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Elections - Historical Notes

Tennessee Code Annotated
Tennessee Attorney General Opinions

The following is a listing of acts for Cannon County which affected the elective process, but which have been superseded or repealed.  They are listed here for historical and reference purposes.  Also referenced below are acts which repeal prior law without providing new substantive provisions.

  1. Acts of 1839-40, Chapter 79, made each one of the U. S. congressional Districts into an Electoral District for the election of the President and Vice-President of the United States, and established all the details for holding the first election thereunder.
  2. Acts of 1842, Chapter 1, apportioned the state for the General  Assembly into 25 Senatorial districts.  The 10th Senatorial District contained Warren, DeKalb, Cannon, and Coffee Counties, and of the 50 State Representatives, Cannon County would elect one alone.
  3. Acts of 1842, Chapter 7, divided Tennessee into eleven U. S. Congressional Districts.  Wilson, Rutherford, Cannon, and Williamson Counties were in the Seventh Congressional District.
  4. Acts of 1851-52, Chapter 196, delineated the U. S. Congressional Districts for the State.  The Counties of Sumner, Rutherford, Cannon, Wilson, and Williamson were grouped together in the Fifth U. S. Congressional District.
  5. Acts of 1851-52, Chapter 197, reapportioned the State for the General Assembly. Cannon County would continue to elect one Representative alone and would share a State Senator with Warren, Coffee, Grundy, and Van Buren Counties.
  6. Acts of 1865, Chapter 34, was the first post Civil War apportionment, giving Tennessee eight U. S. Congressional Districts, assigning the Counties of Bedford, Rutherford, Cannon, Coffee, Franklin, Lincoln, Marshall, and Giles to the Fourth U.S. Congressional District.
  7. Acts of 1871, Chapter 146, reapportioned the State, probably based on the 1870 Census.  Coffee and Cannon Counties would elect one State Representative jointly while Warren, Coffee, DeKalb, and Cannon Counties constituted one Senatorial District.
  8. Acts of 1872, Chapter 7, organized the State into nine U.S. Congressional Districts.  The Fourth District under this Act was composed of the Counties of Franklin, Lincoln, Marshall, Bedford, Coffee, Cannon, and Rutherford.
  9. Acts of 1873, Chapter 27, reorganized Tennessee into ten U.S. Congressional Districts assigning the Third U. S. Congressional District the Counties of Polk, McMinn, Meigs, Rhea, Bradley, James, Hamilton, Marion, Grundy, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Van Buren, White, Warren, DeKalb, Cannon, and Cumberland.
  10. Acts of 1881, Chapter 5, fixed the number of State Senators in the General Assembly at 33, and the Representatives at 99.
  11. Acts of 1881 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 6, apportioned the State according to the terms of the 1881 Act above. Cannon, Warren, DeKalb, and Putnam Counties made up the 10th State Senatorial District while Cannon was given one Representative.
  12. Acts of 1882, Chapter 27, divided the State into ten U. S. Congressional Districts.  The Fifth District contained the Counties of Cannon, Coffee, Franklin, Lincoln, Moore, Marshall, Bedford, and Rutherford.
  13. Acts of 1883, Chapter 237, specified in Section One that Chapter 27, Acts of 1882, above, is amended so that Monroe, Polk, Bradley, Hamilton, Meigs, Rhea, Cumberland, James, McMinn, Bledsoe, Sequatchie, Marion, Grundy, Van Buren, White, and Warren Counties shall compose the Third U. S. Congressional Districts.
  14. Acts of 1889, Chapter 196, amended Chapter 27, Acts of 1882, Item 12, above, by detaching Cannon County from the 5th U.S. Congressional District and attaching it to the Third U.S. District.  The Act also moved Cumberland and Rhea Counties from the Third to the Fourth District, and Marion County from the Third to the Fifth District.
  15. Acts of 1891 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 10, apportioned Tennessee for the General Assembly according to the 1890 Census.  Rutherford and Cannon Counties would share a State Representative while the Counties of Rutherford, DeKalb, and Cannon made up the 12th Senatorial District.
  16. Acts of 1901, Chapter 109, divided Tennessee into ten U.S. Congressional Districts assigning DeKalb, Cannon, Rutherford, Marshall, Bedford, Coffee, Moore, and Lincoln Counties to the 5th District.
  17. Acts of 1901, Chapter 122, apportioned the State for the General Assembly for the last time until the decision in the Baker v. Carr case compelled the Legislature to comply. The 12th State Senatorial District had Rutherford, Cannon, and DeKalb Counties in it while Cannon County would enjoy a Representative alone.
  18. Acts of 1907, Chapter 404, created six Civil Districts in  Cannon County instead of the 15 then existing. The six Civil Districts were composed of the fifteen smaller Districts.  The Districts would remain as they were thus described until changed by the Legislature.  The election precincts were to remain as they were then organized.  This Act was repealed by the one following.
  19. Acts of 1909, Chapter 5, repealed expressly Chapter 404, Private Acts of 1907, above, and restored the fifteen Civil Districts of Cannon County as they existed before the passage of that Act reducing the number to six. They would continue to be known by their old numbers.