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Senate Years of Service: 1866-1867; 1867-1871 Party: Unconditional Unionist; Republican
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FOWLER, Joseph Smith, a Senator from Tennessee; born in Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio, August 31,
1820; attended the common schools and Grove Academy, Steubenville, Ohio; graduated from
Franklin College, New Athens, Ohio, in 1843; taught school in Shelby County, Ky., in 1844;
professor of mathematics at Franklin College, Davidson County, Tenn., 1845-1849; studied law in
Bowling Green, Ky.; admitted to the bar and practiced in Tennessee until 1861; president of Howard
Female College, Gallatin, Tenn., 1856-1861; comptroller of Tennessee 1862-1865; active in the
reconstruction of the State government; upon the readmission of the State of Tennessee to
representation was elected as a Unionist to the United States Senate and served from July 24, 1866, to
March 3, 1871; was not a candidate for reelection; chairman, Committee on Engrossed Bills (Fortieth
Congress); engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D.C., until his death there on April 1, 1902;
interment in Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Ky.
BibliographyAmerican National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Durham, Walter. How Say You, Senator Fowler? Tennessee History Quarterly 42 (Spring 1983): 39-57; Roske, Ralph J. The Seven
Martyrs? American Historical Review 64 (January 1959): 332-30.
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