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252. Legislative Acts .- During the session of the Legislature that met in 1801, Jackson County was erected. This is notable as the first geographical district named for Andrew Jackson. Since then, hundreds of counties and towns have been called in his honor. There is but one name on our map that occurs more frequently than that of Jackson, namely, Washington - and Washington was first so honored by the settlers on the Watauga and the Nollichucky. At this session, two committees were appointed, one to prepare a design for a State seal, and the other to contract for the manufacture of the seal. It was manufactured by William and Matthew Atkinson at Knoxville, and first used by Governor Roane, April 24, 1802, to authenticate an order to pay William and Matthew Atkinson $100.00 "in full compensation for making the great seal of the State, and a press to work the same." This was the first and only great seal of the State. By an act of the
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
first Legislature, passed April 20, 1796, the Governor had been author- ized to procure a seal. Ramsey erroneously states that Governor Sevier had the first seal made in Philadelphia. The records show that there was no State seal prior to April 24, 1802.1
253. Land Speculations .- During the early history of this country, land speculations were carried to the greatest extreme. It became a craze, not in Tennessee only, but in all the western country. Even Washington was not exempt from it. The largest land specu- lator in Tennessee was Stockley Donelson. His holdings probably aggregated half a million acres .? Governor Sevier was another large land owner. He owned some fifty-seven thousand acres in what is now Overton and Clay Counties,3 and at one time had warrants for over one hundred thousand acres.
254. A Vacancy in the Office of Major General .- Major General George Conway died in 1801, leaving vacant the highest office in the militia of the State. Governor Roane issued an order directing the Brigadier Generals and field officers to meet together on the 5th of February, 1802, for the purpose of electing a Major General to fill the vacancy. The office of Major General was then esteemed one of the most honorable positions in the State, and was coveted by the most ambitious of its citizens. The candidates who offered for the vacancy were John Sevier, the late governor, and Andrew Jackson, one of the judges of the Superior Court of the State. When the vote was counted, it was found that neither had been elected. The vote stood :+
For Sevier - Washington District, 7; Hamilton District, 4; Mero District, 6; total, 17.
For Jackson - Washington District, o; Hamilton District, 6; Mero District, II ; total, 17.
For Winchester - Washington District, 3; Hamilton District, o; Mero District, o; total, 3.
255. Jackson Elected by the Casting Vote of Governor Roane .- February 16th, 1802, the Secretary of State certified to the counting of the votes for Major General, with the result given above. On the same clay, Maj. John Carter turned over the papers belonging to the entry- taker's office of Washington County. In doing so, he filed an affidavit that he had delivered to Governor Roane one file of papers purporting to be locations, which file, though found among the papers of the office
1 Paper of R. L. C. White read before Tennessee Historical Society.
"A. B. Wilson, of Greeneville, Tenn., in the Nashville American, of April 4, 1897.
3 Life of Jefferson Dillard Goodpasture, p. 24.
'Original certificate of Secretary of State, William Maclin, discovered by Dr. R. L. C. White, among the archives of the Secretary of State's office.
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ADMINISTRATION OF ROANE.
about the year 1795, he believed did not originally belong to it, but had been put there fraudulently. The affidavit was made before Willie Blount, J. P., and with the file of papers referred to, was the basis of the charges of fraud made against Governor Sevier. It was made, at that time, for the purpose of influencing the deciding vote of Governor Roane in the contest for Major General,5 which he cast in favor of Judge Jackson.
256. Sevier Becomes a Candidate to Succeed Roane .- Two years having intervened since Sevier retired from the office of Governor, he became a candidate against Roane, who wished to succeed himself. At the outset, the charge of fraudulent land dealings brought against Gov- ernor Sevier became the leading issue of the canvass. Sevier's con- temporaries did not condenin him on these charges, and there is nothing in his character, as it comes down to us, to make posterity less lenient. The charges, however, have an historical value as charges once current, because of the influence they have had, not upon the careers of two popular heroes only, but upon the history and destiny of the State and nation as well. It has been repeatedly, but erroneously, stated that they had their origin in this canvass between Sevier and Roane. They grew, as we have seen, out of the canvass of Sevier and Jackson for Major General.
257. Jackson Takes the Fight off of Roane's Hands .- Roane was not lacking in courage. But he was a student, a man of letters - schol- arly, thoughtful, retired - not a restless, eager, ambitious, leader of men. Jackson entered the lists in his behalf with the dash and impetu- osity of a knight-errant. The canvass that followed really became a test of strength between Governor Sevier and General Jackson. The contest resulted in the election of Sevier by a vote of 6,786 to 4,923, the Middle Tennessee counties voting for Roane.
258. The Legislative Investigation .- Before he retired from office, Roane sent a special message to the Legislature, transmitting the · papers filed with him by Major Carter. An investigation was ordered, which continued through the whole session. The House was adverse to Governor Sevier, but in the end a conclusion was reached which found the facts in substantial accord with Carter's affidavit, but did not attribute the fraud to Sevier, or otherwise characterize his motives.
259. Personal Rencounters Between Jackson and Sevier .- Pend- ing this investigation, on October Ist, Judge Jackson, who was holding court in Knoxville, met Governor Sevier on the public square. A violent altercation resulted. This was followed by a challenge fron Jackson. A meeting-place could not be agreed upon. Sevier refused
3 American Historical Magazine, Vol. IV, p. 381.
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
to receive further communication from Jackson. Jackson published Sevier as a "base coward and poltroon." A second encounter occurred. Friends interfered. An indifferent peace was patched up, and the episode ended.
CHAPTER XXI.
CONTROVERSY AS TO PUBLIC LANDS.
260. Private Purchases from the Indians .- The first settlements on the Watauga, as we have seen, were made in 1769 or 1770. The settlers at first leased their lands from the Indians. Afterwards they bought them. But they did not get a good title, because private pur- chases from the Indians were not lawful. The first substantial result of the annexation of Washington District by North Carolina was the extinguishment of the Indian title to their land by the treaty of Long Island of Holston, in 1777.
261. County Land Offices Opened .- A few months after the treaty of Long Island of Holston, the Legislature of North Carolina passed an act making it the duty of the justices of the peace of every county in the State to appoint entry-takers in their respective counties. At the same session of the Legislature, Washington County was erected, with boundaries coextensive with those of the present State of Tennessee. The lands lying west of the Indian line established by the treaty of Long Island of Holston, sometimes called Brown's line, while lying within the county, had not yet accrued to the State, either by treaty or conquest. A little later it was claimed by right of conquest. But the land office once open, the people began to make entries west as well as east of the Indian line. By an act of the succeeding year, those entries west of the Indian line were declared void. Two years later, in 1779. Sullivan County was erected, and an entry-taker was appointed for the county, but this office, as well as that of Washington County, was closed in 1781, and neither of them was ever reopened.
262. Cumberland Preemptions .- Before these offices were closed, the Watauga hive had swarmed, a colony had crossed the mountains, and were settling in the beautiful valley of the Cumberland. The most important settlement was made by James Robertson, at the Bluff, in 1779. But others followed rapidly, and in May, 1780, when North
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CONTROVERSY AS TO PUBLIC LANDS.
Carolina passed her first act providing for a military reservation, there were many daring pioneers found within its limits. A private act of North Carolina in 1784 designates by name and specially recognizes the preemption claims of seventy of those settlers who were heads of families on the first day of June, 1780; of sixty-three who had been killed, in defense of the colony; and of nineteen who were under twenty-one years of age at that time, but who had, nevertheless, ren- dered distinguished service to the settlement. It being represented to the Legislature in 1782 that such pioneers had, before the passing of said act, settled on the said tract of country, it was enacted that 640 acres of land, including improvements, should be granted to each family or head of a family and to every single man of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, settled on said land before the first day of June, 1780, for which they were declared to have the right of preemption.
263. John Armstrong's Office .- In 1783, the Legislature of North Carolina established the land office afterwards known as John Arm- strong's office. The Cherokee Indians having taken part with the British towards the close of the Revolution, the State assumed title to their lands by right of conquest, and, disregarding the boundary estab- lished by the treaty of Long Island of Holston, threw open to appropria- tion the whole of its western territory, except -
I. A reservation for the Indians, consisting of a tract bounded on the south by the southern boundary of the State, and on the north, west, and east by the Tennessee, Holston, French Broad, and Big Pigeon rivers. (See Map of Public Lands, paragraph 270.)
2. The military reservation, described in paragraph 148, ante.
3. The Great Island of Holston, also called Long Island, which the Indians held in peculiar veneration as a treaty ground.
264. First Act of North Carolina Ceding Its Western Lands .- In April, 1784, just one year after the establishment of John Armstrong's office, the Legislature passed an act ceding the western territory of North Carolina to the United States. This act was accompanied by another, which, after reciting that it was just and right that no entries of land within the said territory should be allowed until the United States refused the cession, discontinued John Armstrong's office, and declared void all entries made in the territory after the 25th day of May, 1784, except entries of land allowed the commissioners, agents, and surveyors who extended the line of the military reservation, and the guards, hunters, chain-carriers, and markers who attended said com- missioners.
150
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
The people of the State of Franklin having made the cession of their territory to the United States the occasion for the erection of that Commonwealth, in defiance of the authority of North Carolina, in Oc- tober of the same year, the act of cession was repealed. But John Armstrong's office was never again opened.
265. Lack of System in the Disposition of Public Lands .-- During the time that these several land offices were open, there was taken up more than 8,000,000 acres of the public land. One accustomed to the compact system of surveys and entries in the Northwest can hardly conceive the total lack of method in the disposition of the public lands of North Carolina. The owner of a land warrant was permitted to explore the whole country, and locate it anywhere and in any shape he chose, without regard to cardinal points, and without reference to prior entries. The result was that all the best lands were first taken up, and the poorer and less desirable lands, in detached bodies of larger or smaller areas, were rejected. Such scraps and remnants were left in every section of the State.
266. Second Act of Cession .- This was the condition of the public lands, when in 1789, North Carolina the second time ceded its western territory to the United States. This cession was made on certain express conditions, and was accepted April 2, 1790. These conditions, so far as it is necessary to mention them here, were as follows:
(I) That the military reservation should inure to the use and benefit of the officers and soldiers of the continental line of the State, their heirs and assigns; and if said reservation should not contain a sufficient quantity of land fit for cultivation to satisfy the general pro- vision of law for their benefit, the deficiency might be made good out of any other part of the territory ceded, not already appropriated.
(2) That entries and grants made agreeable to law before the cession should have the same force and effect as if such cession had not been made; and power was reserved to the Governor of North Carolina to perfect titles under entries that had not previously been perfected by grant or otherwise.
(3) That, if any person had made his entry in John Armstrong's office and located the same on land already entered by another, he should have leave to remove the location of such entry to any land on which no entry had been specially located.
(4) That all rights of occupancy and preëmption to persons settled on and occupying said lands should continue in full force.
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151
CONTROVERSY AS TO PUBLIC LANDS.
(5) That the act of cession should not prevent the people then residing south of French Broad, and between the rivers Tennessee and Pigeon, from entering their preëmptions should an office be opened for that purpose under an act of the General Assembly.
267. Public Lands in the Southwest Territory .- The country so ceded and accepted now became the Southwest Territory. Next to its acceptance, the most noteworthy fact in the history of the Southwest Territory is the absence of all legislation by the United States on the subject of its public lands.
Virginia ceded her western territory in 1784, and in 1785 the old Continental Congress passed an ordinance providing for the survey of the public lands in the Northwest Territory after a regular system. dividing the country into townships of six miles square, containing thirty-six lots of one mile square, of which lot No. 16 in each township should be reserved for the maintenance of public schools therein. But, during the entire six years in which Tennessee was a Territory of the United States, Congress never made any provision for applying to it the system of surveys so promptly adopted in the Northwest, nor, indeed, any other system, and never made or authorized any provision. present or prospective, for the support of public schools, academies, or colleges. Such a provision has been made in favor of every Territory of the United States except Tennessee.
268. Controversy over the Right to Dispose of Public Lands -- When Tennessee was admitted to the Union it was supposed there would be vacant and unappropriated lands left in the State, after satis- fying the reservation in favor of North Carolina claims. In 1799. the State Legislature passed an Act establishing an office for receiving entries for all vacant lands within the several counties of the State. This act was subsequently suspended until its next stated session. In the meantime, it was notified by the Senators in Congress that the United States claimed the right to dispose of the vacant and unappro- priated lands in the State. The Legislature then authorized the Sen- ators to claim the absolute right of disposition in favor of this State. and to procure from the United States a relinquishment of their claim.
269. North Carolina Becomes a Party to the Controversy .- In the meantime, North Carolina continued to issue warrants and perfect titles to lands in Tennessee in the same manner it might have done it its cession had not been made. Tennessee now denied the right of North Carolina to grant lands in Tennessee. on the ground that the time within which claimants were required to make surveys and procure grants
I52
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
had expired, and in 1801 passed an act to prevent the surveying and granting of lands in Tennessee by North Carolina.
RIVER
PAVER
HIJAB
LINE
RE: NC.H
CAMP
RINGS TON 83/18
335
WEDUHURYO
ELES RIVER
TENNESSEE.
RIVER
MISSISSIPPI
DIVER
In 1803, the Legislature ap- pointed John Overton an agent for the purpose of settling the differences between North Caro- lina and Tennessee by friendly explanation and adjustment. This negotiation resulted in an agreement authorizing the State of Tennessee to perfect titles to the lands reserved to North Caro- lina by the act of cession, subject to the assent of Congress.
270. The Compact of 1806 .- Congress gave its assent to this agreement, and entered into a compact settling the controversy between the United States and Tennessee, by an act approved April 18th, 1806. The impor- tant provisions of that compact were as follows :
(a) Tennessee ceded to the United States the sole and entire disposition of the lands south and west of a line beginning at the place where the main branch of Elk River intersects the south- ern boundary of the State, and running due north until it inter- sects the main branch of Duck River; thence down Duck River to the military line; thence west. with the military line, to the Tennessee River; thence down the Tennessee River to the north- ern boundary of the State. called the Congressional line (see Map ).
MAP OF THE PUBLIC LANDS AND RESERVATIONS.
WILDERNESS
NASHVILLE
CONGRESSIONAL RESERVATION
153
CONTROVERSY AS TO PUBLIC LANDS.
and exempted the same from taxation until the expiration of five years after the same should be sold.
(b) The United States ceded to Tennessee the lands east and north of the Congressional line, subject to the following conditions :
(1) Tennessee should satisfy all North Carolina land claims out of the territory ceded to it.
(2) It should appropriate 100,000 acres to be located in one entire tract, within the district south of French Broad and Holston and west of Big Pigeon River, for the use of two colleges, one in East and one in West (Middle) Tennessee.
(3) It should appropriate 100.000 acres, in one tract within said limit, for the use of academies, one in each county in the State.
(4) It should, moreover, in issuing grants, and perfecting titles. locate 640 acres to every six miles square in the territory ceded to it, where existing claims would allow the same, which should be appropri- ated for the use of schools forever.
(5) That the college and academy lands should not be sold for less than two dollars per acre, provided, that the people residing south of French Broad and Holston and west of Big Pigeon River should be secured in their rights of occupancy and preëmption at a price not less than one dollar per acre.
271. College and Academy Lands .- It will be observed that the college and academy lands were to be laid off in two entire tracts of 100,000 acres each, to be located south of French Broad and Holston rivers, and west of Big Pigeon River (see Map). The purpose of these provisions was that the college and academy rights might be located on the lands preempted by the pioneer settlers of that region, which is the only section of the State that has never been subject to appropriation on North Carolina land warrants. On the same day the Legislature accepted the act of Congress, it directed the college and academy lands to be laid off in two entire tracts, and in order that they might embrace the very best lands in the district, it was provided that they should contain land actually claimed by occupancy, or such as was fit for culti- vation and improvement.
272. Pioneers of the Country South of French Broad and Holston .- The pioneers of the country south of the French Broad and Holston rivers (see Map) have an interesting history. They had first settled their homes with the most heroic courage under sanction of treaties between the State of Franklin and the Cherokee Indians at Dumplin Creek and at Coyatee. In 1788 the authority of North Caro-
I54
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. .
lina having been completely restored over the territory of the late State of Franklin, they found themselves without governmental protection. In this situation, following the instincts of the Anglo-Saxon race, they adopted such rules of government as were suited to their condition. and existed as a separate and independent republic until received into the Southwest Territory.
In his message to the Legislature in 1806, Governor Sevier declared that they were "respectable and worthy inhabitants, who have suffered by Indian depredations in a manner too deplorable to relate," and rec- ommended that the paternal care of the Assembly be tenderly exercised toward such a deserving and worthy class of citizens.
The Legislature accordingly secured these lands to the occupants at the minimum price fixed; the more readily, in view of the fact that one dollar per acre was all, and perhaps more, than the lands were worthı.
273. The Provision in Favor of Public Schools .- The same act which provided 200,000 acres for colleges and academies also provided 640 acres in every six miles square for the use of common schools. This latter provision was practically ineffective, because the lands had already been taken up and were no longer subject to appropriation for school purposes. It was the first care of the State to direct that the lands north and east of the Congressional line, exclusive of the district south of the French Broad and Holston rivers, be laid off into districts and sections, and that ,640 acres of land in each section of six miles square, which should be fit for cultivation and improvement, and as near the center of such section as existing claims and quality of the land would admit, should be set apart for the use of schools. But so completely had the lands fit for cultivation and improvement, which alone were then considered worth the cost of entering, been taken up under the laws of North Carolina, that the surveyors of the six districts north and east of the Congressional line could locate only 22.705 acres of school lands out of a total of 4,444 acres to which the State was estimated to be entitled.
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THE GREAT REVIVAL.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE GREAT REVIVAL, AND THE ORIGIN OF THE CUM- BERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - 1800-1810.
274. Presbyterians First in the Field .- The early religious devel- opment of Tennessee was as marked and characteristic as its political growth. Both were distinguished by a robust independence and indi- viduality of thought and action, which was not always conducive to peace and harmony. The first preachers on the grounds were Presby-
terians. The Baptists and Methodists did not reach the field until some ten years later. In 1772, the Rev. Charles Cummings located at Wolf Hills (Abingdon, Va.), and served two congregations on the frontiers along the Holston. One of these embraced the pioneers of Sullivan County, and was in reach of the Watauga settlement across the river. Cummings was a patriot as well as a preacher. He served his county as chairman of its committee of safety in 1775, and was Chaplain of Col. Christian's regiment in the expedition against the Cherokees in 1776. It was his custom to carry his rifle to the pulpit and deposit it in easy reach before he commenced the services of the day.
275. The Presbyterians .- The Presbyterian Church laid great stress on the orthodoxy and learning of its ministry. It was early divided into "Old Side" and "New Side," chiefly on these questions. Though this breach was healed in 1758, the differences which gave rise to it still existed when Tennessee was admitted to the Union in 1796. Abingdon Presbytery had been formed in 1785. In 1786 it was divided into Abingdon and Transylvania Presbyteries, the latter being composed of David Rice, Thomas Craighead, Adam Rankin, Andrew McClure, and John Crawford, and embracing the Cumberland settle- ments of Tennessee, in which Craighead had located in 1783. Of the ministers who formed Abingdon Presbytery. Charles Cummings. Samuel Doak. Edward Crawford, Joseph Lake, and James Balch held the opinions of the "Old Side," while Hesekiah Balch. John Coussan. Samuel Carrick. Robert Henderson, and Gideon Blackburn entertained the more liberal views of the "New Side." Hesekiah Balch was brought before the Presbytery for teaching "Hopkinsianism." The "Old Side" ministers above mentioned were so dissatisfied with the
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