The Battle of Athens Virtual Exhibit
Browse our virtual exhibit on the Battle of Athens, including photographs, artifacts, memorabilia, newspaper headlines, audio clips, and more.
PAUL CANTRELL
Paul Cantrell was born in what later became Etowah to a prominent Democratic family. A successful businessman before entering politics, he was elected sheriff in 1936 in an election shrouded in controversy. He spent the remainder of the decade consolidating power in McMinn County, aligning himself with Boss Ed Crump in Memphis and Sheriff Burch E. Biggs in Polk County.
Through “ripper” legislation in Nashville, he took control of the McMinn County Court (the predecessor to the County Commission). Term-limited as sheriff in 1942, he went on to represent McMinn, Bradley, Roane, and Anderson Counties in the State Senate, leaving his chief deputy Pat Mansfield to be “elected” sheriff. But he was still the boss of what became known as the Cantrell Machine.
By 1946, Cantrell was ready to return to the sheriff’s office, while Mansfield was running to replace him in the State Senate. Cantrell was in the jail with Sheriff Mansfield and several other deputies during the Battle. After the deputies surrendered, Cantrell exited the jail unharmed and fled the scene without being recognized. After the Battle, he led a quiet life and continued his successful business career.
PAT MANSFIELD
Pat Mansfield was a native of Georgia. He moved to Etowah to work for the L&N Railroad, where he befriended the Cantrell family. Paul Cantrell appointed Mansfield as his chief deputy in 1936. Mansfield was “elected” sheriff in 1942 after Cantrell was term-limited and went on to the State Senate.
Running to replace Cantrell in the State Senate, Sheriff Mansfield imported over 200 “special deputies,” many of whom were ex-cons, to help “keep order” on election day 1946. The citizens of McMinn County watched as Mansfield and his deputies took several ballot boxes to the jail, thinking another election was being stolen from them.
Just before the Battle started, Mansfield refused to hand over the ballot boxes to the GIs. Before the Battle ended, Mansfield escaped out the back of the jail unharmed. He moved back to Georgia permanently. In later interviews, his story about what he and his deputies did during the Battle was never consistent.
GEORGE WOODS
George Woods was a native of Etowah. After working as a bail bondsman, baker, and real estate developer, he became associated with the Cantrell Machine. He was “elected” to the state house of representatives in 1940, where he authored “ripper bills” to hand control of McMinn County’s government over to the Democrats. The bill also cut in half the number of voting precincts in the county, suppressing voter turnout. This was at a time before “Home Rule” amendments were added to the state constitution, putting an end to such gross abuses of power by meddling in duly-elected local governments.
A loyal soldier for the machine, Woods was elected Speaker of the House in 1945. This would not have been possible without his close ties to Boss Crump in Memphis. At the time of the Battle, he served on the county election commission, despite being an elected official. A few days after the Battle, he returned to Athens to certify the results. He did not leave politics right away, and was elected mayor of Etowah in the early 1950s. He later moved to Chattanooga to work in business.
BURCH E. BIGGS
Burch E. Biggs was the boss of Polk County for many years. Between 1930 and 1948, he and his two sons, Broughton and Burch Glen (nicknamed “Beefy”) served as sheriff of Polk County, ruling with an iron fist. Biggs had befriended Paul Cantrell when Biggs was Etowah Police Chief in the 1920s.
Cantrell later said that Biggs “taught him the ABCs of politics.” Biggs and Cantrell were openly aligned with Boss Crump in Memphis, and attempted to take control of other counties in East Tennessee. Biggs even secured “ripper” legislation to take control of Bradley County’s government.
It was rumored that Biggs would be sending a “convoy” into Athens two days after the Battle to help Cantrell retake control of McMinn County, but Biggs never sent help. He later disowned Cantrell before his own defeat in Polk County’s violent election of 1948, which was, in a lot of ways, a sequel to the Battle of Athens.
BOSS CRUMP
Edward H. “Boss” Crump was born and raised in Mississippi, but moved to Memphis as a young man and married into a wealthy family. He quickly rose through the ranks of Memphis politics, winning election as mayor and even briefly serving in Congress. Crump became the boss of Memphis and Tennessee politics without even serving in office. Aligned with U.S. Senator Kenneth McKellar, every governor and junior U.S. Senator during the 1930s and 1940s was elected with their blessing.
Crump stayed in power through widespread election fraud and by intimidating anyone who dared speak out against him. Some praised him as a benevolent dictator who ran Memphis “efficiently,” while others condemned him as a ruthless boss who loved power. If Crump needed votes in a close statewide election, the Biggs and Cantrell machines always delivered landslide victories for him. In exchange, Crump guaranteed legislation in Nashville increasing their power in southeast Tennessee.
CONTROL OF THE BALLOT BOXES
In the old days, many sheriffs and other elected officials in local governments could swing close elections their way through forged poll tax receipts, “election whiskey,” and other dirty tricks, but wholesale election fraud is not possible without control of the ballot boxes. Control of the ballot boxes rests with the county election commission.
For much of its history, Tennessee was a “blue state,” firmly controlled by the Democratic Party. County election commissions are appointed by the state legislature with input from the governor. At this time, county election commissions were small and had only three members, but are still controlled by the party that controls the state legislature. Until recently, the Democrats controlled the state, appointing two Democrats and one Republican to each county election commission.
Election commissioners choose the location of every precinct, appoint all election workers, and certify the election results after a canvass of every ballot box on election night. With the Democrats controlling the county election commission, it would have been nearly impossible for a Republican to steal a county-wide election.
When the Cantrell Machine took power, they secured the appointment of sheriff’s deputies as election workers (something that is illegal today). Even worse, local elected officials were appointed to the county election commission, including Sheriff Pat Mansfield in 1946.
INCREASING MARGINS OF VICTORY
An examination of McMinn County’s election results from the turn of the century to the election of 1946 proves how competitive elections were, especially for the office of sheriff. Although the Republicans won a majority of the time, the county enjoyed a healthy two-party system. In the 18 elections for sheriff between 1900 and 1936, the Republicans won 12 times, winning by an average of 10%. The Democrats won by an average of 8% in that time period. There were a few outliers, like the Republican sweep of 1916 when they had their best performance at the polls since 1890. The Republicans won by a landslide against an independent candidate in 1932.
Paul Cantrell’s three victories in 1936, 1938, and 1940 were by very small margins (an average of 3.4%), but they were not without controversy. The 1936 election was allegedly swung in Cantrell’s favor by a lunchtime swap of the ballot box at a key precinct. In 1940, Cantrell was soundly defeated on the new voting machines by 19%, but allegedly won 97% of the votes cast on paper ballots.
By the time Mansfield was “elected” sheriff in 1942 and 1944, the margins of victory had become absurdly lopsided, especially compared to the past historical trends in the county, and compared to neighboring counties. Mansfield “won” in 1942 by 33% and in 1944 by 46%. McMinn County also found itself “voting” for the Democratic candidates for Congress and President, a major deviation from past historical trends.
SELLING THE NEW VOTING MACHINES
When the McMinn County Court was still controlled by the Republicans, they purchased new voting machines to be used for elections. Unlike today’s electronic voting machines, these were mechanical. Due to their exquisite design, they were almost impossible to “rig” or manipulate, and to do so took a long time, especially compared to stuffing a ballot box. These voting machines did not immediately replace all paper ballots, but were planned to be phased in over time.
Paul Cantrell began his third term as sheriff after the 1940 election. At the precincts that used the new voting machines, Cantrell lost to his Republican opponent by a large margin. However, at the precincts where paper ballots were still being used, and the ballots were counted outside of public view by armed deputies serving as election workers, Cantrell won in a landslide.
Thanks to a “ripper bill” passed in the 1941 legislative session, the Democrats took control of the McMinn County Court through an undemocratic method. Men who were not elected by the people were appointed to the Court by the legislature, a legal but unethical maneuver. Now in control of the Court, the Cantrell Machine sold the new voting machines, ordering all elections henceforth to be conducted with paper ballots. They sold the machines for a fraction of what they county had recently paid for them.
A RARE CONVICTION
Some of the Republican candidates who lost to the Cantrell Machine challenged the election results in court. They provided solid evidence, including eyewitness accounts to voter intimidation and ballot counting outside of public view. The state courts, stacked with partisan Democratic judges, always ruled in favor of the Cantrell Machine. The Republicans eventually quit filing election contests, and soon quit nominating candidates to run for office. It was not worth the time or money.
At the Claxton precinct in the 1940 election, Roy Carver brought three people to vote, including his elderly father. The officer of election was Deputy Sheriff Ralph Lattimore, who ordered Carver to leave the precinct. When Carver refused, Lattimore assaulted him with his blackjack. Lattimore then ordered the precinct closed. It was only 10:00 AM, and less than 50 people had cast a ballot. Another deputy working the election removed the ballot box from the building, never to be seen again.
Lattimore and two election workers were indicted by a federal grand jury for the crimes they committed during that election. The prosecution called 67 witnesses who testified to the brutality on display during the election. In 1943, a federal jury convicted Lattimore, along with Spurgeon Simpson and Frank Green, for acting under “color of office” to deprive citizens of the right to vote. It was a rare example of justice for the Cantrell Machine, and would not have happened in the state courts.
DEFINING A POLITICAL MACHINE
When discussing political machines, many examples may come to mind. Tennessee politics was dominated by Boss Ed Crump in Memphis during the 1930s and 1940s. Huey Long’s machine in Louisiana was so powerful that it became a decades-long dynasty, even after his death. Boss Tweed, who ruled Tammany Hall in mid-19th century New York, might be the most infamous machine boss in American history. But some machines in this era were local, and received less attention than the urban areas.
It has been alleged for many years that the Republicans had a machine that ruled McMinn County from the end of the Civil War until the election of Paul Cantrell as sheriff in 1936. The Republicans allegedly committed wholesale election fraud, mercilessly practiced “fee-grabbing,” and ruled the county with an iron fist. This controversial assertion has been in dispute for several years. But it is inaccurate.
There is no denying that some Republican sheriffs hired “fee-grabbing” deputies, swung a few close elections their way with forged poll tax receipts, and collected protection money from local moonshiners and gambling house operators. While it is true that the Republicans were in control for many years, there is scant evidence that they operated a “machine,” especially in the way the Cantrell Machine operated.
A political machine controls all elected offices in a jurisdiction, is ruled by a small group of the same people, and routinely intimidates its opponents to the point that they eliminate all opposition in elections. They stay in power through election fraud/voter intimidation, accumulate wealth through graft, and brutalize their opposition through the sheriff’s office. The McMinn Republicans, while in control for much of the time, had different party leaders and elected officials in and out of office over time, often engaging in intra-party disputes. Most importantly, they accepted the results of elections.
A REPUBLICAN MACHINE IN MCMINN?
To call the McMinn Republicans a “machine” in this sense would be grossly inaccurate. Between 1872 and 1936, seven Democrats won the sheriff’s contest eleven times, and four of them served as sheriff for two consecutive terms (John A. Goudly, 1872-1876; S.T. Porter, 1898-1902; James F. Hart, 1908-1912; T. Burkett Ivins, 1922-1926). McMinn County also elected four Democrats to the state legislature between 1878 and 1926. The Democrats controlled the McMinn County Court from 1900 to 1906, followed by an equally-divided court between 1906 and 1912. The court was also divided from 1924 to 1930. No such results would have been permitted under a political machine.
For a county allegedly ruled by a Republican “machine,” the Democrats were competitive in several elections in McMinn County, especially in the all-powerful position of sheriff. Control of the County Court meant control of county finances, and that body was by no means under the firm grip of Republicans in the years before the Cantrell Machine took power. In fact, a Democrat served as county court chairman for many years.
The facts reveal that, while McMinn County was a legitimately-Republican county for many years going back to the Civil War, the Democrats were competitive and held power for a not insignificant period of time. Most importantly during this era, both the Democrats and Republicans handed over power after they lost elections. But under the Cantrell Machine, power had to be taken back by force. The Cantrell Machine was unprecedented in its corruption, duration in power, and brutality, which explains why a bipartisan group of citizens combined to form the GI Non-Partisan League and vote them out of office, and why a group of GIs risked their lives to fight The Battle of Athens.
RIPPER BILLS
During the 1941 state legislative session, State Rep. George Woods of Etowah authored a bill that significantly altered local government, and the voting system, in McMinn County. Known as a “ripper bill,” it redrew the boundaries of the County Court districts to advantage the Democrats. It also appointed handpicked Democrats to the County Court, removing duly-elected Republican justices of the peace (county commissioners are the modern-day equivalent of justices of the peace.)
This ripper bill, however, had another component to it. It also slashed the number of voting precincts almost in half, from 23 to 12. This was done to not only suppress voter turnout, but also to make it easier to control elections in the county by managing a smaller number of precincts.
The lack of “Home Rule,” which now permits local governments to manage more of their own affairs without burdensome state meddling, made such ripper legislation possible. Many cities today owe their charters to the home rule reforms of the 1950s, including Athens. Ripper bills were not unheard of in this era. However, machine politicians in southeast Tennessee, particularly in McMinn and Polk Counties, abused this archaic system in an unprecedented way. With this ripper bill, the Cantrell Machine gained even more power in McMinn County, and it was accomplished in a grossly undemocratic fashion.
CARL VOILES
In 1937, three deputy sheriffs, including Oliver Nichols, were sent to the Charlie Voiles home in Athens after reports that Charlie’s son, Carl, was involved in a “brawl.” Deputy Nichols alleged that Carl aimed a rifle at him as he entered the house. Why the deputies even entered the house in such a situation is not known, but Deputy Nichols shot and killed Carl. The 23-year-old was survived by his parents, siblings, and wife. The Voiles family wanted accountability, but Criminal Court Judge Sue K. Hicks dismissed the charges, and it never went to trial. Sheriff Cantrell did not remove Nichols from the force.
J.H. “HUB” JOHNSON
In 1938, Deputy Oliver Nichols witnessed Hub Johnson relieving himself behind a billboard. Johnson was an old, widowed father of three who had weak kidneys. He delivered newspapers to support his family. Deputy Nichols approached Johnson and blackjacked him, beating him so hard and for so long that it killed him. Deputy Nichols alleged Johnson was “drunk” and resisting arrest. He was later acquitted by a McMinn County jury, robbing Johnson’s children of justice for their father.
EARL FORD
In 1944, Earl Ford, a Seabee from Meigs County, was home on leave. A native of Meigs County, he came over to the Halfway Court, a honkytonk on Ingleside Avenue (across the street from the present site of the Hiwassee Mental Health Center).
Deputy Sheriff Minus Wilburn, seeing an opportunity to “fee-grab” another veteran, deputized a thug named George Spurling to help him arrest Ford for alleged “drunkenness.” Ford resisted arrest, so Spurling fatally shot Ford. Despite the fact that Ford was wearing a U.S. Navy uniform with no pockets, Wilburn and Spurling planted a knife under his body, later claiming self-defense.
After several continuations, Spurling was finally convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1947, one year after the Battle. Ford’s tombstone in Meigs County reads “Killed In The Service Of His Country In Athens, Tennessee.”
BILL MURPHY
Shortly before the 1946 election, Clyde Rogers was dropped from the Democratic ticket and would be losing his position as county court clerk. This led to a falling out with Paul Cantrell. In retaliation, Rogers revealed how Cantrell had stolen the 1936 election through a ballot box swap. The Cantrell Machine retaliated by arresting Clyde’s father, John. Upset about her father’s arrest, John’s daughter, Leota Murphy, angrily called the Cantrell home and gave Cantrell’s wife an earful.
Only minutes later, the Rucker Brothers, both of whom were Etowah policemen under the command of longtime Mayor Frank Cantrell, arrived at Bill Murphy’s drugstore. Leota watched as the Rucker Brothers shot her husband, who was on the phone. Fortunately, Bill survived his wounds. Sheriff Pat Mansfield alleged the Rucker Brothers shot Bill in self-defense, and claimed they were serving a warrant on Leota for “public profanity.” No warrant was ever produced.
“FEE-GRABBING” AND GRAFT
When the Cantrell Machine took power in the late 1930s, the archaic fee system that compensated the sheriff and his deputies was still in place. It is undeniable that some previous sheriffs, including Paul Cantrell’s immediate predecessor, D.C. Duggan, made some extra money illegally through “fee-grabbing.” Unfortunately for McMinn Countians, “fee-grabbing” was out of control under the Cantrell Machine. They were able to collect more fees than previous sheriffs because they were in power for so long and had no accountability at the polls.
The sheriff’s department was paid based on how many arrests they made because they were responsible for transporting, feeding, and boarding the prisoners in the jail. However, state law capped the salary of the sheriff and his deputies, and any fees they collected in excess of their salaries was to be deposited in the county treasury.
The trick to grafting the taxpayers under this system was to report far more expenses for running the sheriff’s department than was actually necessary while pocketing the difference. Many people were arrested for no reason, and the jail was full of prisoners who were unjustly incarcerated. Because of their duration in power and control of county finances through the County Court, the Cantrell-Mansfield Machine had accumulated hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees during their decade in power. These numbers are not in dispute, and can be verified in the McMinn County Archives.
LETTERS TO THEIR CONGRESSMAN
Congressman John J. Jennings, Jr. represented the Second Congressional District from 1939 to 1951. The southern-most county in this district was McMinn County. As conditions in the county worsened under the Cantrell Machine, citizens began writing letters, and even sending signed affidavits, to Congressman Jennings asking for federal intervention to ensure fair elections. Some even wrote directly to the Attorney General of the United States. They witnessed armed election workers intimidating voters, counting the ballots outside of public view, and other acts of election fraud.
A remarkably diverse group of McMinn citizens wrote to their congressman. Rhea Hammer, owner of Hammer-Johnson Supply, H.L. Love, minister at Mars Hill Presbyterian Church, Samuel C. Brown, a prominent attorney and former judge, H.A. Vestal, president of Chilhowee Mills, and John W. Proffitt, owner of Proffitt’s Department Store, were among the citizens asking for federal intervention to secure fair elections.
A true public servant, Congressman Jennings contacted the Attorney General of the United States and other federal officials asking for help for his constituents, but no meaningful action was ever taken. Jennings assailed the Cantrell Machine on the floor of Congress, demanding fair elections for the people of McMinn County.
G.I. NON-PARTISAN LEAGUE
In response to the unprecedented corruption in McMinn County, Democrats and Republicans joined together to establish the G.I. Non-Partisan League in spring 1946. They met in the basement of the Robert E. Lee Hotel to nominate a ticket for the county election. Only veterans were allowed to attend.
A ticket of five veterans, three Democrats and two Republicans, were nominated. The GIs deliberately chose candidates from respected families that were not heavily political. With the help of many secret donors, the GI Ticket raised $8,000 over the summer campaign season.
The G.I. Non-Partisan League Headquarters was located on Washington Avenue, not far from the site of the Battle. Campaign manager Jim Buttram spent much of his time there, making several phone calls and writing numerous letters during the campaign. The building still stands today across from the Ronald Reagan mural.
RALPH DUGGAN
Ralph Duggan was the son of D.C. Duggan, a Republican who served as sheriff of McMinn County from 1926-30 and again from 1934-1936. D.C. was known for his “fee-grabbing,” but Ralph was as straight as an arrow, and later became a respected attorney. He concealed his kidney disease to be able to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II, rising to the rank of Lt. Commander.
Duggan became the attorney for the G.I. Non-Partisan League. “If democracy was good enough to put on the Germans and Japanese, it was good enough for McMinn County,” he once said. He called the Cantrell deputies “nothing but a lot of swaggering, strutting, storm-troopers, drunk most of the time, beating up our citizens for the slightest reason.”
Immediately after the Battle, when several GIs were assaulting deputies in the middle of the street, Duggan made a passionate speech that prevented the Battle’s aftermath from turning deadly.
JIM BUTTRAM
Jim Buttram was a football star at McMinn County High School. A tall, strapping man, he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and saw action in Tunisia, Sicily, and Normandy, suffering two wounds during his service.
After witnessing the corruption in McMinn County’s government upon his return home from the war, Buttram remarked “It wasn’t really a town anymore…It was a jail.” He commented on the danger of speaking out against the Cantrell Machine: “It got to the point where decent citizens were not safe on the streets if they had said anything against the Cantrell organization.”
Buttram became the campaign manager for the GI Ticket. He would be voting for the first time in this election. “I don’t expect to ever commit myself to vote any straight party ticket all the way down the line.” He fought the trustee’s office to secure poll tax receipts for veterans. Much of his work during the summer campaign season was spent writing letters to Nashville and Washington asking for help in securing fair elections. He received no response.
WILLIAM “OTTO” KENNEDY
Otto Kennedy was the son of late Monroe County Sheriff James P. Kennedy, who was killed in the line of duty in 1930. He made an unsuccessful run for sheriff to replace his father, pledging “strict economy,” to “absolutely eliminate fee grabbing of any character,” hire “capable, honest, and high type men,” and cap his own salary.
Although not a WWII veteran, he worked at a defense plant during the war. The chairman of the McMinn County GOP, he was a diehard Republican. But he was also a staunch supporter of the GI Non-Partisan League. Having worked as a bail bondsman, he later became owner of the Essankay Tire garage.
Just hours before the Battle, Kennedy, two of his brothers, his son-in-law, and a few GIs roughed up a group of Sheriff Mansfield’s “special deputies” at Kennedy’s garage. A group of GIs drove them out to Well’s Hollow (County Road 260), and tied them to a tree, without their clothes.
Kennedy went home before the Battle began. A member of the county election commission, he was present to certify the GI victory a few days after the Battle. He became chief deputy sheriff under Knox Henry, and later sheriff in 1950.
CONGRESSMAN JOHN JENNINGS
John J. Jennings, Jr. was known as the “Five Js of Jellico.” He served as a judge before his election to Congress in 1939, representing Tennessee’s Second Congressional District, headquartered in the Knoxville metropolitan area. McMinn and Monroe Counties were home to some of his most loyal constituents.
Jennings received numerous letters from McMinn County residents asking for help in securing fair elections. He assailed the Cantrell Machine on the floor of Congress, but could never convince the U.S. Department of Justice to take any meaningful action. Although, he did succeed in helping oust controversial Monroe County Sheriff W.O. Brakebill from office in 1943.
The Cantrell Machine tried to get Jennings “voted” out of Congress, but when that failed, they drew McMinn County out of his district in a brazen act of gerrymandering. Undeterred, Jennings continued to stand up for McMinn citizens, even though they were no longer his constituents.
KNOX HENRY
Knox Henry was born in Monroe County but grew up in the Clearwater area. He served as a sergeant in the Army Air Corps. He was injured in a jeep wreck in North Africa. After the war, he bought a filling station in Athens.
A Republican, Henry was married with one child when he became the GI candidate for sheriff. He promised that “under no conditions” would he or any of his deputies accept a penny more than their salary, which was set by state law. He would tolerate no “fee-grabbing” if elected. His opponent was Paul Cantrell, who was leaving the State Senate and hoping to return to the sheriff’s office.
During the Battle, Henry and the other GI candidates stayed in safe locations far away from downtown Athens. Bill Grubb, a Battle participant, went to Henry’s filling station to get some gasoline to make Molotov cocktails. Later that night, Henry was informed of a threat on his life and took refuge in Sweetwater.
FRANK CARMICHAEL
Frank Carmichael was a native of Etowah. He rose to the rank of Army Major, under the command of General George S. Patton. He survived the Normandy invasion, but did not end the war unscathed. He injured his foot so badly it turned black, and his ears bled from shells landing close by, leading to permanent hearing loss.
Carmichael later remembered: “Part of the process of preparing for war was to educate the military about the differences between our system of government and that of fascist dictatorships. As they began to learn more about the totalitarian methods of Japan and Germany, many of these young men began to pay more attention to the undemocratic methods of the Cantrell machine.”
He was working on his family farm outside Etowah when he was recruited to run for trustee on the G.I. Ticket. He was a staunch Democrat, and was eager to help clean up the county in a bipartisan effort. Criticizing the Cantrell Machine, Carmichael said “These people do not have the interest and desires of the people at heart. All they want is more power to build up that which they have already gained by intimidating, coercing, and stealing at the polls.” His opponent was incumbent trustee John B. Kennedy.
BILL HAMBY
William “Bill” Hamby was a native of Athens and served as a captain in the U.S Army in the South Pacific. He was a member of Company B, 117th Infantry, 30th Infantry Division. He sold building supplies after the war.
“If you were on the right team, why, you could get away with almost anything. If you were on the wrong team, you couldn’t get away with anything,” Hamby later said. A Democrat, was ready to work with Republicans and join the GI Ticket to clean up McMinn County and restore a healthy two-party system. In an ad introducing himself to voters, he said “Dictatorship in McMinn County will be a thing of the past.”
Hamby became the GI candidate for circuit court clerk. This position is tasked with keeping all records for the criminal, circuit, and general sessions courts in the county. His opponent was incumbent circuit court clerk T. Burkett Ivins, who once served as sheriff of McMinn County and was suspected of several murders.
GEORGE PAINTER
George Andrew Painter was born in West Virginia and raised in a prominent Democratic family in Conasauga in Polk County, Tennessee. A sergeant in the U.S. Army, he fought in the Pacific Theater and was wounded at Okinawa.
Painter, who went by “Andy,” got married after the war and worked in a fabric factory in Etowah. He became the G.I. candidate for county court clerk. An important position, the county court clerk takes the minutes at every County Court meeting, keeps all records for the court, and issues all licenses (the County Court has since been replaced by the County Commission).
His opponent was Chief Deputy Sheriff Boe Dunn. Longtime county court clerk Clyde Rogers would have been Painter’s opponent, but he was dropped from the ticket and went public with the story of how Cantrell stole the 1936 election.
CHARLIE PICKEL
Charlie Pickel was a carpenter in Englewood. He was an Army infantry sniper in World War I and had been badly wounded. A Republican, he was recruited to become the GI candidate for register of deeds, a position that is tasked with recording public documents, warranty deeds, trust deeds, leases, charters of incorporation, and more.
52 years old, Pickel brought wisdom and experience to an otherwise young slate of candidates. At the time of his nomination for public office, he was serving as Company Commander in the Tennessee National Guard. His opponent was incumbent register of deeds John Cate.
AUGUST 1, 1946
“It’s your right, privilege, and duty to make your choices from among candidates for all public elective offices. As free men and women, we also urge all qualified citizens to go about the exercise of their rights, duties and privileges as they see fit in an orderly peaceable manner. Vote election day. Watch how your votes are counted if you so desire—that, too, is your right.”
– Daily Post Athenian
The long-anticipated election had finally arrived. Would the Cantrell Machine permit a fair election? Would the GIs allow themselves to be intimidated? Would state authorities arrive to help prevent any potential violence? Voter turnout was the highest it has been in over a decade. Hundreds of people were on the streets of Athens at any given time during election day, waiting in line to cast a vote.
But the election was not just in the three downtown Athens precincts. There were precincts all over the county, from Etowah and Englewood to Niota and Calhoun. Most of Sheriff Mansfield’s special “election day” deputies were stationed in Athens, leaving the other precincts relatively “unguarded.” Very little disturbances arose elsewhere, and the elections were peaceful, but Athens would soon turn into a battleground.
THE WATERWORKS PRECINCT
Tom Gillespie, an old black farmer, walked into the precinct to cast his vote. “You can’t vote here,” Deputy Sheriff Windy Wise said, using a racial slur. He shoved Gillespie to the ground. Undeterred, Gillespie got back on his feet and went to vote. Deputy Wise shot Gillespie in the back. Gillespie was taken to a local hospital and, fortunately, survived his wounds.
Ed Vestal and Charles “Shy” Scott served as GI poll watchers at the Waterworks precinct. After the polls closed, the election workers began counting the votes out of public view, a blatant violation of state law. Vestal and Scott attempted to leave the precinct, but were held at gunpoint by Deputy Windy Wise. The presence of the two GI poll watchers at the precinct gave the election workers cover to claim that the votes were being counted in a legal fashion. Vestal and Scott were determined to leave.
When Daily Post-Athenian reporter J. Neal Ensminger came into the precinct to get an update on the count, Vestal and Scott used this temporary distraction to escape the precinct by jumping through the glass door onto the sidewalk on North Jackson Street. The two had their hands up as they got on their feet and joined the safety of a large crowd across the street. Deputy Wise almost snapped, waving his gun at the crowd in anger.
DIXIE CAFE PRECINCT
Located at the corner of White Street and Hornsby Street was the Dixie Café Precinct. Deputy Minus Wilburn, who was an accessory to the murder of Earl Ford in 1944, was the officer of election there, and had several deputies assisting him. Bob Harrill, a GI poll watcher, objected to Deputy Wilburn permitting people without a poll tax receipt from voting. He also objected to an underage girl voting. Wilburn beat Harrill so badly he knocked him unconscious and caused a concussion. Harrill was taken to the jail, but was later taken to the Foree Hospital, which was less than 100 yards away.
Deputy Wilburn decided to close the precinct early. A couple of deputies blocked the entrance by with two-by-fours and parked their cars on either side of Hornsby Street, between White and Church Streets, blocking access to the alleyway. Les Dooley, a GI poll watcher who lost an arm during the war, was forced at gunpoint to “watch” the count from the stockroom in the back. The deputies discussing the vote count reported that the Democratic ticket was winning by a landslide.
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AROUND THE COUNTY
NIOTA
Although most of the action on election day took place in Athens, GI supporters remained vigilant at the several other precincts across the county. In Niota, a group of 80 citizens refused to let the armed deputies serving as election workers leave the precinct until a fair count of the votes was completed.
ETOWAH
Things almost turned deadly at the Etowah Carnegie Library, which served as a precinct. Three dozen armed deputies were inside “counting the votes,” but just as many GI supporters were waiting outside, and would not let the deputies leave with the ballot boxes before they completed a fair count.
Frank Carmichael, GI candidate for trustee, defused an armed confrontation outside. Etowah policeman Roe Rucker, in charge of the precinct, told Carmichael he would kill his brother and a GI poll watcher if any shooting started. “If you kill them, everyone in the library will die,” Carmichael replied.
UNFREEDOM OF THE PRESS
Several newspaper reporters and photographers from all over East Tennessee were in town covering the election. They knew that if the GIs kept their promise, “Your Vote Will Be Counted As Cast,” violence would be inevitable. They also knew the Cantrell Machine would not give up power without a fight. Local radio was also covering the election, including Chuck Redfern, broadcasting from WLAR’s downtown studio.
J.B. Collins, a photographer for the Chattanooga News-Free Press, dared to snap a photo of Sheriff Mansfield taking the ballot boxes from a precinct. A group of deputies approached Collins, snatched his camera away from him, and destroyed the film. “You’re under arrest!” one of the deputies said to him. When Collins asked why, they said “We’ll think of something.” Collins was denied a phone call in jail, but was released a few hours later.
WHO FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE? HOW MANY?
To this day, it is still disputed exactly who fought (and did not fight) in the Battle of Athens. The number of participants is still unclear, but the best evidence indicates that about two dozen men were present on the hill across from the jail for the duration of the 6-hour shootout. Hundreds of people, many of them still alive today, remember the events on election day during daylight hours, and some people who lived close by watched or heard the Battle, but the men who won the Battle and defeated the machine is a small, distinguished group.
Bill White, who was the leader on the assault on the jail, left behind a list of all of the men who fought in the Battle. Over the years, some men who played no role at all have claimed to have participated. Others greatly exaggerated their role over the years. Astonishingly, there were some men who participated that denied ever being involved, or refused to share any of their memories.
As more than 75 years has passed since the Battle, everyone who participated in the event has passed away. We are very thankful that some of them left behind video and audio interviews, letters, memoirs, photos, and more primary sources that have helped preserve the history of this amazing event from our local history. Much gratitude is owed to the many historians, including C. Stephen Byrum, who through interviews have helped preserve the story of men who became known as “The Fighting Bunch.”
BILL WHITE
Billy Spratt “Bill” White grew up on the Little Tennessee River near Tellico Plains where he learned to fish, trap, and hunt. He even hunted wild boars with a spear. His family later moved to Athens. He dropped out of high school, and eagerly joined the U.S. Marines at age 17 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
White survived Guadalcanal and Tarawa, only to come home and see his fellow veterans and neighbors arrested for “drunkenness” and hear stories of voter suppression. He encouraged the GI Party officials to be ready to fight fire with fire on election day. He once said: “Do you think they’re gonna let you win this election?”
Enraged at the Cantrell Machine’s brutal tactics and brazen election fraud on election day, White urged several other GIs to go get all the guns they could find and meet with him. White led the assault on the jail, claiming to have fired the first shot that initiated the Battle.
After the Battle, White was interviewed by Bill Downs, who had been close by in Oak Ridge covering another story. Like many other Battle participants, he kept quiet about his role in the Battle for many years. But in 1966, he spoke out about his part in the event for the first time, and was subsequently interviewed about it many times. The video and audio interviews with White serve as some of the most valuable primary sources related to this event.
JIMMY LOCKMILLER
Jimmy Lockmiller was born in Ohio and raised in Athens in a prominent family. With the permission of his parents, he joined the U.S. Marines after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He fought at Guadalcanal where he was afflicted with malaria and given medicine that led to terrible side effects. He was honorably discharged and went on to work security for the Manhattan Project, and had no idea they were helping to build an Atomic bomb.
Lockmiller was ready to join Bill White and several other GIs to take back their county on the night after the election. He loved Hawaiian shirts, and wore one during the Battle. After a bullet blasted off a piece of the retaining wall on the side of the embankment across from the jail, Lockmiller thought he had been shot in the back. It was not until his twilight years that Lockmiller told his family about his role in the Battle.
HUTSELL, MASHBURN, and SIMMS
David Hutsell was a lifelong resident of McMinn County. He served in World War II as a U.S. Army rifleman. He appears in the only photo taken during the Battle, with a t-shirt wrapped around his head while holding his Browning rifle. He married his high school sweetheart, Lillian, shortly after the Battle.
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Ken Mashburn served in the National Guard. “Do the right thing, even if it’s not the easy thing,” he once told his daughter. He helped bring the dynamite that was used to end the Battle. He appears on the left of the only photo taken during the Battle.
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Sam Sims was from the east side of McMinn County, known as “the other side of the creek” to the locals. He served as a machinist’s mate in the U.S. Navy. He appears on the right, wearing a hat, in the only photo taken during the Battle.
EDGAR MILLER
Edgar Miller survived the Battle of the Bulge where he suffered from frostbite. He had only been home a few days before the election. Inspired by Bill White’s leadership, he went home to get some guns and met with several other GIs to prepare for action against the Cantrell Machine. During the Battle, Miller was hit in the face and chest by a buckshot and taken to the Foree Hospital.
MILLARD VINCENT
Millard Vincent, pictured above, served as a mechanic in the U.S. Army Air Corps. During the Battle, he pointed out certain streetlights for Bill White shoot out. “It was fun, in a way,” he later said. He left behind a brief oral interview sharing his memories of participating in the Battle.
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BILL GRUBB
Bill Grubb spent four months at a U.S. Navy hospital in Okinawa. He helped the GIs find a place to meet in secret to discuss their strategy to take on the Cantrell Machine in the county election. He secured the basement of the Robert E. Lee Hotel for their meeting. He brought gasoline to help make Molotov cocktails to throw at the jail. He later said of his role in the Battle: “Go through all the war and get home and get killed in your own hometown. That’d be sacrilegious in a way.”
COOLER HEADS PREVAIL
After a six-hour firefight and the use of Molotov cocktails that desrtoyed the jail’s front porch, the deputies surrendered. As they exited the jail, some of the GIs and their supporters, seeking violent retribution, began assaulting the deputies. Deputy Windy Wise was beaten until he was unconscious. An unidentified assailant slashed the throat of Deputy Minus Wilburn. The sheriff patrol cars were turned over, doused in gasoline, and set on fire. A massacre seemed inevitable.
Worried that someone would be killed, Ralph Duggan stood on top of an overturned car and admonished the enraged GIs to stop their vigilantism. Duggan knew their righteous cause would be ruined they if took their desire for revenge too far. He worried the National Guard would arrive any minute. The angry crowd listened to Duggan, and calm was restored before any loss of life.
Several of the injured Battle participants on both sides were overwhelming the Foree Hospital (located at the present site of the Old Athens Federal Bank drive-thru) seeking medical care. Bill White led a group of GIs in forcing the uninjured deputies into a humiliating march around the town square, shoving and kicking them along the way.
The GIs entered the jail only to find an awful mess. They found boxes of marked ballots spread all over the floor, and some real ballots had been flushed down the toilets. The marked ballots went for the Democratic ticket by a landslide majority. The evidence of fraud was blatant.
AN INTERIM GOVERNMENT
The GIs worried that Governor Jim McCord, who owed his position to Boss Crump, would send in the National Guard to put down the rebellion and keep the Cantrell Machine in power. According to McCord, the Guard was alerted, but never sent in. Adjunct General Hilton Butler contradicted the governor, claiming the Guard was very close to “converging” on Athens from two directions, but were pulled back once word arrived that order had been restored. Some believe the guardsmen would have joined the GIs had they arrived before the Battle ended.
With Sheriff Mansfield and many deputies having fled the county, the GIs patrolled the county over the weekend. The justices of the peace and other city and county officials were nowhere to be found. Some of them were allegedly on vacation, including Athens Mayor Paul Walker.
In a mass meeting at the courthouse on Saturday August 3, the citizens of McMinn County elected a three-man commission to govern the county over the weekend. They chose Democrat and World War I veteran Major Carl Anderson, Republican businessman J.P. Cartwright, and Rev. Bernie Hampton of Keith Memorial United Methodist Church. “We want no further stain on the names of Athens and McMinn. Our mission is to restore peace, and you may say that things are getting quiet right along,” Rev. Hampton said in a statement to the press.
THE ELECTION IS CERTIFIED
The county election commission was comprised of three men: Sheriff Pat Mansfield, State Rep. George Woods, and McMinn County Republican Party chairman Otto Kennedy. With Mansfield out of the county and preparing to resign, the commission could still certify the election with a quorum of two members.
Under GI protection, Woods returned to the county on Monday morning and joined with Kennedy to certify the election of the GI Ticket. They agreed to discard the ballot boxes that had been tampered with in the jail. A count of the unaltered ballots proved a “glorious victory” for the GI Ticket by a nearly 2 to 1 margin.
Since Sheriff Mansfield had resigned before his term expired on September 1, Governor Jim McCord requested that Knox Henry be sworn in a month early. Henry was sworn in, hired a few GIs as deputies, and began cleaning up McMinn County. He kept his campaign promise of only accepting a salary, and the fee system was abolished.
A MODEL OF REFORM
In yet another example that proves the bipartisan efforts to vote out the Cantrell Machine and implement long overdue reforms, Democrat John Peck of Etowah was elected to represent McMinn County’s district in the State House of Representatives, succeeding George Woods. J.P. Cartwright, a member of the three-man commission that governed the county over the weekend after the Battle, was elected to the State Senate as a Republican, representing McMinn, Bradley, Monroe, and Polk Counties. Due to its history of election violence, it became known as the “Bloody Seventh” Senatorial District.
During the 1947 legislative session, Peck authored a bill establishing the McMinn County Council. Although the County Court system would not be abolished across the state until the 1970s, this bill pioneered the County Council-County Manager system of government. It placed financial power exclusively in the hands of the County Council, professionalized the system, and increased accountability to the voters. Other local governments in the region drew inspiration from this new form of county government. It was developed over time into what is today the County Commission.