USA > Tennessee > Old times; or, Tennessee history, for Tennessee boys and girls > Part 6
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in that county the friends of the new State were much stronger than the other party. The "Old State" men, under the lead of Colonel Tipton, made their head-quartersat Jonesborough, where a majority of the people were of that side. Between these two popular and influential men -Sevier and Tipton-there sprung up a bitter personal hatred, which they manifested upon all occasi nis.
At the end of two years, Governor Sevier's term of office expired, and he became a private citizen. With his usual zeal and activity, however, he was soon at the head of a band of volunteers, driving back the Cherokees, and securing peace and safety to the exposed settle- ment :. Happening about this thae to visit Jonesborough, he was arrested, at the instiga. tion of Colonel Tipton, on a warrant issued under the authority of North Carolina. and taken across the mountains to Morganton, in Burke county, to be tried for high treason. He was considered to be guilty of this crime, be- cause he hal atermatel to overthrow the Ger- ernment of North Carolina in the western counties.
As soon as the news of this proceeding was spread among the people, a company of his
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CHAPTER XXVII.
STATE OF FRANKLIN.
DURING all these difficulties, the Government of North Carolina ated with the utmost pru- dence and forbearance toward the supporters of the new State. Instead of attempting to enforce its rights by an appeal to arms and bloodshed, the General Assembly of that State employed itself in enacting such laws, and making such regulations, as seemed best suited to soothe and conciliate the western people. Among others, it passed an act granting a par- don for all offenses committed against that State, in supporting the Government of Frank- lin. It was also declared that all official acts, done by the officers of Franklia, should be good and valid, as if done by the authority of North Carolina.
As John Sevier was the first, so he was the last, Governor of the State of Franklin. The Lasia- larure never met after his term, and the whale 5
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friends-among them his two sons-armed themselves, mounted their horses, and crossed the mountains, with a determination to bring him back at all hazards. When this party reached Morganton, they found the court in session, and the trial of Governor Sevier going on. The most of them waited outside of the town, while two men rode into the court-yard, leading Sevier's fine race-mare, ready saddled. One of them stayed with the horses, while the other went in, and gave a sign to Sovier, who was sitting in the prisoner's box. He instantly sprung from his seat and out of the door, and in a second was on the back of his favorite racer. There was some appearance of pursuit, but no earnest effort to retake the prisoner, and the Governor and his friends rode home at their leisure.
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organization crumbled to pieces like frost-work. In the act of pardon mentioned above, it was declared that John Sevier should not be allowed to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit, under the State of North Carolina. But this was merely to save appearances. Except a few personal enemies, no one desired that he should be punished or disabled in any way; and the very next year, being elected a member of the General Assembly by the people of Greene county, the law against him was repealed, and he was permitted to take his seat upon the same footing as the other members.
In the meantime, in the year 1787, the pres- ent Constitution of the United States had been formed to take the place of the "Articles of Confederation," and had been accepted by North Carolina, as well as the other States. The counties west of the mountains had been laid off into a Congressional District, and John Sevier was elected the first member of Congress from that District. It appears from the Journal that he took his seat in the Hlail of Lepresent.i- tives on the 16th of June, 1700, as a member from North Carolina. Thus ended the short- lived State of Franklin, and All that is now the State of Tennessee was wania a part of
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North Carolina, with a little exception, which I must mention.
While the State of Franklin was maintained. commissioners acting under its authority, made a treaty with the Cherokees, by which the la ter cerled some territory south of the French Broad River. The territory thus obtained was speedily settled, and organized into the county of Sevier. As the treaty was not made by the authority of North Carolina, and that State would not regard the acts of the State of Franklin as lawful, the county of Sevier, after the downfall of the latter State, was held to be Indian terri- tory; consequently the laws of North Carolina did not extend to it, and the people were left to shift for themselves. By voluntary association they managed to live peaceably and prosper- ously, till, in 1790, the whole country was ceded to the United States.
Before finally closing the history of the State of Franklin, it may be well to notice some little circumstances, which will give a fair and forei- ble idea of the state of the country, in respect to the scarcity of money, and the ordinary way of doing business among the people. The annual salary of Governor S. vier was two hun- dred pounds, and those of the inferior officers in
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proportion. Supposing, as is likely, that North Carolina pounds are meant, then Governor Sevier received just four hundred dollars a year. The Governor of Tennessee now has three thousand-more than seven times as much. .. Judge of the Circuit Court. under the laws of Franklin, was paid three hundred dollars per year for his services: the same officer now gets two thousand.
But farther: all taxes in the State of Frank- lin might, according to law, be paid, not in money, but in articles of country produce at fixed priees. Linsey eloth was to be taken at three shillings per yard; beaver-skins, six shil- lings apiece; fox and raecoon-skins, one shilling and three pence; tallow, six pence per pound; beeswax, one shilling; rye whisky, two shillings and six pence per gallon; country-made sugar, one shilling per pound; deer-skins, six shillings apiece; bacon, six pence per pound; and so of other artieles, As the taxes might be pall in this way, so might the salaries of all the State officers. It used to be said, in waggery, that the Governor was paid in minkskins.
This want of money docs not prove that the people were poor. Their cribs and fields were fall of corn, and their smoke-houses of meat,
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and every traveler was welcomed to all that himself and bis horse could consume. No one thought of receiving pay for a meal of victuals. or, as it used to be expressed, "hog and hem- iny" were free for all eomers. The scarcity of money, arising from the want of foreign trade, caused the people to barter one article for another, instead of selling and buying as we now do. We have seen that, without the in- provements and conveniences of our time, the early settlers of Tennessee displayed the noblest virtues that dignify and adorn human nature. Let us hope that, as we rise above them in re- spect to the former, we may not fall below their standard in the latter.
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENTS.
DURING the existence of the Franklin Gor- ernment, and amidst the political confusion of the times, the western frontier advanced per- haps more rapidly than at any previous period. The War of the Revolution being ended. the soldiers of the North Carolina line came, in great numbers, to the west, to take possession of the lands that had been given to them in payment for their military services. In the year 1787, the settlements extended down the Holston as far as where Knoxville now stands. Among the first settlers in what is now Knox county, are to be found the names of White, Connor, Armstrong, Campbell, Gillespie. Caret, Gilliam, etc. James White occupied and owned the tract of land on which the town of Knox- ville has since grown up.
On the south of Holston, the settlements ex- tended as far west as the Little Tennessee. By
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looking on a map, our young readers will see that the settlements, in what is now East Ten- nessee, were bounded nearly as follows: Com- mencing at the Virginia line, and running south-west along the Alloghany Ridge, as the line now runs between this State and North Carolina, to the head-waters of the Little Tonnersce; from thence north to the present Kentucky line; then east with that line to the beginning, But there were some portions, outside of this line, where there were a few scattered cabins, and some parts inside of it were very thinly settled. The number of white persons then in that whole region was probably thirty thousand -much less than there are now in some single counties of Tennessee.
There was probably no time, in the early history of East Tennessee, when the frontiers Were more securely guarded against Indian hostilities, than under the Franklin Govern- meut. Still, now and then, a family would be murdered by skulking Cherokees, and more frequently horses, catde, and other property stolen and carried off! We have given few details of these massarres at any time, because we did not choose to harrow up the feelings of our young friends with such descriptions of
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Wood and suffering as could impart to ther .: little useful information. There is one account, however, of a scene which passed about this time, that we will relate for the purpose vi showing what the women, in those days, were capable of doing, and from what sort of grand- mothers the men of the " Volunteer State" are descended.
Captain Gillespie had built his cabin south of Holston, at a considerable distance from his nearest neighbor. He had been busy in burn- ing cane and clearing a field, but had occasion one day to leave home and go a distance of ten or twelve miles. A party of Indians, who had been lurking about for several days, found out that he was gone, and that nobody was at the cabin bat his wife and little children. Thev immediately entered the house. in a hectoring and ferocious manner, and began to do what they pleased with the provisions, and whatever else it contained. Mrs. Gillespie stood it all montietly, thinking that her own life, and the lives of her children, depended upon not pro- woking the savages.
At length one of the Indians took out his seping-knife and walked to the cradle, where the baby was sleeping, making motions as it be
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TENNESSEE HISTORY. 137
were going to scalp it. What did the mother do then? Did she scream and faint? Nothing of the sort. Although she knew very well there were no white men within miles of her, she calmly walked to the door, and called out for the men in the clearing to "come and drive away these nasty Indians." The savages, in a panic, bolted out of the house, and soon hid themselves in the cane. As soon as they were out of sight, Mrs. Gillespie took her children and ran off on the trail that she knew her hus- baud must follow in returning home.
She met him two or three miles from the cabin. and she and her little ones were taken to the nearest station for safety. Captain Gilles- pie, with two or three friends, then came back to see what had happened at home. The In- dians, finding that they were not pursued as they had expected, had come back in the mean- time, bad robbed the house of every thing rhey wanted. and were just trying to set fire to is, when Gillespie and his party rode up. They at once fired upon the Indians, wounding two of thein, and, in the pursuit, recovering all the stolen good -.
Many incidents, similar to this, happened in the carly settlement of Tennessee, the particu-
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188 OLD TIMES; OR,
lars of which are frequently related by the few old pioneers who still linger among us. And do our readers suppose that Mrs. Gillespie. and other frontier mothers like her, were less tei.der and womanly, because they knew how to man- age Indians? Not so; but the trying circum- stances in which they lived bad taught them firmness and self-control, and they knew that screams and fainting fits would not assist their gallant husbands in their deadly struggle with the bloody savages of the border.
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
يد مهات الغابة
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE TERRITORY SURRENDERED TO THE UNITED € STATES.
By this time -- that is, in the year 1789-the authority of North Carolina was entirely rees- tablished in the western counties, and things were managed just as if the State of Franklin had never existed. But it was soon discovered that this connection was not very agreeable to either party, and not likely long to continno. The western people complained, and not with- out some reason, that the Government of North Carolina did not act a liberal part toward them, and refused to spend any money for the im- provement and protection of the territory on this side of the mountains. They thought i: haol that they shoall defend themselves again-t the Indians, and still pay taxes into the treasury of the parent Srate.
On the other hand, the people in the eastern portion of the State had begun to look upon
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the western colonies as a trouble and a burden. Every claim presented against the treasury of the State, for services rendered or property lost in the Indian wars, was grudgingly paid, as an outlay of money by which the country on the enst of the mountains could not be benefited. Having no thought that the two portions would continue permanently united, the citizens of the. Atlantic counties were naturally unwilling to be taxed for the support and advancement of those who were, in a few years at most, to belong to another State.
The State of North Carolina had been very careful to suppress the independent Govern- ment of Franklin, and it might appear strange and whimsical in them to be so willing, in a year or two, to part with their western territory. To explain this, we must bear in mind that what North Carolina wanted with the territory was to pay off her Revolutionary debt with the whenet lands. This could not have been don- if the Franklin Government had been perma- montly established, because the lands would then have belonged to the new State. By the course which had been taken, this purpose was now accomplished, and the people of the oldl State had no farther motive to oppose the separation.
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For these reasons, and perhaps others that have not been mentioned, the General Asseni- bly of North Carolina, in the year 1789, passed an act ceding to the Government of the United States all the territory now belonging to the State of Tennessee. Under the direction of the act of Assembly, Samuel Johnson and Benjamin Hawkins, the two Senators in Congress front that State, by a deed, dated on the 25th of February, 1790, made a regular and formal conveyance of the same. Thus peaceably, and with the consent of all parties, the territory was transferred to the United States, and imme- diately accepted by Congress, as a part of the domain of the Federal Government.
Before this time. Virginia and New York bad granted all their vacant western lands to the General Government, and other States did so afterward. In every case, this was done with the understanding that, at a proper time, new States should be organized in the ceded terri- tory, and admi-ted into the Union upon the same footing as the "Old Thirteen." In this way many new States have been formed, and among them the State of Tennessee. In the meantime, until the population should become sufficient for a Grate, the territory was under
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the government of Congress, and the governor, judges, and other officers, were appointed by the President.
We have now traced the history of East Ten- nessee, from the first settlement at Watauga in 1769, till it became a part of the territory of the United States in 1790. So far, we have thought it minst convenient to say nothing of another settlement, made shortly after that at Watauga -- we mean the colony planted in Middle Tennessee, in the year 1779. These two settlements, in East and Middle Tennessee, were separated from each other by the wilder- ness of the Cumberland Mountains, and grew up for some time with little or no connection or intercourse. But when the frontier of one Had been advanced toward the west, and of the other toward the cast, till communication had become easy and frequent between them, it would be more convenient to treat them as one community. Hoping that cur young readers are not yet tired with the subject, ve shall, in the SECOND Book, bring up the history of Middle Tennessee to the year 1790.
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BOOK II.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE. --
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TENNESSEE HISTORY.
CHAPTER I.
INDIAN TREATIES.
IN the former Book of this history, it was necessary to mention and to explain many things which need not be repeated here. In- deed, all the matters contained in the first five chapters are just as applicable to an account of' the Middle Tennessee settlement as they are to that of the older colony in the costern divisjon of the State. By omitting all such topics in this Book, we shall be able to give a clear sad satisfactory account of the seulement on the Cimborlan Y in fewer pages than wers required for that on the Watauga.
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OLD TIMES; OR,
Before commencing the narrative of events that occurred in the settlement of Middle Ton- nessce, there are two other subjects which need to be discussed for the better understanding of both the preceding and subsequent parts of this history. One of these regards the treaties of agreements made, from time to time, with the Indian tribes. Some of these have been men- tioned in the first Book, but the real nature of these transactions deserves to be more fully explained. We speak of treaties by which the white men acquired land from the Indians.
When we consider the small price usually paid for large tracts of land, now so valuable, our first thought is apt to be, that the Indians were badly treated-cheated by the superior cunning, or oppressed by the superior porer of the whites. But farther reflection will be likely to change this first impression. The mistaku avi-es from looking upon the Indians, As the owners of the land, in the same sense that meu own land in civilized comme M ... Bit is this true? Did the Cherokees haw tuy tetter right to the soil of Tennessee than the people of North Carolina or Virginia?
In civilized countries, when a man can a tract of land, he does so by viene of sabe tite,
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which the law has determined to be sufficient- a deed, or grant, or something of that sort. But it would be unreasonable to require any such thing of savages who have not the use of letters. Among them. we should consider it a sufficient title to have the peaceable possession and use of a piece of land for a number of years. Where the Cherokees had built their wigwams, and cultivated their corn-patches, it may be admitted that they were fairly the own- ers of the land which they had thus occupied.
But were they also the owners of the millions of acres which they merely traveled over in hunting? If so, then it equally belonged to the · Pawnees, Chickasaws, or any other tribe, who sometimes hunted there. . So that the country did not belong to the Cherokees exclusively, and they could no more sell it to the whi.cs than could the Pawnees. But the Cherokees claimed that the country belonged to them as hunting-grounds, and would have considered it as an unfriendly act if the white mon bad taken possession without their consent. There- fore it was to keep peace with the Indians. that the white settlers were willing to pay them something for the privilege of occupying the country. They paid. not the value of the later
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OLD TIMES; OR,
but any thing that would satisfy the Indians and keep them in good humor.
Savages who cannot or will not cultivate the land, must always and everywhere give way to a people who can and will. There is no natural justice in the notion that a territory capable of supporting a million of agricultural inhabitants. shall be reserved for a few thousand lazy sava zes to hunt over. But still, the inferior race should be treated with all the kindness and considera- tion that can be safely extended to them. They should be regarded, in some degree, as children, who are to be cared for and protected, and, at the same time, governed and controlled. We will not undertake to say that the people of the United States have, in no instance, practiced cruelty and oppression toward the Indians; but we rejoice to believe that in general they have been treated as humancly as self-preservation on the part of the whites would allow.
While the country was wyler the British Govorument, nobody call orilly inake treaties with the Indians, and purchase their lands, except those who were appointed or au- thorized for that purpose by the king. After independence was declared, this poser of leal- ing with the Indian tribes was lodged in the
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several State Governments, until they surren- dered it to the Federal Government, in the present Constitution of the United States. Still, sometimes purchases of Indian territory were made by individuals, or private companies, without lawful authority. We have mentioned some instances of this kind, in the history of the East Tennessee settlements. Generally these transactions were afterward sanctioned by the Government, and produced no farther mischief than some temporary difficulty about land-titles.
Of this kind of unauthorized Indian treaties was the celebrated "Transylvania Purchase," made by Richard Henderson & Co., of North Carolina, in the year 1775. For the sum of ten thousand dollars, paid in goods, this com- pany bought of the Cherokees all the lands between the Kentucky and Cumberland Rivers. To this purchase they gave the name of Tran- sylvania, and proceeded to sell it out in small parcels to those who wishedl to settle the land. It afterward turned out that a large perin of this purchase was in the territory of North Carolina. and the claim of the company came into conflict with the rights of that State. The matter was finally compromised. so that no party suffered any considerable damage.
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OLD TIMES; OR,
CHAPTER II.
SPANISH POSSESSIONS AND CLAIMS IN NORTH AMERICA.
THE other subject, to which we have thought it best to devote a preliminary chapter, regarde the North American possessions of Spain, and the policy pursued by the government of that country toward our western settlements. During the time of which we are writing, that nation held extensive possessions, and more extensive claims, that came directly in conflict with those of the North American Union. Florida and Mexico were theirs beyond dispute, but as these places were not in the way of our settlements, extending westward. we need not give them any present consideration.
But Spain also owned and occupied New Or- leans, and the country on both sides of the Mississippi River toward its mouth. Under the name of the " Province of Louisiana." they also claimed the whole territory watered by
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
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that river and its tributaries, from its mouth to the great lakes, and from the Alleghany to the Rocky Mountains. Perhaps it might be more correct to say that they claimed to an indefinite distance east and west of the Mississippi. Their title to the country was derived from the French, who had settled Now Orleans, and a few spots all along the Mississippi and Ohio, as far as Canada, and had afterward trans- ferred all their "right, title, and interest" to Spain.
By glancing at a map of North America, our readers will see that the Spanish elaito. running from the Gulf of Mexico north, crossed at right angles that of our people, running from the Atlantic Ocean west. As the rights of the two parties in this case were equally good. or rather equally bad, of course the disputed territory would ultimately belong to those who should first actually occuny and settle it. Hence it became the settled policy of the Sran- ich authorities in Louisiana to prevent or ob. strust. by all possible means, the westward progress of the settlements in Tennessee, Kon- tucky, etc.
Farther, the in habitants of the country he- tween the Alleghanies and the Mississippi bad
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OLD TIMES; OR,
no other means of getting their surplus produce to a foreign market but to take it in hoats down that river to the Gulf of Mexico. The Span- iards, owning the land on both sides of the river at New Orleans, insisted that the river also belonged to them, and that no one could use it but by their permission, and upon such terms as they chose to exact. On this ground they required every boat descending the stream, to pay a tax or toll, such as they thought proper, from time to time, to demand.
Our young readers will probably be thinking that the Government of the United States should at once have put an end to this unrea- sonable and oppressive demand of Spain. Weil, there was no want of attention to the subject on the part of Congress and the President. They argued, and negotiated, and remonstratel abundantly, but could not induce Spain to sur- render her pretensions. But why not go to war, and whip her into compliance? simply because we were not able to do it. If Spoin and the United States had been then what they are now, such a proceeding would have been quite practicable, and employed with little hesi- tation.
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