USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee the making of a state > Part 6
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CHAPTER IX.
CEDED BY NORTH CAROLINA.
ABOUT this time the District of Salisbury was divided by the General Assembly, and Washington and Sullivan, with several other counties, were made a new district by the name of Morgan District. A court of oyer and ter- miner and general gaol delivery was directed to sit at Jonesboro for Washington and Sullivan counties. John Sevier was clerk. The General Assembly of North Caro- lina in 1783 gave a renewed impulse to emigration by reopening the land office which had been closed in 1781. In 1784 the settlement had been extended to Long Creek. The court of quarter sessions of Washington County in this year gave permission to erect a mill on that stream. In the same year we meet with cabins along the banks of the Little and Big Pigeon, and a few settlers had even ventured as far as Boyd's Creek. The class of emigrants now coming in was better provided with the initial mate- rial for wealth and prosperity. The new road into Burke County allowed the passage of wagons. Men of greater family and of larger means could settle in the new coun- try. Honses were built at greater distances from the forts, which till then had been the centres of population as well .as religion and learning. An " old field school" appeared here and there, and oreasionally the traveler, as he passed a log cabin, could see a row of tawny heads and hear the cosmopolitan hie-hre hor which betakened the first glim- mer of mental activity in a community where " book larnin" was ranked infinitely below wood-eraft, and where
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
an accurate aim with the riffe was more ardently appre- ciated than a thorough knowledge of classical antiquities. The friction which comes from the rubbing together in daily contact of many minds and characters was begin- ning to furbish the people. The feeling of dependence in local affairs which precedes the desire of independence in the larger section was strong. It was gradually embra- cing settlement after settlement, erceping from fort to fort, from valley to valley. There was a recognized diver- sity of interests existing between the young and unnamed settlements and the older community of North Carolina. People began to recall the time when the Watauga Asso- ciation was a kind of sovereignty, and when its members dreamed of having its head appointed by the King him- self. The consciousness which in the individual is called the beginning of manhood, but which in a people is called rebellion or independence according to the point of view of the historian, was gradually stealing out from Jones- boro through the' valleys and along the hills among all the people. They began to recognize that North Carolina did nothing for them but dispose of their lands for its debts. All the rest was accomplished through agents and with material furnished by the settlers. But as yet this feeling was dormant. It was soon aroused into life and activity.
It has already been pointed out that the Watauga set- tlement ocenpied a peculiar position in the colonial history of this country, and that like Connecticut it grew into a determinate form of government free from extraneous control or influence. But Connecticut had succeeded by the wise policy of its controlling forces in becoming an independent unit. The Watauga settlement, unable to cope with the hostile forces around it, had been compelled voluntarily to surrender its autonomy in order to find pro- tection in union with a larger and a stronger organization. But the surrender, although voluntary, failed to accom- plish the effect it was designed to accomplish. The old
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Watauga people, romenibeting the achievements of Sevier and Shelly and the glory of King's Mountain, and recog- nizing no adequate return, felt sore and belittled. They were keenly alive to any lack of appreciation, and North Carolina was too strongly immersed in troubles of its own to have much thought of a handful of men beyond the mountains.
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In the April session of 1784, the General Assembly of North Carolina, in accordance with the recommendation of Congress itself as well as with the dictates of a far-seeing and enlightened statesmanship, imitated the example of Virginia and New York, and ceded to the United States all the territory which is now the State of Tennessee. This of course included all the settlements. The condi- tion of the cession was its acceptance by Congress within two years. Until Congress should have accepted the ceded territory, the jurisdiction of North Carolina over it was to remain in every respect the same as heretofore. The Hillsboro land office was closed. North Carolina was in reality weary of the empty honor of having as a part of herself a territory which paid no taxes, which made constant requisition for supplies, which demanded almost a standing army for its protection, and which expected to be reimbursed for the expenses incurred in defending itself. The relations were not unlike those which now exist between England and Canada.
When the question of cession was first broached, it was accepted by the four representatives of the western coun- ties at Hillsboro, as well as by those who proposed it as the natural and legitimate solution of a complex problem. No ono apparently dreamed of opposition on the part of the settlers themselves, and the news of the passage was first brought to the settlement by the representatives who had voted for it. There is no reason to think that the Watauga projde had any objection to the cession. On the contrary, they desired a dissolution of the irksome
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
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bonds which bound them to North Carolina, and were ripe for dissolution. The objection was against the manner of cession and its conditions. Those most interested were not consulted, though this might have been pardoned in view of the fact that their representatives were present and consenting. But the main cause of complaint was that North Carolina had left them without any form of government for two years. Some pretended to believe that no provision had been made for asserting the sov- ereignty of the State during the interval. But all knew that whatever may have been the provisions of the bill, the reality was a worse state of things than had existed before.
A storm of indignation swept through the entire settle- ment. The Watauga pride had been cut to the quick. North Carolina was bitterly reviled, and the most extrav- agant denunciations of her ingratitude and tyranny were heard. No terms of reproach were too severe, no threats were regarded as foreshadowing steps towards an impos- sible revenge. Even the most unprejudiced, even those who regarded the popular indignation as in a measure a ridiculous ebullition of local vanity were alarmed by the impending contingency of two years of lawlessness and disorder. The impression was general and well founded that North Carolina would trouble herself but little about the administration in a section which was soon to pass from her control. The most pressing evil was the lack of a proper judiciary or of an available militia organiza- tion. The Superior Court alone had jurisdiction of fel- onies, and no judge for the western district had ever been appointed. Only a brigadier-general could call out the entire militia of a district, and there was at that time no brigadier-general. An Indian war was always an impend- ing contingency. There was no adequate military organi- zation, no method of compulsory enlistment, no means of collecting taxes. It was confidently expected, and with
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CHIED IN NORTH CAROLINA.
reason, that the country would again be the resort of the thriftles and the lawless - the vagabond and the assas- sin. The people regarded themselves without govern- mont, and, true to the traditions of their race, they sought the solution of the difficulty in their own resources. As naturally as they spoke the language of England, they turned to the laws of England.
It is one of the noteworthy facts in the history of insti- tutions that the possessors of English tradition always begin with the first primal germ of local self-govern- ment at hand, be it court leet, court of quarter sessions, township, county, school district, or military company, and build upward. The Watauga people had nothing so convenient as the militia companies, and they began with them as representing a more minutely varied constituency than the county court. Each company elected two : p- resentatives, and the representatives so elected in cach county formed themselves into a committee, and the three committees of Washington, Sullivan, and Greene counties met as a kind of impromptu or temporary legislature, and decided to call a general convention to be elected by the people of the different counties. This convention met on the 23d of August, 1784, at Jonesboro. John Sevier was elected president, and Landon Carter, secretary. Jolin Sevier is the most prominent name in Tennessee history, and within these limits and upon this field he is the most brilliant military and civil figure this State has ever pro- duced. Jackson attained a larger fame upon a broader field of action, and perhaps his mental scope may appear to fill a wider horizon to those who think his statesmanship equal to his generalship. But the results he accom- plished affected the history of Tennessee only in so far as it formed a part of the United States. Sevier, however, wax purely n Tennessean. He fought for Tennessee, he defined its boundaries, he watched over and guarded it in its loginning, he helped form it, and he exercised a decisivo
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
influence upon its development. It is safe to say that without Sevier the history of Tennessee would in many important respects not be what it now is.
Hle came of a Huguenot family named Xavier, though his immediate ancestors were from England, and the infu- sion of French blood gave him all the vivacity, impet- uosity, ardent sympathies, and suave bearing which are popularly supposed to be characteristic of that nation. In personal appearance he was rather tall, erect, and even when young inclined to robustness. He had the quick flash of eye and the hasty temper of the impetuous char- acter. Ile excelled in the manly accomplishments of the age and surroundings in which he lived. As a horseman he had no equal, and he was fond of showing his craft to the best advantage by riding an animal of temper and mettle. In the art of Indian warfare he had no equal, and he never met a reverse. Mad Anthony Wayne was not a greater terror to the Indians of the Miami than was Sevier to the Indians of the Cumberland and the Tennes- sce. Ilis rule of tactics was extreme caution in the ab- sence or concealment of the enemy, reckless impetuosity in their presence. Governor Blount on one occasion de- clared that " his name carried more terror to the Chero- kees than an additional regiment would have done." To his men he evinced that suave cordiality and well-judged familiarity characteristic of all the great captains of the world. His enthusiasm, his personal daring, his resolute quickness, his knightly disposition, made him the idol of his soldiers and his neighbors. His tenderness to his wife and his generosity to his children were proverbial. His house was always open, and nearly all of his expeditions against the Indians were partly at his own expense or the expense of the family. He was popularly known as " Nol- lichmeky JJack," and the grim mountaineers worshiped him with an extravagance of adoration. They loved him with a warm, almost intense, personal regard which had
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(DID BY SORIN CAROLINA.
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grown from the time when with Robertson he successfully defended the Watanga fort against the largest band of Indians that had ever invaded the settlement, to the time when he had crushed them at Boyd's Creek. Sevier was not skilled in the learning of books, but of the life around him he was a thorough master. He could read the woods and the rivers, and the minds and the thoughts of men, and he knew how to use his knowledge. This was suffi- cient. But it must not be thought that he lacked the rudiments of education. He could write well and forcibly, and though a "spelling bee" of the present day might have put him to the blush, he could spell as well as the . average. Ilis chief claim to a higher order of ability is justified by his clear vision of the present needs of his people, and of the future requirements of the State whose greatness he foresaw. Ile was one of the Committee of Five in the Watauga Association. He saw the necessity of a union between Watauga and North Carolina until the former had sufficient strength to maintain itself against outward encroachments. He wrote the petition for annexation, and he secured its adoption by the Con- gress of North Carolina. He saw the necessity of keep- ing the British troops from the young settlements. IE Ferguson had once passed the Appalachian chain he would have been met with fire and sword. His very mode of warfare made manifest his statesmanship. Of all the men of his time, he alone foresaw and had a determinate idea of the limits of the future State. He foresaw and denounced the ruinous restrictions with which Jay's prop- osition in reference to the navigation of the Mississippi would cripple the commerce of the Mississippi valley and of the young State about to be formed between North Carolina and the Great River. He recognized what should be the logical enlargement of the three original settle- ments. He realized the necessity of a sure and compact growth, and he advocated only such purchases from the
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HIL-TORY OF TENNESSEE.
Indians as could be secured by settlement when purchased. Ile was frequently termed by the Indians "Treaty Maker," and he figured in every treaty of importance which was made until the appearance of Andrew Jackson upon the stage of state history.
It is partly due to the latter that Sevier has been over- clouded. Jackson appeared when Sevier had practically accomplished the work, and he reaped the reward. Jack- son was a bitter man in his temper, relentless and unfor- giving. Sevier was a school-boy in disposition, oscillating between the tear forgot as soon as shed and the sunshine of the breast.1 He could harbor no malice. He was quick and self-assertive in defense. Jackson was quick and self-assertivo in attack. The former was a leader in battle, the foremost of his sokliers. The latter was a leader in war, and his soldiers to him were implements of war, to attack here, to retreat there, to storm a strong hold, to carry a height, to hold a fort. Sevier was a great fighter, Jackson was a great general. The writer has given more space to the character of Sevier than he perhaps would otherwise have been able to do in a work of this size because of the undeserved neglect into which he has fallen in popular esteem. Jackson is a popular figure both in history and among the people. Sevier is almost entirely unknown to the great mass of the people of the State, whose reading goes no farther than the mag- azine and the newspaper. But among historians the re- verse holds good. Parton has all but ruined Jackson's reputation among the thoughtful. Sumner sinks him al- most to the level of a " guerrilla chief " and a cross-road politician. But Sevier has been treated with remarkable indulgence by historians and writers. Haywood, Wheeler, Flint, Ramsey, Monette, and others all recognize differ- ent points in his character, his mind, and his career to praise and exalt. To say that he was in his sphere a
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CIDED BY NORTH CAROLINA.
statesman of the first order of ability, and that as a war- rior he was excelled by none who engaged in the same mode of warfare, and that he never lost a battle, claims for him a high place among the great men of the world. Only he acted on a small stage. There can be no doubt that he is the greatest figure in Tennessee history, and there is as little doubt that outside the mountains and val- leys of East Tennessee he is, from a popular standpoint, as little known as if he had been one of the shepherd kings of Egypt.
When the convention at Jonesboro elected him leader of the movement to form a new State, they did so with a full recognition of his character. Ile was known as one who storined his way through the world, and when he ac- cepted the leadership, those who knew his fiery resolution realized the crisis which had called him to the front. The deputies felt with general satisfaction that the impending responsibility had been shifted upon shoulders amply able to bear it. An intimation of his ability to act well the part assigned him was the conservative reluctance which he evinced to proceed to extreme measures. He favored the end aimed at most heartily, but he reprobated too great haste. After North Carolina removed the most crying of the grievances complained of by the western people, and after it became apparent that provision had been made for maintaining at least the semblance of sov- ercignty umtil Congress accepted the cession, Sevier ad- vised a cessation of the movement. When his advice was disregarded, he threw all hesitation aside, and, like the Southern Unionist at the South when the war began, entered into the contest with carnest zeal.
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CHAPTER X. -
STATE OF FRANKLIN FORMED.
THE data upon which rests our knowledge of the history of the State of Franklin are so meagre that it is impos- sible to follow accurately the progress of events. It is supposed that the convention which met at Jonesboro adopted the resolution to form a "separate and distinct State, independent of the State of North Carolina, at this time." 1 William Cocke was appointed on a committee, either at this or a subsequent meeting, to prepare a plan of association. The one reported was simple and directly suited to the exigencies of the case. Provision was made for the calling of a future convention in which representa- tion was to be according to companies. It was further resolved that clerks having the bonds of public officers should! hold the same until some mode should be prescribed for having their accounts fairly and properly liquidated with North Carolina. Those holling publie moneys were required to render due account of them. The first symp- tom of internal dissension became manifest in the action of Samuel Doak and Richard White, who entered their protest against both these resolutions because, in their opinion, contrary to law.
The plan of holding a convention to form a constitu-
1 A discrepancy between the names of the members who were clected to the first Jonesboro convention and those who voted for this resolution seems to indicate that thisaction may have been taken at a subsequent convention. The proceedings were found in manu- script among the papers of Rev. Samuel Houston, but bear ao date.
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FINIE OF FRANKLIN FORMED.
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tion and provide a name for the new State was then adopted, and Jonesboro appointed as the place of meeting. Each county was to send five delegates. The meeting adjourned, having fairly inaugurated the contest with North Carolina, which still claimed jurisdiction until the expiration of the two years, and whose pride was aroused by the proceedings of the Watauga people. But in the mean while opposition began to develop itself. John Tip- ton grew Inkewarm. Some were opposed to any steps being taken at all, and a great many were opposed to any movement in the direction of separation until all reason- able means had been exhausted in an attempt to accom- plish the separation from the parent State in the incre legitimate channels of peaceful agitation. The natural reverence for established institutions, the fear of violent or radical change, anticipations of unforeseen evils, per- sonal reasons of self-interest dependent upon the existing order of things, a lick of local sensitiveness, all tended. to create a party more or less opposed to the movement just inaugurated. Their opposition was still further in- creased by the action of the legislature of North Carolina. which repealed the act of cession, formed the westera counties, including Davidson, into a judicial district by the - name of Washington District, and appointed an assistant judge and an attorney-general for the Saperior Court to be held at Jonesboro. The militia of Washington Dis- triet was formed into a brigade, and John Sevier was ap- pointed brigadier-general.
For a time it was supposed that this would terminate the agitation in favor of a new State. Even Jolm Sevier thought this was the end. In a letter to Kennedy of Greene County, he says: " I conclude this step will sat- isfy the people with the old State, and we shall pursue no further measures as to a new State." But the revolution could not be turned backwards. There had been too much neglect on the part of the mother, or, as many now said,
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!!!- JORY OF IANESSEE.
the stopanother State. Many of the reasons which justi- find the secession of America from England justified the secession of the western counties from North Carolina. One chief cause of indignation was the fact of being ceded to the confederacy. It must not be forgotten that the United States of America were then a collection of independent States, not unlike the principalities which professed a nominal allegiance to the descendants of Fred- erick Barbarossa, bound together only by treaties which could not be enforced. The general government pos- sessed none of the attributes of administrative strength. The public debt at the close of the war amounted to 842,000,000, and Congress was unable to pay even the interest npon it. Over 8300,000,000 in bills of credit had been issued during the first few years of the war, and in 1780 they had ceased to circulate. It was considered a double disgrace to be the slave of an imbecile.
When the new convention met John Sevier was elected president, and F. A. Ramsey, the father of the historian, was elected secretary. A plan of government was drawn up and adopted and ordered to be submitted to the action of a convention chosen by the people, which was to assem- ble in the latter part of the year at Greeneville. In the mean time, however, it was deemed expedient to make pro- vision for a temporary form of government, and delegates to the legislature of the new and as yet unnamed State were ordered to be elected according to the laws of North Carolina. This legislature met in the early part of 1785, and was the first legislative body that ever assembled in this State. The name of the speaker of the Senate was Landon Carter, and of the clerk, Thomas Talbot. The speaker of the House of Commons, so called, was Wil- liam Cage, and of the clerk, Thomas Chapman. John Sevier was elected governor. David Campbell was elected judge of the Superior Court. The state officers were sco- rotary of state, treasurer, surveyor-general, attorney-gen-
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STATE OF FRANKLIN FORMED.
oral, and brigadier-general of militia. The governor was given a kind of cabinet, called Council of State. County courts were established in both old and new conn- ties. Greene County was divided into three, and two new counties, Caswell and Sevier, erected. A new county, Spencer, was also taken from Sullivan and Greene, and Wayne from Washington. Justices of the peace were appointed. Taxes and poll taxes were levied, and were allowed to be paid in the products of the country at a fixed valuation. Raccoon and fox skins were valued at one shilling and six pence. Clean beaver skins, six shil- lings. Bacon well enred, six pence per pound. Good country-maile butter, one shilling per pound. Good dis- tilled rye whiskey, two shillings six pence per gallon. The salaries of the officers were to be paid in kind or in money of the State of Franklin. Over twenty articles were enu- merated and valned, and were such as would pass from hand to hand almost as readily as enrrency. Acts were passed for the promotion of learning in the county of Washington, to establish a militia, to procure a great seal for the State, to direct the method of eleeting members of the General Assembly, to ascertain the value of gold and silver, foreign coin, and the paper currency in circula- tion in North Carolina, and to declare the same a lawful tender in the State of Franklin, to ascertain the salaries of the public officers, to ascertain the power and anthori- ties of the judges of the different courts and the like.
Governor Sevier, wishing to have his hands free for the contest which he saw impending, at once assembled the Cherokees in order to make treaties with them by which their depredations might be obviated. at least until the difficulty with North Carolina had been definitely settled. He niet them at the mouth of Dumplin Creek, on the north bank of the French Broad. The Indians ceded all the lands south of the Holston and the French Broad to the dividing ridge between Little River and the Tennes-
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
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