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Elections - Historical Notes

Tennessee Code Annotated
Tennessee Attorney General Opinions

Districts - Reapportionment

The acts listed below have affected the civil districts in Giles County, but are no longer operative regarding elections.

  1. Private Acts of 1923, Chapter 559, altered the boundary line between the Second and Third Civil Districts of Giles County by including all the lands of A. W. Griffen and I. C. Griffen in the Third District and removing them from the second.
  2. Private Acts of 1939, Chapter 254, created two new voting precincts in the Seventh Civil District within the corporate limits of Pulaski to be known as the City Hall Box and the Courthouse Box.  A line between the two is described in the act by metes and bounds and the provision was made that all who lived south of this line would vote at the City Hall Box and all those living north of the said line would vote at the Courthouse Box.

Elections

The following is a listing of acts for Giles County which affected the elective process, but which have been superseded or repealed.  They are listed here for historical and reference purposes.

  1. Private Acts of 1812 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 27, divided the State into six U.S. Congressional Districts.  The 6th was composed of Robertson, Montgomery, Dickson, Humphreys, Hickman, Stewart, Maury and Giles Counties.
  2. Private Acts of 1812 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 59, established twenty state senatorial districts with Giles and Lincoln Counties composing the 11th.  The polls were to be at Fayetteville and Pulaski alternately, starting at Fayetteville.
  3. Private Acts of 1813, Chapter 129, directed the Sheriff of Giles County to hold three separate elections on constitutional days at the homes of Martin Lane, John Dicky and William Phillips for Governor, President, Vice President, Members of Congress and the General Assembly.
  4. Private Acts of 1817, Chapter 19, changed the polling place from the residence of William Phillips to some place in the upper town of Elkton.
  5. Private Acts of 1819, Chapter 69, also organized 20 state senatorial districts with Giles and Lincoln Counties electing one.  Giles would elect one representative to the General Assembly.
  6. Private Acts of 1820 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 63, required the sheriff of Giles County to hold an election on the third Saturday in August, 1820 to elect seven Aldermen for Pulaski and to repeal the law requiring the balance of the money from the sale of lots in Pulaski to be paid to the County Commissioners, and, instead, directed it to be paid to the Mayor and Aldermen of the city.
  7. Private Acts of 1822 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 1, separated the state into nine U.S. Congressional Districts with Bedford, Giles, Maury and Lincoln composing the 6th District.
  8. Private Acts of 1826 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 3, apportions the state into twenty senatorial districts.  Lincoln and Giles composed the 10th District.  Out of 40 representatives in the General Assembly, Giles would elect one.
  9. Private Acts of 1832 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 4, out of the 13 U.S. Congressional Districts into which Tennessee was divided, Lincoln, Giles, Lawrence, Wayne and Hardin constituted the Tenth.
  10. Private Acts of 1833, Chapter 71, assigned Giles and Lincoln Counties to the 11th State Senatorial District and Giles would still elect one Representative to the General Assembly.  Returning officers would meet at the home of John Kennedy in Giles.
  11. Private Acts of 1842 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 1, placed Giles and Maury Counties in the 17th State Senatorial District.  The state now had 25 Senatorial Districts instead of 20.  Giles was given one Representative to the General Assembly and shared one with Lincoln County.  Polls were to be turned in at Major Smith's home in Lincoln County.  Chapter 7, same year, placed Giles in the 6th U.S. Congressional District with Hickman, Maury, Lawrence, Wayne and Hardin.
  12. Private Acts of 1861, Chapter 48, divided the state into 25 Senatorial Districts.  Giles, Maury and Lewis Counties were in the 15th.  Giles elected one Representative and joined Bedford and Lincoln Counties in choosing a floater.
  13. Private Acts of 1865, Chapter 34, apportioned Tennessee into 8 U.S. Congressional Districts.  Rutherford, Cannon, Coffee, Franklin, Lincoln, Bedford, Marshall and Giles were in the 4th District.  This apportionment after the Civil War reflects the decline in population in Tennessee due in all probability to a high casualty rate.
  14. Private Acts of 1872 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 7, added a Congressional District to the 8 former ones and reassigned some counties.  Williamson, Maury, Giles, Lawrence, Wayne, Lewis, Hickman and Dickson Counties were all in the 6th District.
  15. Private Acts of 1873, Chapter 27, changed the U.S. Congressional Districts according to the 1870 census.  Wayne, Lawrence, Giles, Lewis, Maury, Hickman and Williamson constituted the 7th District.
  16. Private Acts of 1891, Chapter 131, added Dickson County to the counties in Item 15 above and made them the 7th U.S. Congressional District to conform to the 1890 census.  The remainder of the apportionment statutes are in the Tennessee Code.