USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee the making of a state > Part 7
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see, and Sevier promised to prevent any further encroach- ments upon them. He' made a speech deprecating and deploring the animosities existing between the white and the red man. In addition to this, nearly all who had held county offices under North Carolina were continued in the enjoyment of their honors.
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CHAPTER XI.
STATE OF FRANKLIN.
WHEN the news of the separation reached North Caro. lina, Governor Martin sent Major Sammel Henderson as a kind of confidential agent to the new State to learn the true extent of the disaffection. But before Henderson's return, Governor Martin received an official declaration of independence signed by the Governor and General Assembly of the new State. Martin, in reply, issued a manifesto to the inhabitants of Franklin, in which he calmly and dispassionately reviews and refntes the vari- ous causes of discontent which had been advanced to justify separation. One of the most decisive had been the failure of the government to send goods promised the Indians in payment of their lands, in consequence of which failure the latter had committed serious depreda- tions. The goods in question had merely been delayed by the act of cession, and would be delivered in due time. The hostilities of the Indians were attributed to provo- cations given by the settlers, notably the murder of one of their chiefs by Hubbard. The manifesto closed with a threat : "North Carolina's resources are not yet so ex- hausted or her spirits damped but she may take satisfac- tion for this great injury received, regain her government over the revolted territory, or render it not worth possess- ing." The name of the chief to whose murder Governor Martin alluded in his manifesto was Untoola or Gun Rod. To the whites he was known as Butler. The circumstances attending his death have been preserved, and give us a vivid picture of one phase of the life of those days.
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
There lived in Watanga a man by the name of James Hubbard, a wild, vindictive character, whose parents had been murdered by the Indians whilst he was a boy, and the passion of whose life was an unending and deadly revenge. He was just such a character as we are familiar with in the highly-wrought sketches of Mr. Sylvanus Cobb and the " New York Weekly." Hubbard possessed, in an eminent degree, the coolness, courage, and wily cun- ning of the white man turned savage. He could practice and had practiced for years, and successfully, the strate- gies of single-handed warfare, and excelled the boldest and shrewdest of the race he hated. The Indians knew him and feared him more than any man of his time, not excepting, perhaps, Simon Kenton and Daniel Boone. In an encounter with Butler, Hubbard had disarmed him, and harboring, perhaps, an unusually bitter hatred, had taken his weapon from him and sent him back to his peo- ple. This was a disgrace so degrading, so Immiliatingly low, that a white man cannot adequately grasp its extent. The death of him who had caused the disgrace could alone wash it even partially ont. During a cessation of hostili- ties between the Cherokers of the upper towns and the set- tlers, corn became scarce. The index of emigrants had been too rapid. Several parties visited the Indian towns to obtain a supply, - among the rest. Hubbard and a com- panion. Hubbard selected the village of which Butler had been chief, hoping perhaps to gloat over him in his degradation. Butler heard of his approach and quietly slipped away from Citico with a friend. He met Hubbard and his companion leading their horses, which were heav- ily laden with articles to be bartered for corn. Butler and his companion were on horseback, the founer armed with a double-barreled ritle. As soon as Hubbard saw the two approaching, he put his associate on his guard. As Butler rode up he demanded, with an air of insult, the object of the visit to lis people's country. Hubbard,
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STATE OF FRANKLIN.
appreciating the need of the settlers for corn, and desiring to avoid anything which would bring on a renewal of hos- tilities, answered civilly that he had come to buy corn, and showed an empty sack. He at the same time drew forth a bottle of whiskey, and invited Batler and his friend to take a drink. Butler made no reply, but gazed at his enemy with burning eyes. No other word was uttered. In showing the bag and taking out the bottle, Hubbard had leaned his rifle against a small tree near him, hoping to propitiate Butler by this act of confidence. The latter now attempted to ride up to Hubbard, evidently with the design of getting between him and his gun. Hubbard quietly laid his hand upon the muzzle of his rifle. IIc turned calmly towards Butler as if to invite his attack by his own composure. There was an air of lofty assurance and of self-confidence in his manner which reminded the savage of the former contest. Blind with rage, he aimed a blow at his enemy, who adroitly avoided it. Butler then raised his gun and fired. Hubbard caught the sight and the line of the bullet and bent his head to one side. The bullet cut a sear in his temple. Butler had immediately wheeled his horse, and was eighty yards distant when Hubbard pulled his trigger. Butler fell from his horse wounded but not dead. His companion escaped. Hub- bard, who was brave but not generous, raised his foe and leaned him against a trec. Having failed to extract any information from Butler, and irritated by his raunts, he cleft his skull with his riffe barrel. The Indians retal- iated, and to this, rather than the stoppage of the goods, Governor Martin attributed the Indian hostilities.
The temperate tone of Governor Martin's manifesto gained new adherents for the cause of North Carolina, but the general sentiment of the people still turned towards independence as the least of several evils. All admitted that permanent connection with North Carolina way out of the question. If ceded by North Carolina the
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
publie lands would go to enrich the federal treasury. If admitted as an independent State or Colony with the rest, these would acerue to its own benefit. This reason out- weighed all others for the time, and the large majority of the people remained firm in their position, despite Gov- ernor Martin's manifesto. Having assumed this attitude, they felt in some degree irritated by the threats he had uttered. Sevier's reply to Martin's manifesto was ad- dressed to Governor Caswell, his successor. It was deei- sive, direct, and uncompromising. Without indulging in the rhetorical generalities which distinguish most official documents of that day, he stated forcibly and clearly the views of the question which obtained in Franklin, and an- swered categorically the arguments in Martin's manifesto.
Governor Caswell's reply I was well calculated to allay irritation by waiving any further discussion of the ques- tion until the meeting of the North Carolina Assembly. As regards the distribution of goods intended for the In- dians, Governor Caswell expressed his readiness to dis- tribute them in case the militia under Sevier's command be placed under his control. Sevier in his reply ignored this proposition, but informed the governor of North Car- olina that the legislature of the State of Franklin had appointed a commissioner to wait upon the North Carolina Assembly. The people of the new State had not ceased their preparations, and by the time the assembly of North Carolina met, had strengthened and rendered more com- pact their internal organization. An attempt was made at this time by the inhabitants of Virginia along the Washington District border, to secede from Virginia and unite with the new State, but it was frustrated by the prompt action of Patrick Henry, who was then governor.
In the mean time an active discussion was carried on in the young State, relative to the proposed form of constitu- tion. A committee appointed at the last convention had 1 Caswell succeeded Martin.
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drawn up a constitution, which was, no doubt, intended to inaugurate a radical departure in American constitutional history. But when made public, it met with universal objection. It is too long to be given in full, and occupies too small a position in the history of institutions to deserve more than a cursory review. It was a visionary scheme, withont coherence, and possible only in the minds of those who had an imperfect understanding of the science of government. It is sufficient to say that there was to be but one legislative body, and that only land-owners were eligible. Lawyers, ministers of the gospel, and doctors were ineligible. The name of the State was Frankland. A university was to be erected, endowed with lands, and a tax laid on every pound of indigo carried out of the State, every barrel of flour, and every hogshead of tobacco. These were the chief innovations and caused its defeat. The very name of Frankland sounded odd and strange. Why so many checks and counter-checks, it was asked ? Why should there be no senate ? Why should doctors he excluded from the legislature ? Lawyers are supposed to be the best judges of law, why should they be excluded from law-making ? These and countless other objections caused the overwhelming rejection of the new constitu- tion, and when the convention assembled at Greeneville, in November, 1785, it was at once voted down. Sevier proposed the constitution of North Carolina, under which the State was being organized, and it was adopted with a few slight changes. The name of Franklin was retained in honor of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. The next step taken . was to appoint William Cocke. afterwards senator from Tennessee, and one of the most eloquent orators of the Southwest, to present the constitution to Congress with a inemorial requesting to be admitted as a State. How. ever, Congress ignored both the message and the mes- senger. Shortly after the adoption of the constitution for the new State, the North Carolina Assembly met at New-
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
bern and passed an act of oblivion in favor of those who would return to their allegiance, and invited the revolted counties to send representatives to the General Assembly of the parent State. The moderate tone of this act tended greatly to allay irritation, and increased the favorable im- pression made by Governor Martin's manifesto and Gov- ernor Caswell's letter. The reaction had set in, and rea- sons, which in the first moment of excitement had been regarded as of no importance, were now brought forward as new, unimpeachable by fair-minded logie, and conclu- sive upon all but fools and office-holders. In Washington County a senator and two representatives to the North Carolina General Assembly were elected on the third Fri- day of August, 1786. The names of those voting were enrolled, and from now on, says Haywood, opposition to the new State " put on a more solemn and determined aspect than it ever had done before." John Tipton was elected senator, and James Stuart and Richard White were elected to the House of Commons.
Tipton, even before his election, had gradually been coming forward as the leader of the North Carolina party. Ile had been one of the inangurators of the new move- ment, and had been a member of nearly every meeting of elective delegates until the absolute formation of the government of the new State. He was a member of the convention of fifteen which had drafted the unfortunate constitution of the State of Frankland. This change of mind may have been cansed by the logic of events, but it is more probable that the change was due to his jealousy of Sevier. The two men can scarcely be compared. Tip- ton was indeed a brave man, but he lacked intellectual force. Envy of Sevier's popularity was the ruling motive of his character. He was vindictive, relentless, and even malignant. One of the last aets of his official life was an attempt to destroy the reputation for honesty of Sevier, at that time governor of Tennessee. He lacked the ardent
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STATE OF . FRANKLIN.
generosity and fiery impetuosity of the latter, though his anger was quickly and easily inflamed. He felt peculiarly fitted for command and the leadership of great enter- prises. He had experienced the bitterness of seeing Sevier, year after year, called to take the lead in all civil as well as military crises. His hatred of Sevier was In- dian-like in its intensity, and his threat to have him shot, after the collapse of the State of Franklin, was made with the determination of having it carried out. He was de- terred only by appeals to his reason and his self-interest. He always thought of Sevier as one who had warped his career and reaped the reward which else would have fallen to his own share. After Robertson's departure, there was none who could have contested the leadership of the frontier with Tipton but Sevier.
When Sevier, upon receipt of his commission as briga- dier-general of the newly erected district, stood upon the steps of Jonesboro court-house and advised the people to return to their allegiance, Tipton stood firm to the cause of the new State. But when Sevier, yielding to the die- tates of his own inclinations and the persuasions of his friends, returned to the cause which it was popularly sup- posed he had deserted, Tipton wavered. When Sevier was elected governor of the new State, his rage knew no bounds. Hle allowed himself to be hurried into extrem- ities of resistance to the new government which frequently caused the shedding of blood and possibly loss of life. He held court at Buffalo near Jonesboro, under the au- thority of the parent State. On one occasion, he entered the court-house at Jonesboro, captured the records, and turned the justices out of doors. He broke up a court sit- ting in Greeneville, under the authority of the new State. IIe had a personal altereation with Sevier on the streets of Jonesboro. When elections were held for the General Assembly of North Carolina, he was elected senator in the expectation of at last entering upon a career where he
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
would no longer be thwarted by the magnetism of manner and the brilliancy of mind which the populace loved and admired in his rival.
After the election of Tipton, the contest became more spirited, thongh only those in high office appear, as a rule, to have taken a tragie view of it. To the people it was rather a matter to be decided by moral influence than an appeal to the ultimate arbitrament of force. The. conflicts were for the most part with the fists, frequently resulting in minor mutilations. The sheriffs of the opposing fac- tions were selected with reference to their physical prow- ess. There is no authentie record of death resulting from this cause. Bishop Asbury speaks of having heard of it, but nothing more detinite has come down. Still, the con- fusion and anarchy were no less than if there had been frequent and deadly brawls. It was a daily occurrence for one faction to rob the other of the records of their county. Many valuable papers and deeds were thus lost. Marriages solemnized under the laws of one party were not recognized as valid by the other.' Executors and ad- ministrators were in despair, not knowing which court to account to. No one knew where to apply for probation of wills, the approval of bonds, the recording of deeds, the paying of taxes. As a result no taxes were paid at all. The new State, needing a medium of exchange hav- ing a more widely recognized element of negotiability than raccoon and beaver skins, gave Charles Robertson
1 The State of Tennessee subsequently passed an act making valid marriages contracted under the authority of the State of Franklin. This perhaps is the origin of the statement inade by several writers, that North Carolina passed an act to legalize the unions entered into by the carlier settlers, or "children of the forest," who, without law or guspel, agreed to live together as man and wife. No such act . was ever passed by North Carolina, and I have been unable to find any " proof of the existence of such unions. Preachers were among the earliest comers, as for instance, Cuminings, Doak, Balch, Carrick, and Houston.
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STATE OF FRANKLIN.
liberty to coin $20,000 in specie. War was levied against the Indians, and all the attributes of absolute sovereignty exercised. But the difficulties surrounding the new gov- ernment were steadily growing greater and more decided. The reaction was more pronounced than ever. and the supporters of Sevier's administration remarked with acri- monious chagrin that the defection was most injurious among those who had helped found the young State. Sevier finally appointed Cocke and Campbell, the most able and respected of his adherents, commissioners to treat with the legislature of North Carolina for a separa- tion, and to devise some means of extricating the new Commonwealth of Franklin from the increasing dangers which threatened its existence. Sevier sent them with a mild and civilly worded address to the Governor of North Carolina, but in no respect wavering in his attitude of determination to preserve the separate independence of the State which had made him its governor.
Judge Campbell, having suffered some personal injury, was unable to go, but sent a kind of diplomatie document in his stead, in which he reviewed the arguments of both sides, and urged the confusion which would arise in mat- ters of litigation that had been decided by the courts of Franklin.
Cocke, however, made his way to Fayetteville, and, according to the custom of English parliamentary usage. was allowed to appear at the bar of the House of Com- mons of North Carolina and plead the cause he had come to represent.
Those who dwell with pleasure only on the grand and the sublime, and who see suldimity and grandeur only in the stupendous and the overpowering, will find Cocke's appearance before the legislature of North Carolina a very tame and colorless affair. It affected only a few thousand mountaineers beyond the Alleghanies. But to the true imagination, which mees grandeur in ideas, and sublimity
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in the destiny of a people, it will indeed seem to be one of the finest and most suggestive spectacles in the annals of American States. Cocke's speech had been carefully pre- pared, and it was feelingly delivered. In itself it deserves a high rank among the forensic displays of an age fertile in orators distinguished for the force, brilliancy, and pas- sion of their oratory. The circumstances under which he spoke were full of contrasts. Many of his hearers were fresh from the battle-fields of the Revolution, where they had vindicated the principles for which he now sued. He pleaded the cause of a people, who, from small begin- nings, had grown into a commonwealth, untried perhaps, and occupying a circumscribed province, but compact, self- reliant, and eager to vindicate its right to forin a new State among the republics of the western world. They had gone into the wilderness; they had met and conquered, almost single-handed and alone, the fiercest and most war- like of the tribes who inhabited the Valley of the Missis- sippi. They had extorted the admiration of the greatest of American orators,1 by their unflinching courage on every field of battle and against every foe. They had risked their lives to redeem from foreign subjection those who were now refusing them the right of making their own laws and regulating their own affairs. They had been as a bulwark for the Mother State against the at- tacks of a foe whose craft, cunning, and bloodthirsty barbarism were the terror of the American people. He dwelt upon every point whose emphasis would appeal fa- vorably to any passion, sentiment, or thought of his hear- ers, - the reasons which had actuated those who had formed the new State, the dread of Indian hostilities, the neglect of the parent State, the conditional cession. IIe reviewed the position of those who in North Carolina had made the cession and then retracted it and pointed out its inconsistencies - throwing the Watauga people beedlessly
1 Patrick Henry.
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STATE OF FRANKLIN.
away without their consent, and now demanding that they return against their will, granting them the right of becom- ing a State and then denying that they were able to become one. He dwelt upon the distance of the Franklin people from the home government, their exposed position. the in- possibility of exercising promptly and efficiently the func- tions of government from the capitals of North Carolina, the failure of that State to provide the means of defense against either internal dissensions or external dangers. Indians were not of the number of those who issue decla- rations before commencing hostilities and observe the usages of civilized warfare. In the midst of peace, in the gathering of harvests, the war-whoop is often heard when least expected. But two courses were open. Either let the parent State provide with the necessary generosity for the urgent needs of the colony they held in the trammels of an unwilling union, or let her give them free play for the exercise of those qualities which had won them pros- perity and given them strength without external aid, counsel, or suggestion. Judging the future by the past, he would not hesitate to say that the first was an improh- able contingency. It remained for them to decide upon the second.
Cocke's eloquence, however, failed to accomplish the object of his mission. He modified, perhaps, the eager- ness of the sentiment which demanded expiation for the insult to offended sovereignty, and gained a few minor concessions, but nothing more. The General Assembly at once passed an art of oblivion, such as had been passed once before, and also allowed those who had suffered in- juries by decisions respecting property incompatible with justice to have their common law remedy. Certain pro- visions were made as to officers in the revolted counties. Those in office at the time of the revelt who were still in- cumints were continued, but all others who had accepted ofice under the State of Franklin were displaced, and
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
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their positions were to be filled by appointments. The general indignation of the older inhabitants was excited by this last clause, as those who held offices under the State of Franklin were, as a rule, those who had been most conspicuous in the Indian and Continental wars. Judge Campbell, in a letter to Governor Caswell, says : "The majority of the people of Franklin proclaim, with a degree of enthusiastic zeal, against a reversion to your State. Indeed, I am at a loss to conjecture whether your Assembly wished us to revert; if so, why did they treat the old faithful officers of this country with so much con- tempt? Officers who have suffered in the common cause, who have been faithful in the discharge of the trust re- posed in them, have been displaced without even the for- mality of a trial."
Evan Shelby was to be commander of the brigade. All taxes due and unpaid in the disaffected counties since 1794 were remitted. As a measure of conciliation, this last was the happiest stroke of policy possible under the circumstances, but as a measure of statesmanship it was a fatal blunder. This was among the first instances of that remission of taxes which became a standing featuro of legislative history in Southwestern States deriving their laws and institutions from North Carolina. An overflow, a severe hurricane, a pestilence, any cause was sufficient to call forth from the afflicted locality a petition to be released from bearing its portion of the general burdens of government.
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CHAPTER XII.
END OF THE STATE OF FRANKLIN.
ONE of the first acts of the legislature of Franklin had been to erect several new counties, one of which, lying west of the north fork of the Holston, had been taken from Sullivan County and named Spencer. The General : Assembly, ignoring the nomenclature of its trans- Alpine or trans-Appalachian rival, had erected the same district or division of territory into a county and given it the name of. Hawkins. After the remission of taxes, the North Carolina officials in Washington, Sullivan, and Hawkins Counties, both elective and appointive, gained a decided aceretion of strength, and although the Franklin organization still continned, its adherents became dis- heartened, and either avoided conflicts with the North Carolina or Tipton men, or entered into the contest with much less eagerness and aeridity than before. In Greene County, where Sevier then resided, no one was found! willing to accept a North Carolina commission, and there alone the State of Franklin held undisputed sway.
There were still elements, however, of sufficient strength to leave the crisis one of imminent danger. The North Carolina legislature had adjourned, having passed such measures as it was supposed would quiet the agitation. But no provision had been made for the contingency of a failure. Practically the attempt to quell the revolt had failed. It would now be nearly a year before the reas- sembling of the North Carolina General Assembly; and those whose interests were at stake, and who foresaw, with
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