John Atkins, from Henry County, Tennessee, graduated from the university in 1846. He studied law and was admitted to the bar but did not practice. He served in the Tennessee House of Representatives (1849 to 1853), the Tennessee Senate (1855 to 1857), and the US House of Representatives from Tennessee (1857 to 1859). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1858. During the Civil War, he served as lieutenant colonel of the Fifth Tennessee Regiment in 1861. He was elected to the Confederate Provisional Congress and served in the Confederate States Congress from 1862 to 1865. After the Civil War, he was elected to the US House of Representatives and served from 1873 to 1883. He was appointed US Commissioner of Indian Affairs by President Grover Cleveland in 1885 and served in that capacity through 1888.