Tigert was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1882,[REF] the third son of a Methodist Episcopal minister, John James Tigert, III, and his wife, Amelia McTyeire Tigert [REF].
Tigert graduated from Vanderbilt with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1904; he was selected for Phi Beta Kappa, and was chosen as a Rhodes Scholar, the first from the state of Tennessee,[REF] along with teammate Bob Blake.