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Elections - Historical Notes

Tennessee Code Annotated
Tennessee Attorney General Opinions

Districts - Reapportionment

The acts listed below have affected the civil districts in Wayne County, but are no longer operative regarding elections.

  1. Acts of 1835-36, Chapter 1, provided for the appointment of five persons by the General Assembly in each county to lay off the respective counties into districts of convenient size according to population and territory. The number of districts ranged from 8 to 25 based on the population table in the Act. There would be two justices and one constable elected from each district, except districts including the county town which would have three and two, respectively.
  2. Acts of 1835-36, Resolution #3, appointed Nathaniel Biffle, James Carr, William B. Ross, William B. Curtis and George Whetton to lay off Wayne County into districts.
  3. Acts of 1835-36, Resolution #25, appointed William R. Curtis as a Commissioner to lay off Wayne County into Magistrate's and Constable's Districts. He was erroneously listed as William B. Curtis in Resolution #3.

Elections

The following is a listing of acts for Wayne County which affected the elective process, but which have been superseded or repealed.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

  1. Acts of 1819, Chapter 69, placed Wayne, Hickman, Lawrence, and Hardin Counties in one of the 20 State Senatorial Districts and Wayne and Hardin Counties would jointly elect one of the forty State Representatives.
  2. Acts of 1821, Chapter 46, put Wayne, Hardin, and Shelby Counties into one Electoral District and they will elect one Representative between them. Wayne County was placed in a State Senatorial District composed of Hickman, Lawrence, Hardin, Shelby and Madison.
  3. Acts of 1822, Chapter 1, divided Tennessee into nine U. S. Congressional Districts. The 9th District was composed of the counties of Wayne, Hardin, Perry, Lawrence, Henry, Carroll, Henderson, Madison, and Shelby.
  4. Acts of 1823, Chapter 47, provided for the election of eleven Presidential Electors. The 11th Electoral District was made up of the counties of Wayne, Hardin, Perry and all the counties west of the Tennessee River.
  5. Acts of 1824, Chapter 1, divided the State into eleven Presidential Electoral Districts, assigning Wayne, Perry, Hardin and all counties west of the Tennessee River to the 11th District, and providing that the polls be counted at Jackson in Madison County.
  6. Acts of 1826, Chapter 3, apportioned the State for representation in the General Assembly. Of the 20 Senators, Hickman, Lawrence, Wayne, Hardin, and McNairy Counties would jointly elect one. Lawrence, Wayne, and Hardin Counties would share one of the 40 State Representatives. Polls were to be counted at Waynesboro.
  7. Acts of 1827, Chapter 17, established eleven Presidential Electoral Districts in the State. The 8th Electoral District had in it the counties of Lincoln, Giles, Lawrence, Hardin, and Wayne.
  8. Acts of 1832, Chapter 4, placed the counties of Lincoln, Giles, Lawrence, Wayne and Hardin in the Tenth U. S. Congressional District, that being one of 13 fashioned in the State.
  9. Acts of 1832, Chapter 9, established 15 Presidential Electoral Districts in the State of which the Twelfth District was composed of Maury, Hickman, Perry and Wayne Counties.
  10. Acts of 1833, Chapter 71, reapportioned the State for representation in the General Assembly. Hickman, Wayne, Lawrence, Hardin, and McNairy Counties would bond together to elect one Senator, counting the polls at Waynesborough and Lawrence and Wayne Counties would elect one Representative between them.
  11. Acts of 1833, Chapter 76, provided for the election of sixty delegates to the coming State Constitutional Convention who would be elected on the first Thursday and Friday in March and meet in Nashville on the third Monday in May, 1834. Hickman, Lawrence and Wayne Counties would compose a District and elect two delegates. The returning officers would meet at Catron's Iron Works in Lawrence County.
  12. Acts of 1835-36, Chapter 39, divided the State into 15 Presidential Electoral Districts. The 12th Electoral District was composed of Maury, Hickman, Perry and Wayne Counties.
  13. Acts of 1839-40, Chapter 79, made each one of the U. S. Congressional Districts in Tennessee equal one Electoral District for the purpose of the Presidential elections. In addition to the one elector from each of the 13 congressional districts, two electors would be chosen at large.
  14. Acts of 1842 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 1, fixed 25 Senatorial Districts and 50 Representative Districts for the General Assembly of the State. Hickman, Lawrence, Wayne and Hardin Counties would jointly elect one Senator, and Wayne County would elect one Representative alone.
  15. Acts of 1842 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 7, set up eleven U. S. Congressional Districts in Tennessee. The 6th District was composed of the counties of Hickman, Maury, Giles, Lawrence, Wayne, and Hardin.
  16. Acts of 1851-52, Chapter 196, created ten U. S. Congressional Districts in the State. The 7th District contained the counties of Giles, Lawrence, Wayne, Hardin, McNairy, Perry, Decatur, Benton, Humphreys, Hickman, and Lewis.
  17. Acts of 1851-52, Chapter 197, reapportioned the State for the General Assembly. Wayne County would elect one Representative alone, and be part of a Senatorial District with Lawrence and Giles Counties.
  18. Acts of 1865, Chapter 34, established eight U. S. Congressional Districts in Tennessee in the immediate post Civil War period. The Sixth District had in it the counties of Lawrence, Wayne, Hardin, Decatur, Perry, Lewis, Maury, Hickman, Humphreys, Dickson, Montgomery, and Stewart.
  19. Acts of 1871, Chapter 146, set up the apportionment of the State for the General Assembly according to the 1870 Federal Census. Lawrence and Wayne Counties would share a Representative between them and the 15th State Senatorial District was made up of the counties of Giles, Lawrence, Wayne and Lewis.
  20. Acts of 1872 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 7, apportioned the State into nine U. S. Congressional Districts of which the 6th District contained the counties of Williamson, Maury, Giles, Lawrence, Wayne, Lewis, Hickman, and Dickson.
  21. Acts of 1873, Chapter 27, set up ten U. S. Congressional Districts in the State. The 7th District was composed of the counties of Wayne, Lawrence, Giles, Lewis, Maury, Hickman and Williamson.
  22. Acts of 1881 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 5, fixed the membership in the General Assembly at 33 Senators and 99 Representatives.
  23. Acts of 1881 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 6, apportioned the State for the General Assembly according to Acts of 1881 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 5, and according to the populations statistics of the 1880 Federal Census. Wayne and Lawrence Counties would share a Representative and join Perry and Hardin Counties as members of the 23rd Senatorial District.
  24. Acts of 1882 (2nd Ex. Sess.), Chapter 27, divided Tennessee into ten U. S. Congressional Districts. The Seventh District contained the counties of Williamson, Maury, Giles, Lawrence, Wayne, Lewis, Hickman and Dickson.
  25. Acts of 1891 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 10, redistricted Tennessee for representation in the General Assembly. The 22nd Senatorial District comprised the counties of Giles, Lawrence, and Wayne. Humphreys, Perry and Wayne Counties would share a Representative as the 15th District.
  26. Acts of 1901, Chapter 109, delineated ten U. S. Congressional Districts. The 7th U. S. District was made up of the counties of Houston, Humphreys, Dickson, Hickman, Williamson, Lewis, Maury, Giles, Lawrence and Wayne.
  27. Acts of 1901, Chapter 122, reapportioned the General Assembly of the State. Giles, Lawrence and Wayne Counties composed the 22nd State Senatorial District. Giles, Lawrence, Lewis, and Wayne would jointly elect one Representative in the 17th District.
  28. Acts of 1905, Chapter 323, created voting precincts in the town of Ashland in the Sixth Civil District and in the town of Flatwoods in the Third Civil District of Wayne County. The officers holding the elections in these two new precincts shall demand and receive the same compensation for doing so as other officers of elections. These precincts shall remain as they are now constituted until changed by the General Assembly.
  29. Private Acts of 1977, Chapter 36, provided for run-off elections for county officers in Wayne County. This Act did not receive local approval and never became operative.