He was admitted to the bar that same year, having read law with prominent Knoxville attorney Oliver Perry Temple.

[3] Lindsay served as U.S. attorney until 1893, when Harrison's successor, Grover Cleveland, appointed James Bible to the position.

[4] Another, Citizens Railway Co. v. Africa, et al., was an effort to resolve the lengthy dispute between Knoxville's two streetcar companies, which had culminated in a riot known as the Battle of Depot Street in 1897.

In the early 1900s, he helped Knoxville-based contractor William J. Oliver win a large settlement in a case against the federal government.

Oliver had been the low bidder on the contract to build the Panama Canal in 1907, and sued when the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt rejected his bid, arguing he lacked the experience for the project.

Strong had killed Samuel Luttrell, Jr., in a shootout in downtown Knoxville, believing he had raped his wife, Bonnie.

[10] Lindsay was the Republican nominee for governor in 1918, though he did not stump, preferring a quiet campaign that focused on mail and personal contacts.

[12] Turnout was unusually low due to the absence of soldiers fighting in World War I and the raging influenza pandemic.