 The vast majority of the East Tennessee Convention delegates were former Whigs, though several were Democrats, including Andrew Johnson's sons, Charles and Robert, and son-in-law, David T. Patterson (all of Greene), along with James G. Spears of Bledsoe, William J. Clift of Hamilton, George W. Bridges of McMinn, and Richard M. Edwards of Bradley.While most had never held political office, the Convention did include three who had served in the U.S. Congress (T. A .R.Nelson, Thomas D. Arnold, and Horace Maynard) and a former state attorney general (James P. Swann of Jefferson).