James William Deaderick (November 25, 1812 – October 8, 1890) was an American attorney who served as chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1876 to 1886.

He had previously served one term in the Tennessee Senate (1851–1853), and campaigned as an elector for presidential candidate John Bell in 1860.

[1] His father was a Revolutionary War veteran who had arrived in Jonesborough in 1783,[2] and was working as president of the local Bank of Tennessee branch when James was born.

[1][5] At one point early in his studies, he considered quitting, but continued after receiving encouragement from rising young attorney T.A.R.

[1] In 1851, Deaderick, an "ardent Henry Clay Whig,"[6] was elected to the Tennessee Senate seat for the district consisting of Washington, Carter, Sullivan, and Johnson counties.

In the 1860 presidential race, he campaigned as an elector for Constitutional Union candidate John Bell, who opposed both secession and the abolition of slavery.

[9] Deaderick was a member of the Washington County delegation at the Greeneville session of the pro-Union East Tennessee Convention in June 1861.

Nelson, who was president of the convention, and instead supported a more moderate set of resolutions proposed by Knoxville attorney Oliver Perry Temple.

[12] In April 1866, after the war had ended, Deaderick was forced to flee to Bristol after receiving threats from a local Union League.

[16] Arguably the biggest case of Deaderick's tenure was Lynn v. Polk (1882), which arose from a long-standing debate over how to handle the state's out-of-control debt.

With Democrats split, a Republican, Alvin Hawkins, was elected governor, and a law providing for full payment of the debt was passed.

Deaderick's wife, Adeline, was a daughter of famed Kentucky physician Ephraim McDowell, and a granddaughter of Isaac Shelby.