The Lawrence County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Department has been in existence since the county was founded in 1817. But the modern, professional, trained force that protects the people of Lawrence County today is a far cry from the department’s humble beginnings. As this photo of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department in 1906 shows, standard uniforms are a relatively new innovation, and it would be impossible for even the best sheriff to preserve the peace today with only four deputies on staff.

Our current sheriff, Jimmy Brown, is the 55th sheriff of Lawrence County, in an unbroken line going back almost 200 years. And just as our county has changed a great deal in those two centuries, so has the job of enforcing its laws.

David Crockett wrote in his autobiography that, before the government of Lawrence County was organized by the state, the settlers of the area had no law, and “so many bad characters began to flock in on us, that we found it necessary to set up a sort of temporary government of our own.”

This “temporary government”–sometimes known as the Shoal Creek Corporation–consisted of several men being chosen as magistrates and constables at an informal public meeting. When Crockett was chosen as one of the magistrates, it was the beginning of his political career.

This system seemed to succeed in establishing law and order in the area. Later, when the county government was officially organized, the men chosen as constables and magistrates were officially commissioned as officers of the local government. At this time, Lawrence County’s first sheriff, Luke Grimes, was elected. Not much is known about Grimes, other than that he served as sheriff for just one year, in 1817.

The county’s first sheriffs definitely had their work cut out for them. When local blacksmith Lewis Kirk shot and killed Thomas Westmoreland on the Square in Lawrenceburg in 1858, the sheriff was Robert J. Kelley. It was Kelley’s duty as sheriff to round up a jury for Kirk’s trial. However, due to the controversial nature of the trial, the men of Lawrence County suddenly became very hard to find when he came to visit.

Sheriff Kelley, after several days of riding across multiple districts, finally reported to the judge that he was unable to raise a jury from Lawrence County. He said that everywhere he went, the eligible men at every home were either suddenly gone to town, helping a neighbor far away, or were simply hiding in the woods. Due to these circumstances, the venue of the trial was changed to Columbia.

Due to limitations in manpower, it was not uncommon in those early days for the sheriff to deputize random citizens on the spot when the need arose. Such was the case in 1876, when Sheriff James K. Garner deputized Circuit Court Clerk John B. Kennedy to help subdue a drunken W.B. Chaffin.

When Sheriff Garner and Kennedy approached Chaffin, Chaffin pulled his pistol and aimed it at the sheriff. Acting fast, Kennedy struck Chaffin with a nearby shovel, a wound which would later kill him. Kennedy was acquitted for his actions in Chaffin’s death.

Sheriff Cleve Weathers, who was murdered in the county jail by an inmate in 1943, is the only Lawrence County sheriff who has ever been killed in the line of duty. But each person who has ever worn the badge of the sheriff’s department has placed his or her life at risk for the safety of our community.

Lawrence County History Trivia is proud to support local law enforcement, and we appreciate the sacrifices our men and women in blue make for us each day.