Setting the stage for revolution in Athens, Tenn.
(Editor’s note: First in a series)
As the United States prepares for “America 250,” its semiquincentennial celebration of the American Revolution, a national commission established by the U.S. Congress in 2016 will oversee the planning and orchestration of events across the nation. The nonpartisan commission members, each appointed by congressional leadership, includes 16 private citizens, four members of the House of Representatives and four senators, and 12 advisers representing the three branches of the federal government. The America 250 mission statement identifies the goal of the celebration: “The journey toward this historic milestone is an opportunity to pause and reflect on our nation’s past, honor the contributions of all Americans, and look ahead toward the future we want to create for the next generation and beyond.”
And as Chattanooga and Hamilton County prepare for their own America 250 commemorations with the announcement of the local committee later this year, neighbors just to the north remind us that there once was another “revolution” in Southeast Tennessee, and it was much more recent than the American Revolution. McMinn County veterans staged what would become known as the “Battle of Athens” in 1946, motivated by a corrupt local government — the antithesis of the soldiers’ recent efforts in World War II to free Europe and the Pacific of tyranny.
An examination of archived records unfolds a story that centers on the exploits of business leader Paul Cantrell, who was elected sheriff of McMinn County in 1936 with the support of the Crump political machine. When he defeated his Republican opponent by an extremely small margin, citizens speculated that fraud may have played a role in the victory. That election is still referred to as the “vote grab of 1936.”
In the 1930s, Tennessee law allowed local sheriffs and the deputies to collect fees for the number of people arrested. Citizens of McMinn County alleged that their sheriff, who was paid a “generous salary” of $5,000 per year, was engaged in a scheme whereby people were being arrested on charges of public drunkenness and other minor crimes in a money-making racket that profited the department. Stories circulated that buses traveling through Athens were stopped and passengers charged with a crime, assessed a fee, and told that payment was mandatory before being released. The law required the sheriff to maintain copies of all the vouchers detailing the collection of additional fines. The ledgers document that over a 10-year period (1936-1946), the department collected more than $300,000. Adjusting that number in today’s dollars, the “take” was close to $5 million.
Cantrell and his deputies were also accused by McMinn County residents of “turning a blind eye” to the operation of “roadhouses, brothels and gambling dens” in exchange for protection fees that allowed law enforcement to occasionally raid the same businesses, arrest patrons and collect fines. It appeared to be a highly profitable operation. When in subsequent elections it was the sheriff’s department that collected ballot boxes from local precincts, rumors about fraud ran rampant. When a Cantrell friend serving in the Tennessee General Assembly introduced a redistricting plan, McMinn County’s electoral system included a reduction from 23 to 12 precincts, eliminating any chance that the Republicans could elect candidates. Charges of corruption were again raised.
By the time the United States entered World War II — in which than 3,000 young men from McMinn County had either enlisted or been drafted — the political machine in McMinn County seemed to be invincible. Cantrell was now a member of the General Assembly, and his successor as sheriff was a close friend, who employed ex-convicts as his deputies.
When local citizens demanded in 1940, 1942 and again in 1944 that state and federal authorities, including the U.S. Department of Justice, investigate local government on accusations of voter fraud, all inquiries appeared to be sidelined by the “war efforts.” Concerns heightened when two members of the armed forces home on leave were shot and killed by local deputies. The local investigation appeared cursory at best.
VE Day, Victory in Europe, was celebrated on May 8, 1945, followed closely by VJ Day on Aug. 14. Members of the U.S. armed forces began returning home. But the reception awaiting them in McMinn County would lead to a revolution.