Lebanon in Wilson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Horace Harmon Lurton
Photographed by Mark Parker, March 13, 2025
1. Horace Harmon Lurton Marker
Inscription.
Horace Harmon Lurton. . Justice Lurton earned a law degree from Cumberland University in 1856. He was raised in Clarksville, Tennessee and attended the University of Chicago prior to joining the Confederate Army, rising from the rank of Private to Sergeant Major. He was captured twice by Union forces, only to be paroled by President Lincoln when Lurton's mother traveled to Washington, sought an audience with the president, and requested the release of her son from a federal prison camp due to his illness. After graduating from Cumberland, he practiced law in Clarksville before serving as a state court Chancellor, a Justice and Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, and a judge and chief judge on the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1909, President William Howard Taft nominated him to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Lurton holds the distinction of having more prior judicial experience than any individual who has ever been appointed to that body. Considered a legal scholar, he wrote 84 opinions during his brief four-year tenure on the Court. He died as a member of the Court.
Justice Lurton earned a law degree from Cumberland University in 1856. He was raised in Clarksville, Tennessee and attended the University of Chicago prior to joining the Confederate Army, rising from the rank of Private to Sergeant Major. He was captured twice by Union forces, only to be paroled by President Lincoln when Lurton's mother traveled to
Washington, sought an audience with the president, and requested the release of her son from a federal prison camp due to his illness. After graduating from Cumberland, he practiced law in Clarksville before serving as a state court Chancellor, a Justice and Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, and a judge and chief judge on the federal
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1909, President William Howard Taft nominated him to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Lurton holds the distinction of having more prior judicial experience than any individual who has ever been appointed to that body. Considered a legal scholar,
he wrote 84 opinions during his brief four-year tenure on the Court. He died as a member of the Court.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this
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topic list: Government & Politics. A significant historical year for this entry is 1909.
Location. 36° 12.1′ N, 86° 17.838′ W. Marker is in Lebanon, Tennessee, in Wilson County. It is on South Greenwood Street north of Martin Avenue, on the right when traveling north. The marker is located at the far southwest corner of Horace Lurton Hall. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 317 S Greenwood St, Lebanon TN 37087, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Middle Tennessee and in Greater Nashville. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Credits. This page was last revised on March 17, 2025. It was originally submitted on March 16, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 93 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on March 16, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
