Inman Terry

Inman Terry (1885-1961) was a businessman who served as the fifth mayor of Oneida from 1929 to 1933. He is credited with guiding the small town through the throes of the Great Depression.

See Also: Mayors of Oneida
Preceded By: Sam A. Bertram • Succeeded By: Sam A. Blair

Early Life

Born Jan. 19, 1885, Inman Terry was the son of Lindsay Terry and Sarah Rosanna Chambers Terry. He was a direct descendant of Oneida’s first white settler, Josiah Terry (1782-1868). Josiah Terry was Inman Terry’s great-grandfather.

Lindsay Terry had a twin brother, Leonard Terry. They lived into their 90s, with Leonard dying in 1955 and Lindsay dying in 1957, and claimed to be the oldest twins in the United States.

Inman Terry married Anna Mae Burchett, the daughter of William Carr Burchett and Mary E. Todd Burchett. They had two children: Eugene “Nat” Terry and Kathleen Terry Buxton.

Mayor of Oneida

Terry was elected mayor of Oneida in 1929, just after the stock market crash that set off the Great Depression. He succeeded Sam Bertram, a school teacher who had served as mayor since 1927. He was re-elected in 1931, and served until 1933.

Terry was a relative of William Claude Terry Sr., who served as Oneida’s third mayor, from 1921 to 1927. They were cousins: W.C. Terry’s grandfather, Milton Terry, and Inman Terry’s grandfather, James Terry, were brothers. Both were great-grandsons of Josiah Terry, the first settler of Oneida.

Death

Following his tenure as mayor of Oneida, Terry moved to Wartburg, Tenn., where he lived the remainder of his life. He died on June 16, 1961, at the age of 74. He was buried at Wartburg Cemetery.