Representative Lewis Tillman

Lewis Tillman (August 18, 1816 – May 3, 1886) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 4th congressional district of Tennessee. He was born near Shelbyville, in Bedford County, Tennessee, on August 18, 1816. Raised in a rural part of Middle Tennessee, he attended the common schools and pursued an academic course, receiving the basic education typical of the period and region.

As a young man, Tillman served as a private in the Seminole War, an early military experience that preceded his long involvement in public life. After his service, he engaged in agricultural pursuits in Bedford County, establishing himself as a farmer. He became active in local affairs and, by the early 1850s, had entered public service at the county level. From 1852 to 1860, he served as circuit court clerk of Bedford County, a position that placed him at the center of the county’s judicial administration. During this period he also held the rank of colonel in the Tennessee state militia, reflecting both his prior military experience and his standing in the community. In addition, he was editor of a newspaper in Shelbyville, participating in the civic and political discourse of his locality through the press.

Following the Civil War, Tillman resumed and expanded his public responsibilities in the reconstructed state government and legal system. From 1865 to 1869, he served as clerk and master of the chancery court, a key administrative and judicial office that managed equity cases and court records. Throughout these years he continued his involvement in agriculture, maintaining his connection to the agrarian economy of Bedford County while building a reputation as a capable local official.

As a member of the Republican Party representing Tennessee, Lewis Tillman contributed to the legislative process during one term in office. Elected as a Republican to the Forty-first Congress, he represented Tennessee’s 4th congressional district from March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1871. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, in the midst of Reconstruction, when issues of reunification, civil rights, and the reorganization of Southern state governments were central to national politics. In this context, Tillman participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents in Middle Tennessee. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1870 and thus concluded his congressional service at the end of his first term.

After leaving Congress, Tillman returned to agricultural pursuits in Bedford County, resuming the farming activities that had long underpinned his livelihood. He remained a respected figure in his community, known for his earlier military service, his work in the courts and the press, and his term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Lewis Tillman died in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on May 3, 1886. He was interred in Willow Mount Cemetery in Shelbyville. His family was prominent in public service: his uncle, Barclay Martin, also served as a U.S. congressman from Tennessee. His son James Davidson Tillman served as a Confederate colonel during the Civil War, later became a member of the Tennessee Senate, and was appointed United States Minister to Ecuador by President Grover Cleveland. Another son, Samuel Escue Tillman, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, rose to the rank of brigadier general and served as Superintendent of the Military Academy during World War I, extending the family’s tradition of military and public service into the twentieth century.