Title: Samuel Mayes Arnell Collection

Date/Date Range :   1782-1937

Extent: 3.0 linear feet

Abstract:

This collection contains correspondence, diaries, journals, historical manuscripts, accounts of historical events, financial and legal papers, photographs, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, and other papers documenting the life and work of Samuel Mayes Arnell.

Call number: MS-0823

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Mrs. Broadus Farrar presented the Arnell Collection to the library in 1975.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], Samuel Mayes Arnell Collection, MS-0823. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of two boxes divided into four series:

1. Series I: Correspondence
2. Series II: Diaries, Journals, Ledgers, etc.
3. Series III: Historical Manuscripts and Accounts of Historical Events
4. Series IV: Financial and Legal Papers, Photographs, and Scrapbooks

Samuel Mayes Arnell was born in Maury County, Tennessee on May 3, 1833. He was originally educated for the Church but eventually taught at a classical school and studied law. In 1859 he went into business manufacturing leather. In 1861 he took active interest in putting down the Rebellion and as a result suffered greatly at the hands of the Confederate Army. Arnell was elected to the first Tennessee Legislature after the war and was subsequently elected as a Representative from Tennessee to the Thirty-ninth Congress, where he served on the Committee on Public Expenditures. He was re-elected as a Representative to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses and served on the Committee on Accounts. During this time, he became a close friend of Governor William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow. Arnell was the postmaster at Columbia, Tennessee from 1879 to 1885 and Superintendent of Public Schools there from 1885 to 1888. After many years of failing health his death was announced on July 28, 1903.

Series I: Correspondence, 1864-1937 consists primarily of letters written to Arnell from family, friends, and law associates. Of particular interest is a letter confirming Arnell's Union loyalties. Series II: Diaries, Journals, Ledgers, etc., 1864-1937 houses Arnell's account records (including various notes, memoranda, and compositions), Mrs. Arnell's diary, notes on a history of Tennessee, notes on a biography of William Brownlow, and a manuscript regarding the Zion Church and Community. Series III: Historical Manuscripts and Accounts of Historical Events includes an account of a raid led under General Stoneman, Mrs. Arnell's account of Hood's Raid and the resultant damage to their home and to themselves, a statement of some men whose orders were to burn the Union Depot in Sullivan County, and an account of the march to King's Mountain. Series IV: Financial and Legal Papers, Photographs, and Scrapbooks houses deeds, abstracts of title, leases, statements, photographs of people and places in Tennessee that were of interest to Arnell, newspaper clippings, magazine pages, calling cards, souvenirs, programs, and other memorabilia.

• Arnell, Samuel Mayes, 1833-1903.
• Tennessee -- History.
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.