Ray Jenkins
Encyclopedia
Ray Howard Jenkins was an American lawyer, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

, and the surrounding region, throughout much of the 20th century. He is best known for his role as special counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations during the 1954 Army-McCarthy Hearings
Army-McCarthy Hearings
The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations between April 1954 and June 1954. The hearings were held for the purpose of investigating conflicting accusations between the United States Army and Senator Joseph McCarthy...

, earning broad praise for his aggressive questioning of the hearings' two complainants, Senator Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...

 and Secretary of the Army Robert Stevens
Robert Ten Broeck Stevens
Robert Ten Broeck Stevens was a U.S. businessman and former chairman of J.P. Stevens and Company, which was one of the most established textile manufacturing plants in the U.S...

. Jenkins appeared on the cover of Time at the height of the hearings on May 17, 1954.

In a career that spanned nearly six decades, Jenkins defended over 600 accused murderers, and never lost a client to the death penalty. At the time of the Army-McCarthy Hearings, he was described as "the best trial lawyer in East Tennessee." Jenkins' courtroom style, which often involved ruthlessly assailing the character of his clients' accusers, earned him the nickname, "The Terror of Tellico Plains."

Early life

Jenkins was born in Unaka, North Carolina (in Cherokee County
Cherokee County, North Carolina
- Transportation :Cherokee County is well known in North Carolina as the westernmost of the state's 100 counties. Several US and state highways serve the county, linking it with other regions of North Carolina, along with the neighboring states of Georgia and Tennessee.US 64 - the longest highway...

), the second child of Columbus Sheridan "Lum" Jenkins, a physician, and Amanda Nicholson. When Jenkins was still young, the family moved across the mountains to Monroe County, Tennessee, initially settling in the Rural Vale community, but moving to Tellico Plains
Tellico Plains, Tennessee
Tellico Plains is a town in Monroe County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 859 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tellico Plains is located at ....

 within a few years. Lum Jenkins worked as a doctor for the Babcock Lumber Company
Babcock Lumber Company
The Babcock Lumber Company was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1887 and conducted logging operations in the eastern United States. In 1951 the company diversified into building material distribution...

, and served as the first mayor of Tellico Plains.

At the age of 13, Ray Jenkins enrolled in the preparatory department at Maryville College
Maryville College
Maryville College is a private four-year liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee, near Knoxville. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment into the West. The College is one of the fifty oldest colleges in the...

, but moved back home upon the opening of Tellico Plains High School, from which he eventually graduated. In 1916, he enlisted in Company M of the U.S. Army's 117th Infantry, which was part of the force tasked with capturing Mexican outlaw Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....

. While stationed in Texas, Jenkins was court-martialed for his role in the killing of a fellow soldier, but successfully defended himself by pointing out that the dead soldier had attacked or threatened others in the company. He later wrote that this experience taught him a lesson he would remember throughout his legal career: "When a bully has been killed, prove enough on him and paint him so mean that the jury will want to dig him up and kill him again."

After returning home, Jenkins enrolled in the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...

, but upon the U.S. entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, he again enlisted, this time in the Navy, and was stationed in San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

 for the duration of the war. After the war, he returned to U.T., where obtained his law degree in 1920. In 1919, a year before his graduation, he passed the bar exam.

Early legal career

Jenkins initially worked in the law office of aging Knoxville attorney Alvin Johnson. He mostly argued justice of the peace cases late at night in McAnnally Flats and other run-down parts of Knoxville. He also worked as a debt collector for the Haynes-Henson Shoe Company, later writing that he hunted down debtors across the region and "pleaded, cajoled, bullied and threatened" them until they paid.

In 1922, Jenkins started his own practice. One of his first major cases came when he defended Jim Brookshire, a Tellico Plains moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...

r accused of killing his wife. While Brookshire was convicted, he avoided the death penalty, to the outrage of the locals. In 1927, Jenkins formed a partnership with Erby Jenkins (no relation). Erby's younger brother, Aubrey, joined the firm in 1940.

In 1938, Jenkins defended Knoxville bail bondsman Ed McNew in a high-profile case in which McNew was accused of shooting at a photographer trying to take his picture. The evidence against McNew was overwhelming, and included a photograph of him in the act of firing a pistol right at the photographer (the photograph was published in Life magazine). In court, Jenkins accused the photographer of harassing and goading McNew, and even had McNew, who had fallen ill, wheeled in on a stretcher to testify. McNew was eventually acquitted of attempted murder, but convicted of lesser charges and fined.

In 1947, Jenkins defended Burkett Ivins, a revenue agent who had been accused of killing a man in Etowah, Tennessee
Etowah, Tennessee
Etowah is a city in McMinn County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,663 at the 2000 census.-History:Etowah was founded in 1906, primarily as a location for a depot on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad line as part of a more direct route between Atlanta, Georgia and Cincinnati, Ohio...

. The case was argued before Judge Sue K. Hicks
Sue K. Hicks
Sue Kerr Hicks was an American jurist who practiced law and served as a circuit court judge in the state of Tennessee. He is best known for his role as a co-instigator and prosecutor in the 1925 trial of John T. Scopes, a Dayton, Tennessee teacher accused of teaching the Theory of Evolution in...

, who at one point gave Jenkins a "stern lecture" in front of the packed courtroom for showing up late. During jury selection, Jenkins continuously passed on prospective jurors as Ivins suspected they had personal grievances against him (he was rumored to have killed a number of area moonshiners). The highly-charged and hard-fought trial eventually ended in a hung jury. Ivins was killed by a car bomb before the second trial began.

Army-McCarthy Hearings

In the Spring of 1954, at the height of the Second Red Scare, the Senate conducted hearings to investigate conflicting accusations involving the Army and Senator Joseph McCarthy. Secretary of the Army Robert Stevens alleged that McCarthy had sought preferential treatment for his former aide, David Schine
G. David Schine
Gerard David Schine, better known as G. David Schine or David Schine, was the wealthy heir to a hotel chain fortune who received national attention when he became a central figure in the Army-McCarthy Hearings of 1954 in his role as the chief consultant to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on...

, whereas McCarthy counter-charged that the accusations were made in retaliation for McCarthy's allegations that Communists had infiltrated the Army.

The Senate Subcommittee on Investigations initially retained Boston lawyer Samuel Sears as counsel, but Sears resigned when questions arose regarding his impartiality. After an exhaustive search, the committee chose Jenkins as counsel, based in part on a recommendation by Congressman Howard Baker, Sr.
Howard Baker, Sr.
Howard Henry Baker, Sr. was a United States Representative from Tennessee. He was a member of the Republican Party.-Biography:Baker was born in Somerset, Kentucky in 1902 to James F...

, a former classmate of Jenkins. The committee's minority (Democratic) party members retained as counsel Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...

. The committee was chaired by Senator Karl Mundt, whom Jenkins would later describe as a "slave driver" who would call all hours of the night.

Jenkins' role in the hearings required him to both question and cross-examine witnesses, as though he was both defense attorney and prosecutor. This role particularly caught Stevens (the first to be examined) off guard. His initial questioning of Stevens was congenial, provoking constant laughter from the chamber. Then, as McCarthy biographer Lately Thomas explained, "the big, rangy Tennessean, with unruly hair and underslung jaw, changed his manner as he bore down on the well-meaning but ineffective Army head." His suddenly aggressive cross-examination prompted numerous objections from Stevens' counsel, Joseph Welch, and numerous interruptions from McCarthy.

At the end of the hearings, Mundt tasked Jenkins with condensing the hearings' 72-volume transcript for the committee to form its report. In his memoirs, Jenkins blasted the committee's final report, which all but cleared McCarthy and criticized (but excused) the actions of Stevens, calling it a "whitewash" in regard to the former and "doubletalk" in regard to the latter. Jenkins thought the hearings clearly showed that both figures had committed "impugnable acts."

The committee's minority party report, prepared by Kennedy, condemned the actions of both McCarthy and Stevens. Jenkins endorsed this report, stating in his memoirs he would have "voted for that verdict wholeheartedly." He also praised Kennedy as a person, calling him "a man of impeccable character, above everything low or venal."

Later legal career

In 1954, shortly after the Army-McCarthy Hearings, Jenkins joined the team to defend Clarice Kidd Shoemaker, a Campbell County
Campbell County, Tennessee
Campbell County is a U.S. county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 40,716. Its county seat is Jacksboro. The Census Bureau has identified the county as a Micropolitan Statistical Area, designated the LaFollette Micropolitan Statistical Area for the largest...

 woman accused of killing her husband in a jealous rage. The prosecutor was future senator Howard Baker, Jr., who according Jenkins, "presented brilliantly" the case against Shoemaker. Jenkins grilled the dead man's mistress on the stand, read aloud to the jury a passionate letter she had written him, and painted her as a ruthless homewrecker. Following Shoemaker's tearful testimony, she was promptly acquitted.

In 1957, Jenkins again took part in a nationally-publicized trial when he joined the defense team of Colonel John C. Nickerson, an Army officer court-martialed for leaking classified information. Nickerson had been part of a team tasked with developing an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...

, and had leaked information about the team's progress after the Defense Department cancelled the Army's involvement in the project. The Army eventually dropped the most serious charges when the defense team requested access to classified documents, and Nickerson was convicted of only minor offenses.

In 1961, Jenkins helped defend eccentric Knoxville businessman and politician Cas Walker
Cas Walker
Orton Caswell Walker , better known as Cas Walker, was a Tennessee businessman, politician, and personality on television and radio. Walker founded a successful chain of small grocery stores that grew to include several dozen stores scattered throughout the Knoxville, Tennessee vicinity as well as...

, who had been accused of tax evasion. Jenkins carefully selected a jury of "the common people," from whom Walker had long drawn undying support. The federal prosecutors relied heavily on numerical data in presenting their case, while the defense portrayed Walker as the victim of an overly-aggressive investigation, and called a string of witnesses to vouch for Walker's honesty. Walker was acquitted.

In 1962, Jenkins helped defend June Newberry, a Lenoir City
Lenoir City, Tennessee
Lenoir City is a city in Loudon County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 8,642 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area....

 woman accused of murdering Ann Gowder, the mistress of her husband, Raymond. The defense claimed Newberry was temporarily insane, having been provoked by taunting from Gowder. Throughout the trial, Jenkins ruthlessly assailed Raymond Newberry (who refused to attend the hearings) as the true culprit, most notably in his dramatic closing argument, when he intermittently shouted, "Where are you, Raymond?" Jenkins published this closing argument in its entirety in his 1979 memoir. Newberry was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, and given a light sentence.

Other endeavors

In 1939, Jenkins ran for the 2nd District congressional seat, which was vacant following the death of Congressman J. Will Taylor
J. Will Taylor
James Willis Taylor was a U.S. Representative from Tennessee.Born near Lead Mine Bend in Union County, Tennessee, Taylor attended the public schools, Holbrook Normal College, Fountain City, Tennessee, and the American Temperance University, Harriman, Tennessee.He taught school for several years.He...

, but lost in the Republican primary to John Jennings. He also worked as a campaign manager for Senator Howard Baker, Sr.
Howard Baker, Sr.
Howard Henry Baker, Sr. was a United States Representative from Tennessee. He was a member of the Republican Party.-Biography:Baker was born in Somerset, Kentucky in 1902 to James F...

, and gubernatorial candidate Arthur Bruce. In 1954, following the Army-McCarthy Hearings, Tennessee Republicans attempted to recruit Jenkins to run against Democratic Senator (and fellow Monroe Countian) Estes Kefauver
Estes Kefauver
Carey Estes Kefauver July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S...

, but Jenkins refused.

Jenkins praised the Warren Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...

(1954), calling the decision "courageous" and likening it to a second Emancipation Proclamation. In 1956, Clinton High School (just north of Knoxville) admitted 12 African American students in compliance with Brown, leading to rampant violence by segregationists in subsequent months. Jenkins was asked to get involved on behalf of several pro-segregation activists, but he refused, stating in an interview that all Americans had a right to an education, "regardless of race, creed, or color."

In the late 1960s and 1970s, Jenkins advocated the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...

's Tellico Dam
Tellico Dam
Tellico Dam is a dam built by the Tennessee Valley Authority in Loudon County, Tennessee on the Little Tennessee River just above the main stem of the Tennessee River. It impounds the Tellico Reservoir....

 project, which affected a significant portion of his native Monroe County. He spoke in favor of the dam before the Senate Appropriations Committee in 1965, and blasted environmentalists who stalled the project with the snail-darter controversy in 1975. In his memoir, he stated, "the snail darter is good for exactly nothing."

In 1960, Jenkins sold his Sequoyah Hills
Sequoyah Hills, Tennessee
Sequoyah Hills is a neighborhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, located off Kingston Pike between the city's downtown area and West Knoxville. Initially developed in the 1920s, Sequoyah Hills was one of Knoxville's first suburbs, and today is home to some of the city's most affluent residents...

 house, which had been built by his in-laws, the Nash family, to the University of Tennessee for use as a manse
Manse
A manse is a house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or United Church...

 for the school's presidents. The house still stands on Cherokee Boulevard, though the university has since sold it.

Jenkins' memoir, entitled, The Terror of Tellico Plains, was published by the East Tennessee Historical Society
East Tennessee Historical Society
The East Tennessee Historical Society , headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of East Tennessee history, the preservation of historically significant artifacts, and educating the citizens of Tennessee...

in 1979.

External links

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