Felix Grundy (September 11, 1777 – December 19, 1840) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 13th United States Attorney General. He also had served several terms as a congressman and as a U.S. senator from Tennessee. He was known for his success as a criminal lawyer who attracted crowds when he served on the defense.
On December 10, 1806, he was commissioned an associate justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals.[1] Grundy was elevated to Chief Justice of the court on April 11, 1807.[1]
Later that year, he resigned and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he again took up the practice of law.[1] Grundy was opposed to the rising Kentucky politician (and later founder of the Whig Party), Henry Clay, whose Bluegrass interests clashed with Grundy's. The former chief justice left Kentucky in part because of Clay's growing presence in the state.[2] In addition, Nashville was growing rapidly as the chief city in the Middle District of Tennessee. While soon renowned as a criminal lawyer in Tennessee, Grundy maintained his political ambition.[3]
Grundy was appointed as Attorney General of the United States by President Martin Van Buren in July 1838. He resigned the post in December 1839, having been elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate on November 19, 1839, to fill the vacancy in the term commencing March 4, 1839, caused by the resignation of Ephraim Foster.
He resolved the question of whether he was eligible to be elected as Senator while holding the office of Attorney General by resigning on December 14, 1839. He was reelected by the Tennessee legislature to the Senate the same day, serving from December 14, 1839, until his death in Nashville, a little over a year later. During this stint in the US Senate, Grundy served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Revolutionary Claims in the 26th Congress.
Both Grundy Center, Iowa, and its location of Grundy County, Iowa are also named in his honor. Grundy Center's annual festival, called "Felix Grundy Days", are held each July. This marks the start to the annual Grundy County Fair, located in Grundy Center.
Legacy
Grundy was a mentor to future PresidentJames K. Polk. Polk purchased Grundy's home in Nashville called "Grundy Place" and changed the name to "Polk Place". He lived and died there after his presidency. It was demolished in 1901.
Further reading
Baylor, Orville W. (April 1942). "Felix Grundy, 1777-1840". Filson Club History Quarterly. 16 (2). Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
Heller III, J. Roderick (2010). Democracy's Lawyer: Felix Grundy of the Old Southwest. Baton Rouge: LSU Press. ISBN978-0-8071-3588-4.