(Photo Courtesy Cunnyngham Archives C/O Dean Wilson)
Back in the day, folks in Dayton spoke with a certain respect when they talked about Chancellor Glenn W. Woodlee. Born October 2, 1906, he grew up to be one of the county’s most trusted legal minds, and when he passed on June 2, 1969, they laid him to rest in Buttram Cemetery, not far from where his life’s work had unfolded. He finished the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1931 and came back home to hang his shingle, partnering with Brown Swafford by 1938. In 1939, he took on the job of District Attorney General for the 18th Judicial Circuit, serving eight years before being appointed in 1947 as Chancellor of the Twelfth Chancery Division—a role he would hold for more than two decades, covering fourteen counties but always keeping Dayton as his home base. Folks still remember how he handled some tough moments, like in 1948 when he ordered the arrest of C. H. Smith, chairman of the Rhea County Republican primary board, after Smith refused to release the vote count, or when he stepped in to dissolve an injunction that had stopped the county court from filling a vacant office. Most days, though, he was deep in the work of chancery—settling property disputes, guiding estates, and making fair rulings in domestic matters—and it was said that hardly any of his decisions ever got overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court. He was sometimes called to other counties for tricky cases, like a Hamilton County contempt proceeding tied to a disbarment, but his heart was in Rhea County. Outside the courtroom, he was just as steady, serving as a trustee for Bryan College from 1950 and being elected board chair only weeks before his passing, while also leading Dayton Bank & Trust and helping guide the Rhea County Hospital from its early days. Those who knew him remember not just the sound of his gavel but the way he carried himself—firm when needed, fair to all, and always with the best interest of his community in mind.
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