ARNOLD, Thomas Dickens (1798-1870)
Whig of Tennessee 
1st congressional district
Served in House 1831-1833 , 1841-1843
Biography
Representative from Tennessee; born in Spotsylvania County, Va., May 3, 1798;moved with his parents to Knox County, Tenn., in 1808; was tutored privately; at the age of fourteenenlisted as a drummer boy in the War of 1812; taught school in Knox and Grainger Counties; studiedlaw; was admitted to the bar in 1820 and commenced practice in Knoxville, Tenn.; elected as anAnti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-second Congress (March 4, 1831-March 3, 1833); an attempt wasmade by Morgan A. Heard to assassinate him on May 14, 1832, as he descended the west steps of theCapitol; was made brigadier general of the Tennessee Militia in 1836; moved to Greeneville, Tenn.;elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1841-March 3, 1843); chairman,Committee on Claims (Twenty-seventh Congress); was not a candidate for reelection to theTwenty-eighth Congress; resumed the practice of law in Greeneville; died while attending court inJonesboro, Washington County, Tenn., May 26, 1870; interment in Oak Grove Cemetery,Greeneville, Tenn.Courtesy of Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
