John Baxter (North Carolina Politician) - Early Life

Early Life

Baxter was born in Rutherford County, North Carolina, the son of William and Catherine (Lee) Baxter. His father, William, was described as a "thrifty and wealthy" farmer who had immigrated from Northern Ireland in 1789. Young John initially worked as a merchant in South Carolina, but found it unfulfilling, and turned to the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1841, initially practicing in Rutherford County before moving to Henderson County, North Carolina, in 1845.

Baxter aligned himself politically with the burgeoning Whig Party. In 1844, he was an elector for presidential candidate Henry Clay. His political activities included ten years of service as a member of the North Carolina State Legislature, spread across three separate periods. The first was from 1842 to 1843, representing Rutherford County, then from 1846 to 1848, and finally from 1852 to 1857, representing Henderson County. He served as Speaker for the 1852 session.

By the end of his final term in the legislature, Baxter began seeking greater opportunities than Western North Carolina afforded. On the advice of fellow attorney and Whig, Oliver Perry Temple, Baxter relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee, which lay across the Great Smoky Mountains to the west. Temple later recalled that Baxter's first argument before a Knoxville court was "so clear and strong that it marked him at once as one of the leaders of the Knoxville bar."

In describing Baxter's courtroom style, Temple stated that he quickly seized upon the key facts of the case, ignoring minor or insignificant points. He only showed deference to precedent if it sustained his case. Temple wrote that while Baxter was not very well-read, he nevertheless possessed a "massive" intellect which was "astute and logical." By the outbreak of the Civil War, Baxter's earnings from his law practice had made him one of the wealthiest men in Knoxville.