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 he remained until his death on July 20, 1903.