Photocopies of Telegram from John S. Wilkes to Florence A. Wilkes; and Telegram from D.L. Snodgrass to John S. Wilkes, April 18, 1894

John Summerfield Wilkes was born March 2, 1841 in Culleoka, Maury County, Tennessee and died, at the age of 67, in Pulaski, Tennessee on February 2, 1908. He attended Alabama Western University in Florence and studied law under a private teacher in Nashville until the Civil War began. During the war, he served as a captain in the Third Tennessee Regiment, Confederate Army, and as Adjutant General on the staff of General John C. Brown. Wilkes married Florence A. Barker on June 20, 1865 and soon after the war entered into the practice of law. One of his law partners was his former commander, John C. Brown and, upon Brown's election as governor, Wilkes again served him in the capacity of Adjutant General. In 1892 Wilkes was appointed Supreme Court Judge of Tennessee to finish out the unexpired term of Judge Peter Turney, who was elected governor of the state. Judge Wilkes served on the bench from 1892 to 1908, being re-elected several times. He had an excellent reputation for fairness with his constituency, and was noted for his sense of humor, being called “The Humorist of the American Bench.”

Memorabilia Purchased in Memory of Judge John S. Wilkes