USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume I > Part 2
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JAMES ROBERTSON, one of the men who paved the way for civilization in what is now the great State of Ten- nessee, was born in Brunswick county, Va., June 28, 1742. When he was about eight years of age his parents removed tc North Carolina, settling in Wake county, not far from the city of Raleigh. In that day schools were few in number and inferior in character, so that his education was acquired chiefly in the woods and in cultivating the frontier farm, supplemented by reading such few books as came into his hands. His in- clination was far more in the direction of adventure than study. Surrounded as he was in his youth by miles of un- broken forests, he early felt a desire to explore their hidden recesses, and, like Alexander the Great, sighed for new worlds to conquer. When he was about twenty-five years old he mar- ried Charlotte R. Reeves, but even home ties could not curb the adventurous spirit. About two years after his marriage the neighborhood where he lived was visited by Daniel Boone, who described in eloquent language the beauty and fertility of the country, beyond the mountains to the westward. The settlers selected Robertson to go with Boone, examine the country and report. Accordingly, in the early spring of 1769, equipped with the long rifle that was a part of every frontiers- man's outfit, a goodly supply of powder in a large horn, a
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pouch well filled with bullets, a bag of parched corn and a tin cup, and mounted on a good horse, he set out on his mis- sion. They crossed the Blue Ridge and descended into what was then the Watauga country in North Carolina, now Eastern Tennessee, where they found a settler in the person of William Bean, who had first visited the region with Boone some eight or ten years before. A hunter and trapper named Honeycutt had also pitched his cabin in the valley, not far from the "Watauga Old Fields." Pleased with the prospect, Robertson decided to stop there and plant a crop of corn. This he did, making his home with Bean and Honeycutt until the corn was ready to gather in the autumn. When his corn was safely stored he set out on his return to Wake county, taking with him a good supply of parched corn and a small amount of dried venison, as he was to depend upon his trusty rifle to sup- ply him with meat on the homeward journey. Unfortunately, the fall rains set in about this time, and before he knew it his powder was thoroughly soaked. He placed the powder horn next to his skin and tried to dry the precious grains with the warmth from his body, but all in vain. This reduced him to the necessity of living on short rations, while he made all speed to reach home before his food gave out entirely. As he saw his little store of parched corn daily growing smaller he tried to eke out a subsistence by gathering the nuts of the chestnut and beech trees, but the time lost in hunting the nuts only de- layed his arrival at home, so that little was gained by the process. Near the western base of Yellow mountain exhausted nature gave way, and he sank unconscious to the ground. He was found in this condition by two hunters, who revived him, remained with him until he fully regained his strength. then gave him a supply of powder and accompanied him a short distance to see that he was all right, after which they dis- appeared in the forest. Robertson never learned the names of his rescuers. The following spring he led a party of eighty men, women and children, with a number of cattle and horses, to the Watauga country, where they founded a settlement. The corn Robertson had raised the previous season served to furnish bread and food for the animals. while the men depended
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upon the game with which the forests abounded for a supply of meat. They thought they were in the State of Virginia, and it was not until the spring of 1772 that they learned they were in the Cherokee country. In that year the line of 36' 30' was run by John Donelson, whose daughter afterward became Mrs. Andrew Jackson, and it was found that the settlement was some thirty miles south of the Virginia boundary. By this time the settlement numbered some 200 people, with about 40 able-bodied men among them. The Cherokees made no objec- tion to the whites living in their country, and so far the most amicable relations had existed between the two races. But the white people wanted to own their homes and not be dependent upon the whim of an Indian chief, which might at any time change. To add to their discomfiture, King George III. had. in October, 1763. issued an edict. forbidding private persons from purchasing lands from the Indians. Soon after the line had been established the British Indian agent, Alexander Cameron, visited the settlement, informed the whites that they were trespassers on the Cherokees and that they must vacate or they would be removed by British troops. In the meantime the little colony had been joined by John Sevier and the Shelbys, Evan and Isaac, father and son. Robertson had come to be by common consent the leader of the colony, but upon the arrival of Sevier the honors were divided between them. ·Cameron took Sevier and Robertson to one side and intimated in rather broad terms that on payment of a certain sum to him they would be allowed to remain unmolested. Both scorned the idea of a bribe, and the agent departed. Then the settlers decided to evade the king's order by leasing the lands from the Indians. A council was accordingly called and an agree- ment made by which the whites were to have undisputed pos- session of the Watauga Old Fields for a term of eight years. in consideration of goods amounting to about $5.000. When this agreement was ratified several days were spent in festiv- ities. On the last day, while a game of ball was in progress, a shot was fired from ambush and one of the most popular of the young Cherokee braves fell to the earth a corpse. The Indians immediately withdrew, highly offended to think that
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they had been betrayed. They were unarmed, or a tragedy might have been enacted then and there. Investigation de- veloped the fact that the shot had been fired by a man named Crabtree. whose brother had been murdered some time before by another tribe, and he chose this inopportune time to wreak his revenge. No sooner had the Indians left than a council was called and it was decided to send Robertson to them to explain matters, and if possible regain their good-will. His mission was to travel alone for 150 miles through the forest, where danger might lurk behind every tree, to Echota, the village of Oconostota, the head chief of the Cherokees. But Robertson was a man who never shrank from danger nor shirked a duty. Kissing his wife good-by, he set out on his perilous undertaking. When near Echota he fell in with a trapper named Isaac Thomas, who was a warm friend of Oconostota. Robertson remained with Thomas all night and the next morning his host accompanied him to the Indian village. A council was called, and although Robertson could see on the faces of the Indians looks that boded him no good. he walked fearlessly into the council circle. He explained that the traitor who fired the fatal shot did not belong to his com- pany, that he would be found and punished by the whites, who desired to treat their red brethren as friends, and that the Cher- okees were always welcome to visit the settlement. As he proceeded several expressive "Ughs!" were heard around the council, and when he had finished Oconostota rose and said : "What our white brother says is like the truth. What say my brothers? Are not his words good?" And from the as- sembled chiefs came back the reply immediately: "They are good!" The incident is mentioned here to show the influence Robertson had over the Indians. He had to remain for several days with the Cherokees, though he knew that his friends. especially his wife, would count the hours until he returned. During his absence Sevier built a fort, covering about an acre of ground, the four sides being strong log cabins con- nected by a heavy stockade, so that if Robertson failed to ap- pease the wrath of the Indians the settlers would be in a position to defend themselves. After Robertson made his visit
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to Echota the settlement enjoyed four years of peace and pros- perity, though both Robertson and Sevier took part in what was known as Lord Dunmore's war, fighting against Comstalk at the mouth of the Kanawha, where Isaac Shelby turned the tide of battle by a flank movement. By another treaty with the Cherokees, March 17, 1775, the colony bought the land where the Watauga settlement stood, but in some way some of the Indian chiefs. among whom was Oconostota, became dissatis- fied with the terms of sale. On July 21, 1776. the fort was attacked by a large force of Cherokees under Oconostota, but, after a siege of twenty days, the chief, hearing that reinforce- ments were on the way to the relief of the fort, withdrew. None of the settlers who remained within the fort during the siege were hurt, but the forty rifles in the hands of skilful marksmen wrought fearful havoc among the savages. In the spring of 1779 Robertson, accompanied by seven white men and one negro, made a trip to the Bluffs, or French Lick. on the Cumberland river, which place had been visited by Kasper Mansker some ten years before. Being favorably impressed with the location as a suitable site for a settlement, he next went to Illinois to secure from George Rogers Clark "cabin rights" for the colonists he proposed to bring to the Cumber- land valley. Upon his return to Watauga it was decided to send the women and children with a suitable guard by water, by way of the Tennessee, Ohio and Cumberland rivers, while another party, composed exclusively of men. made their way overland. This overland party was led by Robertson in per- son, and left Watauga in November, 1779. It consisted of 200 men, well mounted and armed, and equipped with the necessary supplies and utensils for establishing a new settle- ment. The party reached the Bluffs on Christmas day. and at once began the construction of a fort. This was the begin- ning of Tennessee's capital. The old fort stood at what is now the foot of Church street, in the city of Nashville. The other party, consisting of thirty-three men and about 130 women and children. under the leadership of John Donelson. already mentioned. did not embark on the Tennessee river until Dec. 22. 1779, owing to the delay occasioned by the construc-
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tion of pirogues or dugouts for the voyage. The troubles en- countered by this party were numerous and grave. All along the banks of the Tennessee were Indian villages, and the emi- grants were frequently fired upon. On one occasion, while hugging the shore opposite the village, they were fired upon from ambush at short range and several were wounded. But a fearful retribution was visited upon the savages. Several of the whites were afflicted with small-pox and were placed in a boat by themselves. This boat was made to keep some dis- tance behind the others. It was attacked by the Indians and all the inmates killed. The disease spread among the tribe, and hundreds fell victims to its ravages. The party that had gone out under Robertson had about given up all hope of ever seeing their relatives again, as the whole winter passed with- out tidings from Donelson. But on April 24, 1780, the com- munity was startled by the roar of the little four-pounder on board the Adventure, the largest scow in Donelson's fleet, and in a little while families were reunited and the settlement at Nashville took on new life. The hardships of that colony were severe. Over sixty of the whites were killed by preda- tory gangs of Indians and a considerable number returned to North Carolina. Those who remained implored Robertson to abandon the enterprise, but with that dogged determination which was characteristic of the man he declared that he would remain, even if every one else left the place. A sudden rise in the Cumberland river destroyed a large portion of their first crop. and this added to their sufferings. Robertson, tak- ing three men with him, traversed the woods lying between him and Kentucky, keeping a sharp lookout for hostile Indians. found his old friend, Daniel Boone, and from him obtained a supply of provisions. In April, 1781, the place was at- tacked by about 1,000 Cherokees. Some time was spent in warring or negotiating with them. as well as with the Chick- asaws and Choctaws, and he had hardly established amicable relations with those tribes when the Creeks. under the noto- rious half-breed, Alexander McGillivray, incited by the Span- ish authorities of Louisiana. began hostile demonstrations against this frontier settlement. For three years Robertson
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stood out against fearful odds, receiving reinforcements at different times, until in 1784 he had an army of some 500 men. whose valor and marksmanship could not be surpassed. He received numerous invitations from the Spanish to unite with them in forming a separate government in the Mississippi valley, but his patriotism was of that unflinching kind that re- jected all such offers. The troubles with the Indians con- tinued until 1796, and during the latter part of the contest he held the commission of the United States as a brigadier- general. He died in the Chickasaw country, Sept. 1,. 1814. A few years ago a monument was erected to his memory at Nashville, and was unveiled with suitable ceremonies.
WILLIAM BRIMAGE BATE, United States senator from Tennes- see, is a native of that state, having been born near Castalian Springs, Sumner county. Oct. 7, 1826. The section of the state in which he was born is said to be the most beautiful and attractive part of Tennessee. Including Senator Bate, Sumner county has furnished the State of Tennessee three governors. He was educated at Old Rural academy, work- ing on the farm during vacations. His father, James H. Bate. died when William was about fifteen years old and the mother devoted herself to the training and education of her children .. After two or three years more of study. William secured a clerkship on the steamboat Saladin, plying between Nashville and New Orleans. When the Mexican war broke out in 1846. he was in New Orleans, and although not yet twenty years of age he at once enlisted in a Louisiana regiment, thus becoming the first Tennessee volunteer to reach the front. When his term of enlistment in the Louisiana regiment expired he was made first lieutenant of Company I. Third Tennessee infantry, and was assigned to duty as adjutant of the regiment. and served as such until the end of the war. He then returned to
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his home county, where he took up farming, but he was not content along these lines and established at Gallatin, Tenn., a weekly Democratic paper, called the Tenth Legion, and soon gained famie as its editor. The times were such as to bring into action the best posted men of the day. A determined political contest was on and young Bate was elected to the legislature in 1849. the year that Gen. William Trousdale, a hero of the war of 1812, defeated that brilliant Whig, Neill S. Brown, for governor. Hon. Landon C. Haynes, afterwards a Confederate senator from Tennessee, was speaker of the house. After the adjournment of the legislature, Mr. Bate returned to his home and passed the summer working on the farm and studying. In the fall he entered the law school at Lebanon and graduated in 1852. In the meantime he had sold the Tenth Legion to Col. Thos. Boyers, and at the age of twenty-five years he opened a law office in Gallatin, where he soon established a lucrative practice. He was elected attorney- general for the judicial district composed of the counties of Davidson, Sumner and Williamson, one of the most important in the state at that time, and his work was of such a character that he was offered a re-election without opposition, but declined, preferring to practice in a private capacity. In 1859 he was tendered the Democratic nomination for Congress but declined on account of holding the office of attorney-general. He served as district elector on the Breckinridge and Lane ticket in the presidential campaign of 1860. He was a firm believer in the doctrines of State rights and secession in 1861 and volunteered as a private in Company I, Second Tennessee infantry. Soon after the organization. was perfected he was made captain and later was commissioned colonel of the regi- ment. The regiment went to Virginia in May of 1861, and . with his experience in the war of Mexico he soon made of it one of the best in the service. He rose to the position of brigadier-general, then major-general in the Confederate army. He was severely wounded at Shiloh, where his cousin. Dr. Humphrey Bate, was also wounded, and his younger brother, Capt. Humphrey Bate, was killed. Altogether five of the family lay on the field at one time. In the two-days' battle of
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Chickamauga, General Bate lost fifty-two per cent. of his brigade, the largest brigade loss in the army, and had three horses killed under him. He was distinguished for his gallantry in that engagement and was equally conspicuous at Missionary Ridge, where he held the line to the right of General Bragg's headquarters, in front of which there was such a slaughter of the Federal forces. His command was the last of the Confederates to leave that line and promptly formed one in the rear, which drove from its front the advancing Federal lines. He served with distinction under Gen. Joe Johnston, in the "hundred days' battle" in Georgia, in 1864, and was at Murfreesboro, Franklin and Nashville, and in 1865 at Bentonville, N. C., where he surrendered when the war closed. He was one of the few who remained in the field on crutches from 1862 to the end. During the war he was three times wounded, and had six horses shot under him. In 1863 he was offered the governorship but declined it in a characteristic telegram which set the convention wild and led to the nomination of Judge Carruthers, a man too old to serve in the army. In that telegram he declared: "As a son of Tennessee and a Southern soldier, I would feel dishon- ored in this hour of trial to quit the field. I had rather, amid her misfortunes, be the defender than the governor of Ten- nessee." At the end of the war he resumed his law practice in his old circuit and from the first was employed in nearly every important suit in the courts. his success being almost phenomenal. He rarely lost a case, and so great was his popularity with the public that the court-room was often crowded by those who came to hear him make one of his powerful addresses. In 1874 when the Democrats had a majority in Congress for the first time since 1857, and a United States senator was to be elected from Tennessee to succeed Hon. W. G. Brownlow, ex-President Johnson, a power in Tennessee politics, was a candidate for senator and had made a thorough canvass of the state. In the forty years of his somewhat tempestuous political career he had but twice been defeated for any office for which he had been a candidate before the people. His following in 1875 was made up of
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Union Democrats and Republicans, while the old line Demo- crats had four or five candidates, among them General Bate. Bate led on the Democratic side and by agreement the others retired, leaving him to make the try against the "Great Com- moner." On the first ballot, when the final vote was announced, the result was a tie, and this situation continued for several days, when Governor Brown, one of the Democratic candidates, re-entered the race. This led Bate to withdraw, and Johnson won on the very next ballot. This one vote kept General Bate out of the senate twelve years, but it made him governor of Tennessee for four years; it made possible the appointment of Judge Key to the United States senate, and later to the place of postmaster-general and a Federal judge- ship; it brought about the election of James E. Bailey to the senate in 1877, of Howell E. Jackson in 1881; the appoint- ment of the latter as Federal judge in 1886, and later as an associate justice of the United States supreme court, and it made W. C. Whitthorne a senator by appointment of Governor Bate. Upon so slight a thread do important events hinge at times. In 1876 General Bate headed the electoral ticket at large for Tilden and Hendricks and added new laurels to his reputation as an able and brilliant orator. His friends presented his name for the senatorship in 1877 and again in 1881, but the peculiar workings of political affairs resulted in the election of others, although before the people he would no doubt have been chosen. When, in 1882. everything looked dark for the Democratic party. General Bate unhesitatingly consented to lead what all believed to be a forlorn hope, and accepted the nomination for governor. He entered into the campaign with his characteristic vigor and enthusiasm, made one of the most determined canvasses ever made in Tennessee, and as has been said: "His speeches were like a trumpet call to battle; a divided party responded with a united support, and he was elected by 27,000 majority." His administration was noted for its cleanness and important work. A settlement of $23.000,000 of bonded debt was effected; many other minor but important public matters were handled with signal ability and with such satisfaction to the people that he was re-elected
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in 1884. In IS87 he was elected United States senator; was re-elected in 1893, and in 1899 he was elected for a third term which expires March 4, 1905. When his term expires he will have served longer in the senate than any one from Tennessee with the exception of Isham G. Harris, who served twenty-one years and four months. Joseph Anderson lacked six months of serving eighteen years. Senator Bate's career has been long and brilliant and excelled by that of few men in public life. His work in the senate has been of a high order. He is a student on all questions of public interest and of literature and history. Every speech, and he speaks upon nearly all great questions, is marked for its evident knowledge on the matter involved. Both lines of ancestors are English. The Bates came to Bertie county, N. C., long before the war of the Revolution and several of them took an honorable part in that struggle. On the maternal side the ancestors settled in Maryland and Virginia. His maternal great-grand- father was a soldier in the Continental army and was at the surrender of Cornwallis. He settled in Sumner county, Tenn., on a part of the same land on which Senator Bate was born and reared. Senator Bate was married in 1856 to Miss Julia, daughter of Col. Samuel Peete, of Huntsville, Ala. To this union there have been born four daughters: Jennie died at the age 'of fifteen; Belle, at the age of six; Mazie is the wife of Thomas F. Mastin and resides at Grand View, Tex .; Susie is the wife of O. W. Childs, of Los Angeles, Cal. They reared Lizzie, the daughter of Capt. Humphrey Bate, brother of the senator, and she is the wife of E. M. Williams of Memphis. With success attending him at every step of the way. Senator Bate still finds his greatest happiness in his home life and declares that the happiest time of his life was when, after the war, he lived in a rented house and worked hard to support and care for his family. Senator Bate was elected a senator in Congress for a fourth term in January, 1905. there being no candidate against him.
Senator Bate's death occurred on March 9. 1905, after the above was in type.
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HON. JAMES B. FRAZIER, governor of the State of Tennessee, is a descendant of one of the oldest and most notable families of the state. The first of the name in America came from Scotland and settled in Virginia during the colonial days. From there some of the younger generation went to North Carolina, where Samuel Frazier, the great-grandfather of the governor, was born in the early half of the eighteenth century. His mother was a Miss Rebecca Julien, whose parents were French Huguenots. Samuel Frazier and his son Abner, grandfather of Governor Frazier, both fought at the battle of King's Mountain. It is related of Abner that he ran away from home to join the soldiers. Just before the battle of King's Mountain he came upon the command in which his father belonged, was given a gun and a supply of ammunition, and bravely did his part in repelling or capturing the "redcoats." After the battle he returned home, where his courage was praised by his mother, who gave him an unmer- ciful whipping, nevertheless, for having disobeyed her in running away. Shortly after the Revolution, Samuel Frazier removed with his family to Tennessee, settling in what is now Greene county. He was a delegate to the first constitutional convention held in Tennessee, in the year 1796. Abner Frazier, the grandfather, was a farmer in Greene county all his life after coming to the state. His son, Thomas Neil Frazier, was born on the farm there, May 23. 1810. After such a primary education as the schools of that day afforded he graduated from Greenville college, went to Washington, Tenn .. where he read law with an elder brother, and was admitted to the bar. Soon afterward he was appointed clerk and master of the chancery court of Bledsoe county, by Chancellor Williams of Knoxville, and held the position for several years, finally resigning to resume practice at Pikeville in that county. In 1861 he was elected circuit judge. but before he took his office
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