Joseph Alexander Mabry, Jr.

Who was Joseph Alexander Mabry, Jr.?

Joseph Alexander Mabry, Jr. was an American folk figure and businessman active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the mid-nineteenth century. Mabry earned a fortune through land and railroad speculation during the 1850s, and was known throughout the South for his herd of race horses. During the Civil War, Mabry donated a large supply of uniforms and tents to the Confederate Army, and was rewarded with the rank of general. For the remainder of his life, he was thus often referred to by the sobriquet, "General Mabry."

In his day, Mabry was one of Knoxville's most influential citizens. In 1853, Mabry and his brother-in-law, William G. Swan, donated the initial acreage for the city's Market Square. As president of the Knoxville and Kentucky Railroad, Mabry raised millions of dollars in funding for railroad construction in the region. After the Civil War, Mabry quickly made amends with the city's pro-Union businessmen, and continued to champion railroad development. By the 1870s, however, his business ventures had mostly failed, leaving him heavily in debt. In 1882, Mabry and his son were killed in a shootout with banker Thomas O'Connor in downtown Knoxville, an incident later chronicled by Mark Twain in his book, Life on the Mississippi.