John Trimble was born on February 7, 1812 in Roane County, Tennessee to James Trimble and his wife. He began his political career as an attorney general of Tennessee from 1836 to 1842, before serving as a Tennessee state representative from 1843 to 1844. He was a Tennessee state senator from 1845 to 1846 and again from 1859 to 1867, except for the years 1862 through 1864 when he was a U.S. district attorney. Trimble served in the U.S. Senate from 1867 to 1869, and died on February 23, 1884 in Nashville.

Samuel Mayes Arnell, Reconstruction legislator and congressman, was born at Zion Settlement in Maury County, Tennessee on May 3, 1833. After attending Amherst College, Arnell retired to Tennessee, studied law, and practiced in Columbia. Although a slaveholder, Arnell sided with the Union during the Civil War and traversed Middle Tennessee urging Tennesseans to maintain their allegiance to the United States. During the war, the former Whig became a Radical Republican and represented Lewis, Maury, and Williamson counties in the General Assembly of 1865-1866. Arnell authored two bills to prevent ex-Confederates from voting in state and national elections, which were signed into law in June 1865 and May 1866. In a disputed election in the fall 1865 between Arnell and Dorsey B. Thomas for the Sixth Congressional District, Governor William G. Brownlow awarded the election to Arnell. He remained in the United States Congress until 1871, having chaired the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State and served on the Committee on Education and Labor. Arnell and his family remained in Washington, D.C. a few years before returning to Columbia. From 1879 to 1885, Arnell served as the Columbia postmaster before becoming Superintendent of Public Schools. When his term expired in 1888, Arnell and his family returned to Washington, D.C. until declining health forced the Arnell family to move to Johnson City, Tennessee where Arnell remained until his death on July 20, 1903.

Horace Harrison Harrison was born on August 7, 1829 in Lebanon, Tennessee. He served as the clerk of the Tennessee state senate from 1851 to 1852, was admitted to the bar in 1857, and moved to Nashville in 1859. He served as a U.S. District Attorney from 1863 to 1866 and again from 1872 to 1873. He was a Tennessee state Supreme Court justice in 1867 and 1868, and a U.S. House representative from 1873 to 1875. He was back in the Tennessee state legislature in 1880 and 1881. Harrison died on December 10, 1885 in Nashville, Tennessee.