John Hervey Crozier

John Hervey Crozier (February 10, 1812 – October 25, 1889) was an American attorney and politician active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, during the mid-nineteenth century. Described as "an orator of uncommon brilliancy" Crozier represented Tennessee's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1845 to 1849. While originally a member of the Whig Party, Crozier switched his allegiance to the Democratic Party in the 1850s, and supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. Crozier retired from public life after the war, and spent his remaining years engaged in scholarly pursuits.

Biography

Early life and career Crozier was born in Knoxville on February 10, 1812, the youngest son of Captain John and Hannah Barton Crozier. Crozier's father, an immigrant from County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, was among the earliest settlers in Knoxville, and served as Knoxville's postmaster from 1804 until 1838.

After attending public schools, the younger Crozier graduated from East Tennessee College (now the University of Tennessee) in 1829. He was admitted to the Tennessee bar, and practiced law in Knoxville. In 1835, after Knox County attorney-general John Nelson resigned, Crozier was appointed to fill out his term. Crozier also obtained $50,000 in federal funding for navigational improvements to the Tennessee River, which he hoped would eventually connect Knoxville and Chattanooga to the nation's inland waterways.

The Civil War Crozier's house on Gay Street was headquarters to General Ambrose Burnside during the Federal occupation of Knoxville in 1863.

Crozier's defection to the Democratic Party resumed a string of personal attacks from Knoxville Whig editor, William "Parson" Brownlow, which Crozier later claimed drove him from public life. During the presidential campaign of 1860, Crozier and Brownlow attacked one another in speeches, and continued quarrelling via newspaper editorials in 1861 as they stood on opposite sides of the secession debate. Crozier's extensive personal library made his house the ideal choice for Burnside, an avid reader.

Later life

After the war, Crozier retired from practice to engage in "literary pursuits." Crozier died in Knoxville on October 25, 1889, and was interred in Old Gray Cemetery. Following family tradition, His son, John Crozier, Jr., was an early aviation pioneer who began building a human-powered flying machine in the 1890s, but was killed in a feud in Grainger County before he could complete it.