Postwar Activities
Following the war, Baxter helped ex-Confederates in Knoxville prepare pardon applications. At the same time, however, he led a movement to purge ex-Confederate members of East Tennessee University's Board of Trustees.
In the late 1860s, a feud erupted between Baxter and mercurial Knoxville businessman Joseph Mabry. Mabry had been president of the bankrupt Knoxville and Kentucky Railroad, which had been issued millions of dollars in state bonds. In July 1869, Baxter sued Mabry, charging him with looting the company. Mabry likewise accused Baxter of committing fraud in his dealings with the Mineral Home Railroad. The two viciously attacked one another in newspaper columns in early 1870, and sued one another for libel. Finally, on June 13, 1870, Mabry shot Baxter in front of the Lamar House Hotel in downtown Knoxville. Though armed, Baxter ran away. Mabry was arrested, but Baxter did not press charges.
In January 1870, Baxter was elected Knox County's delegate to the convention which created the current Tennessee State Constitution. At the convention, Baxter was appointed Chairman of both the Bill of Rights Committee and Impeachments Committee, and served on the Permanent Rules Committee, the Common Schools Committee, and the Judiciary Committee. The Bill of Rights Committee drafted Article I ("Declaration of Rights") of the constitution. Baxter introduced the amendment establishing a poll tax.
In 1872, Baxter supported the Liberal Republican Party. He had aligned himself with the main Republican Party by 1876, however, when he supported Rutherford B. Hayes for president.
Read more about this topic: John Baxter (North Carolina Politician)
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