoxville Gazette, June 5, 1795). During this period he also became much interested in land speculations and was Jackson's partner in some of the most important land deals (Bassett, post, I, 13-15). In 1794 these two men purchased the Rice tract, upon which, in 1819, they founded the town of Memphis.

In 1804 Jackson resigned his place upon the bench of the superior court of Tennessee and Overton succeeded to the post, holding this position until the old courts were abolished, Jan. 1, 1810. In November 1811 he was appointed a member of the supreme court of the state to succeed George Campbell. In 1816 he resigned. He published two volumes of Tennessee Reports (1813-17), which cover cases tried before the court from 1791 to 1816. Being intimately connected with the formulation of the law during the plastic period of a new jurisdiction, he became the recognized authority on all matters relating to land legislation, and in many cases it was his influence which shaped the form it took. He also built up the largest landed estate in Tennessee and was considered the richest citizen of the commonwealth. After his retirement from the bench, he devoted his entire time to the promotion of his private interests and the political fortunes of Andrew Jackson. In 1821 he, William B. Lewis, and John H. Eaton [qq.v.] formed an informal committee of close personal friends for the advancement of Jackson's candidacy for the presidency, and from this time until the election of 1828 they were largely engaged in the defense of their hero against his enemies (T. P. Abernethy, "Andrew Jackson and the Rise of Southwestern Democracy," in American Historical Review, October 1927, pp. 71-72). Because he had resided with the Robards family in Kentucky, Overton's services were especially valuable in combating the scandal bruited about during the campaign in connection with Jackson's marriage to Rachel Robards, formerly Rachel Donelson. Though Overton kept complete records of all his transactions, before his death he destroyed his correspondence with Jackson. On the election of "Old Hickory" to the presidency, Overton asked for no office and accepted no favors, remaining in Nashville to the end of his life. He must have possessed rare qualities, for he was unique in being able to live on intimate terms with Jackson as an adviser and friend without friction and without becoming a mere follower.

Henry A. Wise, who visited "The Hermitage" in 1828, described Overton as he sat in the family circle with a bandanna handkerchief thrown over his bald head, nose and chin nearly meeting, making ineffectual efforts to enter into the conversation (Seven Decades of the Union, 1872, pp. 100-03). His private life was apparently uneventful. His wife, Mary McConnell (White) May, was the widow of Dr. Francis May, the daughter of Gen. James White, and the sister of Hugh Lawson White.

-- Thomas P. Abernethy

FURTHER READINGS
[The best sketches of Overton are in J. W. Caldwell, Sketches of the Bench and Bar of Tenn. (1898), and W. W. Clayton, Hist. of Davidson County, Tenn. (1880). See also James Parton, Life of Andrew Jackson (3 vols., 1860); J. S. Bassett, Correspondence of Andrew Jackson (6 vols., 1926-33); obituary in Nashville Republican and State Gazette, Apr. 17, 1833. There is a good collection of Overton's correspondence in the possession of the Tenn. Hist. Soc., Nashville.]

Source Citation: "John Overton."Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/