Joseph McMinn (June 22, 1758 – October 17, 1824) was an American politician who served as the fourth Governor of Tennessee from 1815 to 1821.

A veteran of the American Revolution, he had previously served in the legislature of the Southwest Territory (1794–1796), and as Speaker of the Tennessee Senate (1805–1811).

[4] While governor, McMinn concentrated on peaceful relationships with Native Americans in order to ease the way for more white settlement, particularly to the west.

[5] The Calhoun Treaty (or Hiwassee Purchase), in which the United States acquired a portion of southeastern Tennessee, was also negotiated during his tenure.

[7] Upon his retirement as governor due to the term limits in the 1796 constitution that he had helped to draft, he returned to his farm in Hawkins County.

In 1823, he moved to a farm along the Hiwassee River near Calhoun, Tennessee, and served as an agent for the federal government at the nearby Cherokee Agency until the time of his death.

McMinn apparently posed for the portrait during his visit to the city to deliver the newly written Tennessee state constitution to the federal government.