Those present at the 116th Annual Meeting of the Chattanooga Bar Association were privileged to witness the unveiling of an impressive portrait of Judge Charles Fleming Keith. This portrait was given by Attorney Paul Dietrich of Cleveland, Tenn., for display outside the courtroom of Circuit Judge W. Neil Thomas, III, at the Hamilton County Courthouse.
A brief biographical summary of Judge Keith (1781-1865), given along with the portrait, served only to whet the appetite of many of those in attendance who take interest in the rich history of our local bar. Like Truvy Jones in “Steel Magnolias,” I began to suspect there was a bigger story there. It turned out I was right.
Before I share some of the details of the life of Judge Keith, I would be remiss if I did not first mention the work and passion of Paul Dietrich, which led to the presentation of the portrait of Judge Keith. While researching his own family genealogy, Paul fortuitously located a letter written by John Sharpe Rowland (1795-1863), Paul’s great-great-great grandfather, discussing the marriage of one of Rowland’s sons to Judge Keith’s daughter. This discovery of distant kinship led Paul on a historical odyssey through museums, archives, and cemeteries, all the while searching for threads of information from which to re-weave the tapestry of Judge Keith’s life. Paul’s labor was not wasted. First, the portrait of Judge Keith is itself a direct product of Paul’s research. In an act he attributes to Divine Providence, Paul purchased a historical set of rare books. In searching through the books, he found an entire chapter dedicated to Judge Keith that contained an engraving of the judge. Paul, at his own expense, had several portraits commissioned from that engraving – one of which was graciously presented to Judge Thomas at the Chattanooga Bar Association’s 116th Annual Meeting. Paul has also collected a treasure trove of historical information on Judge Keith, and is in the process of finalizing a biography of Judge Keith’s extraordinary life.
What exactly did Judge Keith do to deserve inclusion in the pantheon of local jurists whose visages adorn the walls of our courthouse? Limitations of time and space preclude me from fully answering this simple question. For a more comprehensive answer, I encourage you to keep an eye out for Paul’s upcoming biography. With complete attribution and thanks to Paul, however, I will pass on this brief thumbnail sketch of the life of an extraordinary and influential lawyer whose legislative, legal, and familial legacies still live among us.
Charles Fleming Keith was born in Fauquier County, Va., on Nov. 22, 1781. His father, Alexander Keith (1748–1824), served as aide de camp to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. In 1799, the Alexander Keith family, including 18-year-old Charles, moved to Greene County, Tenn. In 1802, Charles Keith returned to Virginia to read law with his cousin Charles Marshall, a brother to Chief Justice John Marshall. In 1808, Keith became licensed to practice law in Jefferson County, Tenn., and over time came to be known as preeminent among his peers. In 1817, he was elected to the first of two two-year terms as state senator for Jefferson and Cocke Counties.
At the time of his election to the senate, much of East Tennessee remained a part of the Cherokee Nation. As a result of treaties in 1817 and 1819, however, much of East Tennessee (but not quite all) was acquired from the Cherokee Nation. As a state senator during this period, Keith was instrumental in apportioning and organizing large tracts of East Tennessee (including Hamilton County) into counties and towns. Given his legal background and his work with the recently ceded lands, it’s not surprising that, in June of 1820, the state legislature elected Keith to be the first judge of the newly-created Seventh Judicial District, which over time came to include the counties of Roane (1801), Bledsoe (1807), Rhea (1807), Marion (1817), McMinn (1819), Hamilton (1819), Monroe (1819), Bradley (1836), Meigs (1836), and Polk (1839).
So, among many other noteworthy attributes, Judge Keith was the first Tennessee State Circuit Court Judge to sit in Hamilton County. Judge Keith rode his vast circuit on horseback, and held court semi-annually in each of the counties in his district, sometimes convening court under the shade of an oak tree. His travels often took him through hostile territories, and upon the advice of locals, he became quite proficient with a pistol. It was said he could “snuff a candle at forty paces.” However, he was never called upon to raise his pistol and over time ceased carrying it, choosing instead to go armed only with a bullwhip. While he was frequently required to resolve disputes between the encroaching settlers and the Cherokee, he was renowned for his ability to dispense justice in a fair and logical manner. His adherence to the rule of law often brought him into more conflict with governmental authorities than it did with members of the Cherokee Nation, who came to revere Judge Keith for his unbiased and even-handed approach. In fact, Judge Keith’s refusal in 1834 (based upon adherence to federal constitutional principles) to exercise state court jurisdiction over cases arising within the established territory of the Cherokee Nation brought down upon Judge Keith the ire of President Andrew Jackson. Still, despite intense political pressure, Judge Keith stood fast to his constitutional conviction and bucked against the tide of popular sentiment. Notwithstanding the adoption of a new Tennessee Constitution in 1834, which for the first time required Tennessee circuit court judges to be elected for terms of eight years (some believe as a result of Judge Keith’s perceived obstinacy), Judge Keith ran unopposed and was re-elected to his position in 1836. Judge Keith would serve as Circuit Judge of the Seventh (later the Third) Judicial District until 1853, taking off a couple of years from 1844–1846 to serve in private practice and as district solicitor pro tem. He retired to his family home, “Elmwood,” near Athens, Tenn., where he died in 1865. “Elmwood” is the present day location of the Mayfield Dairy Farm.
Judge Keith’s kin still inhabit our local courtrooms. In addition to Paul Dietrich, Attorney Scott Brown (a great-great-great grandson) is privileged to share a family tree with Judge Keith.
In closing, I leave you with the words of Judge Keith’s daughter, Louisa J. Rowland, who wrote a memoir of her father in 1904. In her introduction, she wrote:
Peace hath her heroes as well as war, though no blare of trumpets proclaims her victories, and they pass unnoticed save by the recording angel who keeps watch beyond the stars. But the unobtrusive civil officer who pursues the even tenor of his way in an unsettled, transitional period of the nation’s history, and with a firm and yet gentle hand leads a turbulent, semi-civilized people to respect the law of the land, and whose every act and word of a long life has been to promote peace and kindness and to the uplifting of all those who come in contact with him, is as worthy to be commemorated in song and story, and to be crowned with a laurel wreath as unfading as the soldier who, with blood-stained sword, offers his life in defense of frontier home from marauding of hostile savages. Such was the character and influence of Charles Fleming Keith.
This loving tribute now appears on the portrait of Judge Keith that graces Judge Thomas’s courtroom. Certainly, Judge Keith was a hero of both peace and law. Thanks to Paul Dietrich, we are privileged to be able to honor Judge Keith and reflect upon his most extraordinary contributions to our Chattanooga Bar.