Elections - Historical Notes

The following is a listing of acts for Sequatchie County which affected the elective process, but which have been superseded or repealed. They are listed here for historical and reference purposes.

1. Private Acts of 1857-58, Chapter 142, Section 3, stated that, if the Chancery Court of Bledsoe County should dismiss the Bill for an injunction filed against the commissioners of Sequatchie County to prevent the establishment of the said county, and there was no appeal from the said dismissal, then it would be the duty of the Chancellor to open and hold an election in Sequatchie County to elect the various county officers as were prescribed in the act which created and organized the county.
2. Public Acts of 1865, Chapter 34, divided Tennessee into eight U. S. Congressional Districts at the close of the Civil War. The Third Congressional District was composed of the Counties of Meigs, Rhea, Hamilton, Marion, Grundy, Bledsoe, Van Buren, Sequatchie, Warren, White, Smith, Cumberland, Putnam, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Dekalb and Fentress.
3. Public Acts of 1871, Chapter 146, enacted subsequent to the adoption of the 1870 Tennessee Constitution and which apportioned the State according to the 1870 Federal Census, formed one Representative District from the counties of Sequatchie, Marion, Bledsoe, Hamilton, Grundy, and Van Buren. The Seventh State Senatorial District was composed of the counties of Rhea, James, Hamilton, Bledsoe, Sequatchie, Marion, Grundy, and Van Buren.
4. Acts of 1872, Chapter 7, created nine U. S. Congressional Districts which were also based on the 1870 census. The Third Congressional District was made up of the counties of Blount, Loudon, Roane, Monroe, McMinn, Meigs, Rhea, Polk, Bradley, James, Hamilton, Marion, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Grundy, Van Buren, and Warren.
5. Public Acts of 1873, Chapter 23, added a tenth U. S. Congressional District to the State rearranging the county grouping in some areas. The Third District contained the counties of Polk, McMinn, Meigs, Rhea, Bradley, James, Hamilton, Marion, Grundy, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Van Buren, White, Warren, Dekalb, Cannon, and Cumberland.
6. Public Acts of 1881 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 5, permanently established the number of Senators in the General Assembly at 33 and the Representatives at 99.
7. Public Acts of 1881 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 6, pursuant to the requirements of Chapter 5 above, provided that the counties of Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Van Buren, and Cumberland would jointly elect one Representative to the General Assembly while the counties of Grundy, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Van Buren, Rhea, Cumberland, Morgan, and White would share a State Senator.
8. Public Acts of 1882 (2nd Ex. Sess.), Chapter 27, apportioned the Representatives of Tennessee in the U.S. Congress. The Third Congressional District included the counties of Monroe, Polk, Bradley, Hamilton, James, McMinn, Bledsoe, Sequatchie, Marion, Grundy, Van Buren, White, and Warren.
9. Public Acts of 1883, Chapter 237, amended Chapter 27, Acts of 1882, above, to add Meigs County to the Third Congressional District in Tennessee.
10. Public Acts of 1891, Chapter 131, divided Tennessee into Ten U. S. Congressional Districts according to the 1890 Federal Census, Sequatchie County was not mentioned in this Act but a good guess is that the county remained in the Third U. S. Congressional District with no change in the counties enumerated.
11. Acts of 1891 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 1, amended Chapter 131, Acts of 1891, so as to assign Sequatchie County to the Third Congressional District to rectify the omission occurring in Act above.
12. Acts of 1891 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 10, reapportioned the Tennessee General Assembly. The counties of Grundy, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Van Buren, and Cumberland constituted one Representative District and the counties of Rhea, Bledsoe, White, Cumberland, Sequatchie, Van Buren, and Morgan composed the Ninth State Senatorial District.
13. Public Acts of 1901, Chapter 109, organized the State into ten U. S. Congressional Districts. The Third District contained the Counties of Monroe, Polk, McMinn, Meigs, Bradley, James, Hamilton, Marion, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Van Buren, Grundy, White, Warren, and Franklin.
14. Public Acts of 1901, Chapter 122, apportioned the General Assembly of the State for the last time until more than sixty years had passed. The Ninth State Senatorial District comprised the counties of Rhea, Meigs, Bledsoe, Sequatchie, Van Buren, White, and Cumberland. Cumberland, Bledsoe, Sequatchie, Van Buren and Grundy counties would join together to share one State Representative.