Donald Paine Collection Regarding Tennessee v. Rush Strong
This collection houses Donald Paine's research into and articles about Tennessee v. Rush Strong. The case involved Gideon Rush Strong's 1916 murder of Sam Luttrell, who he believed had raped his wife. The research materials include derivative newspaper articles, trial transcripts and other trial records, photocopies of publications about the trial personnel, census records, wills, photographs, and other biographical records about Strong, Luttrell, and their families. Also included are newspaper articles and photographs related to the area where Luttrell was shot, Paine's correspondence with other researchers, photographs of Strong's and Luttrell's tombstones, and contemporary articles and notes from lectures that Paine presented.
Dates
- 1900-1941, 2007-2008
Conditions Governing Access
Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Conditions Governing Use
The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Extent
0.75 Linear Feet (2 boxes [1 half, 1 quarter])
Abstract
This collection houses Donald Paine's research into and articles about Tennessee v. Rush Strong. The case involved Gideon Rush Strong's 1916 murder of Sam Luttrell, who he believed had raped his wife.
Biographical/Historical Note
Gideon Rush Strong (1887-1940) married Bonnie Hunt Strong in 1913. In 1916, Bonnie told her husband that she had been raped by Sam Luttrell, an acquaintance of the couple. On July 3, 1916, Strong confronted Luttrell, which resulted in both drawing guns and firing. Luttrell was fatally wounded by a shot in the back. Strong's trial ran from May 28 through June 1, 1917. He was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to two to ten years in jail. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction, and Strong served two years at Brushy Mountain. The Strongs divorced in 1927, and Rush Strong died on December 31, 1940 from burns caused by falling asleep with a lit cigarette.
Donald Franklin Paine was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1939. He earned his B.A. (1961), M.A. (1963), and LL.B. (1963) from the University of Tennessee. Immediately after graduation, Paine served in the Army as a Captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. He was discharged in 1966 and returned to Tennessee, where he authored the Tennessee Law of Evidence (1974). Paine practiced law with Paine, Tarwater, and Bickers in addition to researching Tennessee's legal history. He was a Reporter to the Supreme Court Advisory Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure, wrote a monthly column for the Tennessee Bar Journal, and lectured for the Tennessee Law Institute, the University of Tennessee College of Law, and the Tennessee Judicial Conference. Paine also served as President of the Knoxville Bar Association (1983) and of the Tennessee Bar Association (1986-1987). Paine died November 18, 2013.
Arrangement
This collection consists of two boxes.
Acquisition Note
Donald Paine donated these materials to Special Collections on December 24, 2009.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository