USA > Tennessee > Williamson County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 15
USA > Tennessee > Maury County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 15
USA > Tennessee > Rutherford County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 15
USA > Tennessee > Wilson County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 15
USA > Tennessee > Bedford County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 15
USA > Tennessee > Marshall County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 15
USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present , together with an historical and a biographical sketch of from twenty-five to thirty counties of east Tennessee, besides a valuable fund of notes, original observations, reminiscences, etc., etc. V. 1 > Part 15
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Our boats frequently dragged on the bottom; * they warped as much as in a rough sea. But by the hand of Providence we are preserved from this danger also. I know not the length of this wonderful shoal; it had been represented to me to be twenty-five or thirty miles. If so we must have descended very rapidly, as indeed we did, for we passed it in about three hours. *
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"Wednesday 15th .- Got under way and moved on peaceably the five following days, when we arrived at the mouth of the Tennessee on Mon- day, the 20th, and landed on the lower point immediately on the bank of the Ohio. Our situation here is truly disagreeable. The river is very high and the current rapid, our boats not constructed for the purpose of stemming a rapid stream, our provisions exhausted, the crews almost worn down with hunger and fatigue, and we know not what distance we have to go, or what time it will take us to reach our place of destination. The scene is rendered still more melancholy, as several boats will not attempt to ascend the rapid current. Some intend to descend the Mississippi to Natchez, others are bound for the Illinois-among the rest my son-in-law and daughter. We now part perhaps to meet no more, for I am deter- mined to pursue my course, happen what will. ** * *
"Friday 24th .- About 3 o'clock came to the mouth of a river which I thought was the Cumberland. Some of the company declared it could not be-it was so much smaller than was expected. But I never heard of any river running in between the Cumberland and Tennessee. We determined, however, to make the trial, pushed up some distance and encamped for the night.
"Saturday, 25th .- To-day we are much encouraged. The river grows wider; the current is gentle and we are now convinced it is the Cumberland. * * * * * * *
"Friday, 31st .- Set out this day, and after running some distance met with Col. Richard Henderson, who was running the line between Virginia and North Carolina. At this meeting we were much rejoiced. * Camped at night near the mouth of a little river, at which place and below there is a handsome bottom of rich land. Here we found a pair of hewed mill-stones, set up for grinding, but appearing not to have been used for a long time.
"Proceeded on quietly until the 12th of April, at which time we came to the mouth of a little river running in on the north side, by Moses Ren- froe and his company, called Red River, upon which they intended to settle. Here they took leave of us. We proceeded up the Cumberland, nothing happening material until the 23d, when we reached the first settlement on the north side of the river, one mile and a half below the Big Salt Lick, and called Eaton's Station, after a man of that name, who with several other families came through Kentucky and settled there.
"Monday, April 24th .- This day we arrived at our journey's end, at the Big Salt Lick, where we have the pleasure of finding Capt. Robertson and his company. It is a source of satisfaction to us to be enabled to restore to him and others their families and friends, who were intrusted
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to our care, and who some time since, perhaps, they despaired of ever meeting again. Though our prospects at present are dreary, we have found a few log cabins, which have been built on a cedar bluff above the Lick by Capt. Robertson and his company."
This journal here presented may be found in full in Ramsey. In copying out of his work, unimportant portions have been omitted for the sake of saving space. This emigration of Col. Donelson ranks as one of the most remarkable achievements in the settlement of the West, and as the names of the participators in the expedition have far more than a local interest, they are here inserted: John Donelson, Sr., Thomas Hutch- ings, John Caffrey, John Donelson, Jr., Mrs. James Robertson and five children, Mrs. Purnell, M. Rounsifer, James Cain, Isaac Neelly, Jona- than Jennings, Benjamin Belew, Peter Looney, Capt. John Blackmore, Moses Renfroe, William Crutchfield, James Johns, Hugh Henry, Sr., Benjamin Porter, Mrs. Mary Henry (widow), Frank Armstrong, Hugh Rogan, Daniel Chambers, Robert Cartwright, Mr. Stuart, David Gwinn, John Boyd, Reuben Harrison, Frank Haney, Mr. Maxwell, John Mont- gomery, John Cotton, Thomas Henry, John Cockrell, John White, Sol- omon White and Mr. Payne. The above list of names is copied from Putnam. Ramsey gives these additional ones: Isaac Lanier, Daniel Dunham, Joseph and James Renfroe, Solomon Turpin and John Gibson. There were other persons, men, women and children, whose names have not been preserved. The total number of persons in this expedition is not known, but from the best information obtainable there were at least thirty boats in the entire fleet, no one of which contained less than two families.
With reference to the fate of the three young men who ran away from Mr. Jennings, when his boat was attacked, as narrated in Capt. Donel- son's journal, authorities are not agreed. Ramsey and John Carr agree in stating that the negro man was drowned, and that the young man, whose nameis not given, was taken to Chickamauga Town, where he was killed and burned, and that young Jennings was ransomed by an Indian trader named Rogers, and afterward restored to his parents. Putnam, however, doubts the correctness of this narration, especially so far as it refers to the burn- ing of the young man. He says "such cruelty and crime have not been clearly proven against them (the Indians)." But as both Ramsey and Carr say "they killed and burned the young man." it may justly be inferred that the "burning occurred after the killing," or, in other words, they killed and then burned the body of the young man, and thus the "cruelty and crime" would consist in the killing and not in the burning.
The capture of Stuart's boat and crow, among whom were the several
1
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cases of small-pox, as narrated in Capt. Donelson's journal, resulted in great mortality among the Indians, many of whom were attacked by the disease with fatal results. It is said that when attacked and when the fever was upon them they took a "heavy sweat" in their houses, and then leaped into the river, the remedy being no less fatal than the disease itself Putnam quotes approvingly from the "narrative of Col. Joseph Brown," that this mortality was " a judgment upon the Indians," though just how it can have been a judgment upon the Indians, any more than it and the capture and killing of so many of Stuart's family was a judgment on them, is not easily discernible.
CHAPTER V.
SETTLEMENT CONCLUDED-RESULTS OF DONELSON'S VOYAGE-THE FRENCH LICK -THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MANY BLOCK-HOUSES, STATIONS, ETC .- THE LONG REIGN OF TRYING TIMES THE MILITARY WARRANTS AND GRANTS-PIONEER CUSTOMS-GOVERNMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND COLONY-THE EMIGRANT ROAD-COL. BROWN'S DISASTROUS VOYAGE-NORTH CAROLINA'S NEGLECT OF THE COLONIES-THEIR ISOLATION AND SUFFERING-THE TENNESSEE LAND COMPANY-NATIONAL EXECUTIVE INTERFERENCE-DESIGNS OF THE COMPA- NIES THWARTED BY THE EFFECTIVE ACTS OF THE CITIZENS OF GEORGIA -- SUMMARY OF TENNESSEE LAND GRANTS-THE WESTERN PURCHASE-THE CHICKASAWS-ENTRY OF THE WHITES INTO WEST TENNESSEE-THE BLUFFS- PERMANENT SETTLEMENT-INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES.
THE principal results of the emigration of Col. Donelson to Middle Ten- nessee were the establishment of the settlements at and near the Bluff and the subsequent formation of an independent government May 1, 1780, a number of years before the organization of the State of Frank- lin. Some of these early settlers plunged at once into the adjoining for- ests. Col. Donelson himself, with his family, being one of the number. He went up the Cumberland, and erected a small fort at a place since called Clover Bottom, near Stone River, and on the south side of that stream. Dr. Walker, Virginia's commissioner for running the boundary line between that State and North Carolina, arrived at the Bluff, accom- panied by Col. Richard Henderson and his two brothers, Nathaniel and Pleasant. Col. Henderson erected a station on Stone River, remained there some time, and sold lands under the deed made to himself and part- ners at Watauga in March, 1775, by the Cherokees. The price charged for this land by Col. Henderson was $10 per 1,000 acres. The certifi- cate of purchase contained a clause by which it was set forth that pay- inent for the land was conditioned on the confirmation of the Henderson
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treaty by the proper authorities; but both the States of Virginia and North Carolina annulled his title, or rather declared it to be null and void ab initio, and refused to recognize the sales made by him or his com- pany, and purchasers on contracts made with him were never urged to make payment for their lands. But notwithstanding the fact that the two States decided that the Transylvania Company had not by the pur- chase acquired any title to the lands, on the ground that private individ- uals had no power or right to make treaties with Indian tribes, yet they at the same time decided that the Indians had divested themselves of their title to them, and hence Transylvania became divided between the two States of North Carolina and Virginia. But each State, on account of the expenditures of the company and the labor to which they had been and the interest manifested by them in the welfare of the early settlers, made to them a grant of 200,000 acres. The Virginia grant was on the Ohio River in what is now Henderson County, Ky., and the North Carolina grant was bounded as follows: "Beginning at the old Indian town in Powell's Valley, running down Powell's River not less than four miles in width on one or both sides thereof to the junction of Powell and Clinch Rivers; then down Clinch River on one or both sides not less than .twelve miles in width for the aforesaid complement of 200,000 acres." The remaining part of the land was devoted to public uses.
The little band of immigrants at the Bluff were in the midst of a vast. extent of country apparently uninhabited by Indians. Savage tribes were to be found in all directions, but toward the south none were known to be north of the Tennessee, and toward the north none were known to be south of the Ohio. Apparently no lands within or near the new settle- ments were claimed by Creek or Cherokee, Chickasaw or Choctaw; hence a sense of safety soon manifested itself among the pioneers, and hence, also, many of them began to erect cabins for individual homes in the wild woods, on the barrens or on the prairie where no pathway or trace of animal or human could be seen; and in their anxiety to make improve- ments on their individual claims and to become independent, many of the more thoughtless of them were reluctant to devote much of their time and labor to the erection of forts, stockades and palisades to which all could retreat for mutual defense in case of an attack by the now apparently harmless lords of the soil. But this desire, laudable though it was when not carried to the extreme of imprudence, was by the wise and experienced among them sufficently repressed to secure an agree- ment on the part of all to give a portion of their valuable time to the erection of a few forts and depositories for arms, ammunition and pro -. visions.
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
137
The fort at the Bluffs, called Nashborough, in honor of Francis Nash, of North Carolina, a brigadier-general in the Continental Army, was to be the principal fort and headquarters for all. The others were as fol- lows: Freeland's, at the spring in North Nashville; Eaton's, upon the east side of the river upon the first high land at the river bank; Gasper's, about ten miles north at the sulphur spring where now stands the town of Goodlettsville; Asher's, on Station Camp Creek, on the bluff, about three miles from Gallatin; Bledsoe's, near the sulphur spring about seven miles from Gallatin; Donelson's, on the Clover Bottom where the pike passes, and Fort Union, at the bend of the river above the Bluffs, where since has stood the town of Haysborough. "The fort at Nashborough stood upon the bluff between the southeast corner of the public square and Spring Street. Like the other forts it was a two-story log building with port holes and lookout station. Other log houses were near it and palisades were thrown entirely around the whole, the upper ends of the palisades or pickets being sharpened. There was one large entrance to the enclosure. The view toward the west and southwest was obstructed by a thick forest of cedars and a dense undergrowth of privet bushes. The rich bottom lands were covered with cane measuring from ten to twenty feet in height. The ancient forest trees upon the rich lands in this region were of a most majestic growth; all the elements of nature seem to have combined to make them what they were, and yet, although many of the loveliest sites for country residences have been hastily and unwisely stripped of their chief ornament and charm, and civilized man has speedily destroyed, by thousands in a year, such monarchs of the forest as a thousand years may not again produce, there remain here and there some lovely spots and glorious oaks not wholly dishonored or abased by the woodman's ax. There are a few, and but a few, of such native woods and magnificent trees remaining in the vicinity of the capi- tal of Tennessee. "*
As has been stated above the winter of 1779-80 was unusually severe, the Cumberland River being frozen over sufficiently solid to per- mit Robertson's party to cross upon the ice. The inclemency of the weather was such as to cause great inconvenience and suffering to the early settlers. It was impossible to keep warm in their cabins, necessar- ily loosely constructed, and the game upon which they depended in part for food was in an impoverished condition and poor. But while these evils resulted from this cause, there were also benefits enjoyed uncon- sciously to the settlers themselves. The Indians were themselves in as unsatisfactory condition, and as unprepared to make an attack upon the
*Putuam.
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cabins as the people in the cabins were to successfully defend them- selves against an attack; and during this interim of security from inva- sion by the savage tribes, which lasted until some time in May, 1780, the forts and other defenses were erected and strengthened, and numerous acquisitions were made to the numbers of the whites. Immigration had set in with a new impetus, the roads and traces to Kentucky and the Cumberland country being crowded with adventurers seeking independ- ence and fortune in the new Eldorado of the West, which was in verity beautiful, fertile and grand; and it is not at all surprising that its native proprietors should at length muster all their strengthi, their wildest ener- gies and fiercest passions, to dispossess the invaders and to repossess themselves of their own fair, delightful paradise. However, the attempt to accomplish this design soon convinced them that it could not be done by force of arms, the settlers being too strong, too resolute, and too well- defended; the only recourse therefore had was, if possible, to deprive the whites of food by driving away and dispersing the deer, buffalo and other wild game, which was commenced in the spring of 1780, and con- tinued with such success for two or three years as to necessitate adven- tures by the stationers to far-off distances, and thus expose themselves to the dangers of ambush and attack by the lurking savage. This state of things rendered life at the Bluff and in the vicinity, anything but pleas- ant. Numbers wished they had never come, or that they had gone to other settlements where, being ignorant of the actual facts connected therewith, they imagined a greater degree of security and plenty reigned. But here, as in every community, there were a goodly number of brave- hearted men and women, who, having suffered in getting to their homes, put their trust in Providence and resolved to stay.
One of the causes which led to the rapid settlement of Tennessee, was the passage, by the General Assembly of North Carolina, of an " act for the relief of the officers and soldiers in the Continental line, and for other purposes," which was as follows :*
WHEREAS, The officers and soldiers of the Continental line of this State have suffered much by the depreciation of paper currency, as well as by the deficiency of clothing and other supplies that have been due them according to sundry acts and resolves of the Gen- eral Assembly, and whereas, the honorable, the Continental Congress, have resolved that the deficiency shall be made good to the 18th day of August, 1780, according to a seale of depreciation established. And
* * * * *
WHEREAS, It is proper that some effectual and permanent reward should be rendered for the signal bravery and persevering zeal of the Continental officers and soldiers in the service of the State. Therefore
Be it enacted, etc., That each Continental soldier of the line of this State who is now in service, and continues to the end of the war, or such of them as from wounds or bodily
*Laws of 1782. Chapter III.
5
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infirmity have been or shall be rendered unfit for service, which shall be ascertained by a certificate from the commanding officer, shall have six hundred and forty acres of land; every officer who is now in service, and shall continue in service until the end of the war, as well as those officers who from wounds or bodily infirmity have left or may be obliged to leave the service, shall have a greater quantity according to his pay as followeth: Each non-commissioned officer, one thousand acres; each subaltern, two-thousand five hundred andsixty acres; each captain, three thousand eight hundred and forty acres; each major, four thousand eight hundred acres; each lieutenant-colonel, five thousand seven hundred and sixty acres; cach lieutenant-colonel commandant, seven thousand two hundred acres; each colonel, seven thousand two hundred acres; each brigadier-general, twelve thousand acres; each chaplain, six thousand two hundred acres; each surgeon, four thousand eight hundred acres; each surgeon's mate, two thousand five hundred and sixty acres; and where any officer or soldier has fallen or shall fall in the defense of his country, his heirs or assigns shall have the same quantity of land that the officer or soldier would have been entitled to had they served during the war.
According to the next section of this act any family that had settled on the tract of land set apart to be divided up among the officers and soldiers should be entitled to 640 acres, provided that no such grant should include any salt lick or salt spring which were reserved with 640 acres in connection with each lick or spring for public purposes.
By the eighth section Absalom Tatom. Isaac Shelby and Anthony Bledsoe were appointed commissioners to lay off the land and they were to be accompanied by a guard of not more than 100 men.
By the tenth section Gen. Nathaniel Greene was allowed 25,000 acres of land, which by an act passed in 1784 was described as follows: "Beginning on the south bank of Duck River, on a sycamore, cherry tree and ash, at the mouth of a small branch, running thence along a line of marked trees south seven miles and forty-eight poles, to a Spanish oak, a hickory and a sugar sapling; thence east six miles and ninety poles, to a Spanish oak and hackberry tree; thence north three miles and 300 poles, to a sugar-tree sapling, and two white oak saplings into a clift of Duck River, where it comes from the northeast; thence down Duck River ac- cording to its meanderings to the beginning."
The Revolutionary war came to an end in November, 1782. Capt. Robertson anticipated this event and from it inferred an abatement of Indian hostilities. It was soon followed by the arrival from North Caro- lina of quite a number of persons, who gave additional strength and en- couragement to the settlements. Early in 1783 the commissioners named above in the eighth section of the act for the relief of the officers and soldiers in the Continental line arrived from North Carolina accom- panied by a guard to lay off the lands promised as bounties to the officers and soldiers of said Continental line. These commissioners also came to examine into the claims of those persons who considered themselves en- titled to pre-emption rights granted to settlers on the Cumberland pre- vious to 1780, and also to lay off the lands given to Gen. Greene. The
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settlers, animated with new hope by the presence of all these additions to their numbers and strength, entirely abandoned the designs they had long entertained of leaving the country.
The commissioners and guards, with some of the inhabitants in com- pany, went to the place since called Latitude Hill, on Elk River, to ascertain the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude, and there made obser- vations. They then went north to Duck River to the second creek be- low Columbia and laid off Greene's 25,000 acres, and then fifty-five miles from the southern boundary of the State, and parallel thereto ran a line which received the name of the "Continental line," because it was the boundary of the territory allotted to the officers and soldiers of North Carolina in the Continental Army. But upon the representation, and at the request of the officers made to the General Assembly at the session of 1783, they directed it to be laid off from the northern boundary fifty- five miles to the south: Beginning on the Virginia line where the Cum- berland River intersects the same; thence south fifty-five miles; thence west to the Tennessee River; thence down the Tennessee River to Vir- ginia line; thence with the said Virginia line east to the beginning .* This line was run by Gen. Rutherford, in 1784, and named the "Com- missioner's line." The Continental line passed the Harpeth River about five miles above the town of Franklin. The Commissioner's line in- cluded the land in the Great Bend of Tennessee-all lands on the east side of the Tennessee to the present Kentucky line. The method of running it was as follows: Commencing at the Kentucky line the com- missioners ran south fifty-five miles to Mount Pisgah, then forming them- selves into two parties, one party ran westward to the Tennesssee and the other eastward to the Caney Fork.
Never were more generous bounties given to more deserving patriots. The war-worn veteran might here secure a competency, or perhaps even wealth or affluence to himself and children after the storm of battle had subsided, in the enjoyment of which he might pass the evening of life, serenely contemplating the great benefits derived and to be derived from the sacrifices himself and his compatriots had made in the establishment of the independence of the American nation. A vast emigration from North Carolina was the direct result of her generous action, insomuch that it was at one time estimated that nine-tenths of the population of Tennessee were from the mother State. And in addition to the bounties offered to the officers and soldiers of the Continental line, other bounties were offered to the guards of the commissioners who were appointed to lay off the reservation for the said officers and soldiers. These bounties
*Haywood.
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WEST TENNESSEE HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE.
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were named "Guard Rights," and induced numerous individuals to be- come members of the guard, and numerous grants were located and set- tled upon by such individuals. After running the line as authorized by the General Assembly of North Carolina, the commissioners sat at the Bluff to examine into pre-emption claims and issued certificates to such as were entitled thereto. The commission then dissolved and Isaac Shelby removed to Kentucky, thus ceasing to be a citizen of Tennessee. Of Kentucky he became the first governor, and died suddenly July 18, 1826, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.
The commissioners having come and gone affairs again assumed their usual aspect at the Bluff. The people were employed in their ordinary labors, doing what could be done to improve their condition. Additions to their numbers continued to be made from North Carolina, and they were gratified to learn that even much larger numbers were added to the settlements in Kentucky. Goods began to be brought in by boats from the Ohio and its tributaries, but according to Putnam the first store at the Falls of the Ohio was supplied from Philadelphia, and the supplies carried on pack-horses. The second store was kept at Lexington by Col. (afterward Gen.) James Wilkinson, from which small supplies were pur- chased for the settlers on the Cumberland. Several years after this a small store was opened at the Bluff. Lardner Clark was the first mer- chant and ordinary-keeper, dealing in dry goods, thimbles and pins for ladies; dinners and liquors for men, and provender for horses. As one of the improvements made in that early day in the way of labor-saving machinery, it may not be inappropriate to introduce here a description of a hominy-mill invented and constructed by a Mr. Cartwright. It con- sisted mainly of a wheel, upon the rim of which he fastened a number of cows' horns, in such position that as each horn was filled with water its weight would cause it to descend and thus set the wheel in revolution. To the axle of this wheel was attached a crank, and to the crank the apparatus for cracking the corn. Thus many a little blow was made by the little pestle upon the quart of corn in the mortar. This mill was owned by Heyden and James Wells.
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