USA > Tennessee > The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century: Comprising Its Settlement, as the. > Part 62
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
Each member, clerk and door-keeper to be allowed for ferringes.
Every twenty-five miles, riding to and from the As- sembly, 2 50'
Sept. 28 .- Mr. Sevier moved for leave, and presented a bill for establishing Knoxville, on the north bank of the Holston, which was read the first time, passed and sent to the House of Representatives.
As the adjournment of the Territorial Legislature ap- proached, its members were unwilling to separate, without making another effort to awaken the attention of the Fede- ral Government to the necessity and importance of more am- ple and effective means of defence and protection for their suffering and bleeding constituents. Since the last meeting of the Assembly, many of them had lost members of their own families-killed by savage ferocity or stratagem-many of their neighbours had been wounded or taken prisoners ; much valuable property had been stolen or destroyed ; and during the present sitting of the Legislature, two members of it from the Metropolitan county, had been compelled, from the threatened aggressions of the enemy, to leave the halls of legislation and resume the sword, to prevent an at- tack upon the seat of Government. Under this condition of things, on the twenty-fourth of September, the House
Resolved, That James White, Esq., the Representative of this Terri- tory in Congress, be instructed to take an early opportunity of exhibit-
633
FIRST PUBLIC PRINTER APPOINTED.
ing to the President of Congress, the additional list of one hundred and five of our fellow-citizens, who have suffered by the Creeks and Chero- kees, since our memorial to Congress in the spring, in addition to the former innumerable and cruel acts of hostility with which this Territory has been insulted by those Indians ; and to assure his Excellency that if the people of this Territory have borne with outrages which stretch hu- man patience to its utmost, it has been through our veneration for the head of the Federal Government, and through the hopes we entertain that his influence will finally extend, to procure for this injured part of the Union, that justice, which nothing but retaliating on an unrelenting enemy, can afford.
The patience of the people was well-nigh exhausted, and it required all the authority and weight of character of Go- vernor Blount to restrain the impetuous temper of the sol- diery of the Territory, which everywhere manifested itself- exacerbations of feeling and resentment, which, indeed, in every instance, his authority was unable to repress.
Sept. 25 .- In the Council, "Mr. Sevier moved for leave, and presented a bill appointing a public printer." Another era in the early legislation and improvement of an infant community, second only to the founding of institutions of learning and the creation of tribunals of justice.
At the request of the members from Mero District, Go- vernor Blount ordered a sufficient guard of soldiers to ac- company them on their return home.
Great difficulty arose in arranging the details of the Tax Bill, and the last days of the session, amendments were con- stantly proposed to the bill of the one House and as uni- formly rejected by the other. Several days were consumed in modeling and adjusting the Tax Bill.
A Sabbath intervened, but on Monday the House con- tinued inflexible ; other messages were interchanged with a like result. The Council at length agreed to make the tax on a hundred acres of land, eighteen cents. To which the House again objected, and insisted upon " a tax of twenty-five cents per hundred, as it stood in the bill when it went from this House."
The Council yielded, at length, to the more immediate representatives of the people, and sent them the following message-
"The Council accede to your proposition in taxing land at twenty-
634
DIFFICULTY IN ADJUSTING TAXES.
five cents per hundred acres ; you will, therefore, send two of your members to see the amendments made accordingly."
At this length of time since these transactions took place, it is difficult to account for the discordant views entertained by the two Houses of the Territorial Assembly upon the land tax. A tariff is always a subject of troublesome adjust- ment, and then, as now, the proper arrangment of its details, was the most perplexing duty of the Legislature. It has been conjectured, that the conflict of sentiment between the Council and the House, may be legitimately traced to the organism-the mode by which each body was created. The five members of the Council were not elected by the people, but appointed by the Congress, and commissioned by the President of the United States, from ten citizens of the Ter- ritory at large, selected and nominated for that purpose by the House. Their term of office was for five years. The members of the House, on the other hand, were really the representatives of the people, were elected directly by them, and holding their office for but two years, were dependant upon popular suffrage for a renewal of their trust.
The constituent body-the people-were generally small landholders, while most of the appropriated lands of the Territory, was held by large grantees, and they-many of them-non-residents. The toil of subduing the wilderness, the danger of reclaiming it from its savage occupants, the sacrifice of ease, of property and of life, in opening and de- fending it, the responsibility of founding its government and maintaining its rights, had all been undergone by actual settlers. Their adventure had planted the infant settle- ments, their valour had defended them, and to their services, were non-resident landholders indebted for the present and prospective enhancement of the value of their property. The tenacity, therefore, with which the immediate representa- tive body adhered to its policy of raising the revenue prin- cipally by a tax upon real estate, cannot be considered either strange or unwise.
Sept. 30 .- The morning of the last day of its session, the House exhibited a further instance of its restraint upon the action of the Council, by refusing its assent to a bill excusing
RESOLUTION PREPARATORY TO A STATE ORGANIZATION. 635
workmen employed at iron foundries, from military du- ties.
Before their adjournment, the two Houses did concur in resolutions, requesting " the Governor to direct, that when the census is taken next June, the sense of the people may at that time be enquired into, how far it may be their wish, for admission into the Union as a State,"-also directing, " that John Stone be allowed ten dollars, for the use of the house now occupied by the Legislative Council."-" That James White be allowed five dollars for the use of the court house during the session of the Assembly."-"That George Roulstone & Co. be allowed the sum of ten dollars, if in ten days they print fifty copies of the act, " respecting the levy- ing and collecting the taxes. " That John Chisholm be al- lowed the sum of two dollars, for his monies expended for the public service of this Territory, during the recess of the Assembly," and, "that the thanks of this General Assembly be presented to Governor Blount, for the application of his abilities and attention, in forwarding their business as rep- resentatives ; more especially, in compiling and arranging the system of court law ; and that as there appears to be no more business before this Assembly, his Excellency be requested to prorogue the same to the first Monday in Octo- ber, 1795."
To the last resolution, the Governor sent in reply, the fol- lowing message-
" Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives :- While your vote of thanks, of this day, affords a proof of your liberality, it offers me the highest reward for such attention as I have had in my power to pay to the court and other laws. I should feel myself want- ing to the Council and House of Representatives, were I not to ac- knowledge, that the laws which have been offered for my assent, have been such as are essential to the promotion of the public happiness, and that no law of importance at this time is omitted. Herewith you will receive the prorogation to the day as by you requested.
" Knoxville, September 30, 1794.
WM. BLOUNT."
PROROGATION. " WILLIAM BLOUNT, Governor in and over the Territory of the United States of America, south of the River Ohio:
636
PROROGATION OF TERRITORIAL ASSEMBLY.
" To the President and Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and the Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives :- The session of the General Assembly is prorogued, until the first Monday in the month of October, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, then to commence at this place.
" Given under my hand at Knoxville, September 30, 1794.
" By the Governor-DANIEL SMITH."
WM. BLOUNT.
The per diem of the members of House of Representatives, and of the Clerk and Door-keeper, for the February session, and other incidental expenses, amounted to 8473,58}.
That of the Legislative Council, for the August and Sep- tember session, amounted to 8970,713.
And that of the House of Representatives, for the same session, 1.700,163.
These proceedings of the Territorial Legislature will ac- ( quaint the reader with the mode of transacting its 1794 ( business, and, to some extent, with the amount and importance of its labours. It may be safely asserted that, in so short a session, the same number of law makers, under like difficulties and embarrassments, never had achieved more. Their session was one of only thirty-seven days. The number of members was small-in the Council, five- in the House-thirteen, and some of these, for various rea- sons, allowed leave of absence, at different periods of the session. Most of them too, though men of strong intellect and great good sense, were entirely inexperienced in legisla- tion, and uninformed upon some of the subjects the emer- gency of the times brought up for their action and decision. But all of them were identified with the interests of the people, and had been honoured with their confidence on account of their patriotism and public virtue. They were assiduous in the discharge of their new duties, and they were faithful to the trust confided to them. Of their competency, the work executed by them is an undying me- morial. They had become suddenly, and, with many of them, unexpectedly, the guardians of weighty interests in an im- mense Territory. The foundations of society were to be laid in different isolated communities, extending from the Alleghanies to the westernmost settlement. Invasion from
637
BEVIER COUNTY.
hostile Indian tribes had to be repelled ; an exposed frontier had to be guarded ; aggression had to be resisted ; stations protected ; forts defended ; emigrants encouraged ; and roads had to be opened through a trackless wilderness ; towns and counties were to be laid out ; a police to be established, and public buildings to be erected. A system of jurisprudence had to be, if not enacted de novo, amended, enlarged and remodeled, in adaptation to the circumstances and wants of a new community. These-these all were to be done. Nay, more-the fostering care of a new government had to be directed to the improvement and refinement of the "rising generation," and, to its other labours, the Legislature added the crowning honour of founding, at its first session, two Institutions of Learning.
" An act was passed to divide Jefferson county into two distinct counties." Joseph Wilson, Robert Polk, Samuel Magahee, Samuel Newell and Thomas Buckingham, are made Commissioners to locate the court house in the new county, which is called Sevier ; courts to be holden, for the first time, at the house of Isaac Thomas.
Sevier county was attached to Hamilton District. The house of Isaac Thomas, where the first court for Sevier county was holden, stood on the west bank of Pigeon, nearly opposite the confluence of its east and west branches, be- tween which, and near their junction, was, October, 1795, laid out, and afterwards erected, the present Sevierville. It is a beautiful spot-surrounded by, and embosomed among, lofty and almost inaccessible heights, through which the confluents glide in placid quiet or rush with boisterous vio- lence through their narrow and tortuous channels. The bottoms below Sevierville are remarkable for their fertility. The county has been the land of hunters, soldiers and patri- ots. It has its stations, forts and battle grounds. It was one of the counties of Franklin. Dumplin Treaty was held on its soil.
The magistrates who held the first court, Nov. 8, 1794, were-" The Worshipful Samuel Newell, Joseph Wilson, Joshua Gist, Peter Bryant, Joseph Vance and Andrew Ev- ans." Besides these, there were magistrates not present-
8.88
EXTENSIVE JURISDICTION OF AEVIRE COUNTY.
:
M. Lewis and Robert Pollock. The county officers were- " Samuel Newell, first chairman ; Jeshua Gist, 2d ; and Jo- seph Wilson, 3d ; " Samuel Wear, clerk; John Lowry, coun- ty solicitor ; Ambrose Arthur, deputy sheriff ; Jesse Byrd, Register ; Thomas Buckingham, collector ; Mordecai Lewis, coroner ; Alexander Montgomery, ranger."
. In the early minutes of the County Court of Sevier, may be seen something of the summary proceedings which char- acterized the courts of Franklin or the Temporary form of Government which, south of French Broad, followed the dissolution of that State. At April Term, 1795, it was .- " Ordered-That a bill of sale from J. R. to -- -, bear- ing date December 17, 1794, shall not be admitted to record, and that the word Fraudulent be wrote, by the clerk, on the face of said bill of sale."
.: The jurisdiction of the court was exercised beneficently, not only within the . limits of Sevier county and of the Ter- ritory, but embraced, in its benevolent plenitude of power, the contiguous State of Virginia also. October. sessions, 1795, it was-"Ordered that an idiot, produced by John Craig, to this court, is to be delivered to a constable of this county, to be conveyed to the next constable, and so from officer to officer, until she is conveyed to the proper owner, in the State of Virginia, which is, by information, M. M. in Powell's Valley."
The legislature exhibited no indifference to the pleasant charities of life. Ample provision was made by law, for persons disabled by wounds, and for the widows and or- phans of such as had died in the military service of the country.
Among other acts of a local character, was one for estab- lishing Knoxville. It was, at that time, the seat of the Ter- ritorial Government, and so continued to be, during the exist- ence of that organization. It became the seat of Govern- ment of the State of Tennessee, and so continued to be for many years after. Kingston, Murfreesborough and Nashville, were its successors for several years, when, in 1817, Knox- ville again became the seat of Government, but for the last
639
KNOXVILLE, FIRST CAPITAL OF TENNESSEE.
time. The strong flood of emigration to the West, had car- ried with it the centre of population beyond the Cumberland Mountains, and with it, the seat of Government. The scep- tre has departed from her ; but time, and change, and progress, cannot deprive her of her ancient honours, nor make her less venerable 'for the proud associations that cluster around her early history. Here Squollecuttah, Kunoskeskie, Nem- tooyah, Chuquilatague, Enolchi, Talohtuski, and other chief- tains of the Cherokee nation, met Governor Blount in Coun- cil, smoked the pipe of peace, and formed the Treaty of Hol- ston ;- here the pious White pitched histent in the wilderness, lived his life in patriarchal simplicity and unostentatious usefulness ;- here died the founder of Knoxville, and his memory is here embalmed in the affectionate remembrance of a succeeding generation. Here the infant Government of the Territory was cradled, and nurtured in its youth by the paternal care of Blount, of Anderson and Campbell. Here, too, the sages and patriots of 1794, met and deliberated, and made laws. Here, too, was born the infant Hercules-since become a giant-Tennessee. Tennessee looks back to Knox- ville, and recognizes her as the home of her youth, and the fond centre of her hallowed recollections.
Speaking of the question of State or no State, which, at this time, began to be agitated by the people of the Territory, Governor Blount writes to General Sevier, December 4th : "I frankly say to you, I am for the Territory becoming a State as early as possible ; and I think this change can be effected so as to have a Constitution formed, and a represen- tation in the next Congress. I have already written to my friends in Congress, requesting them to have an act passed, - authorizing this Territory to become a State, whenever the people shall express their wishes to this effect."
"On the night of the twenty-fifth of May, Mr. George Mann,
1795 ยง living twelve miles above Knoxville, hearing a noise at his stable, and leaving his house to discover the cause, his return was intercepted by Indians, who fired upon and dangerously wounded him. He fled for concealment to a cave at a short distance, but was followed by the savages, dragged from his hiding place and slain. The wife had
:
640 - HEROIAM OF MRS. MAKE ..
heard the retreating footsteps of the Indians as they pursued her husband, and having locked the door, sat in silent expecta- tion, with her sleeping children around her. Soon she hears the tramp of approaching feet. Perhaps it is the neighbours, alarmed at the firing, and coming to the rescue ? She is about to rush out and meet them, but she hears their voices in a strange tongue. The horrible conviction seizes her, that the savages are returning to the slaughter. The rifle is in- stantly in her hands ; that morning she had learned the use of its triggers, and levelling it carefully at the crevice of the door, near the lock, the awaits the result. Stealthy steps are moving along the walls ; the door is pressed against-it yields-is partly open-a savage is on his hands and knees at the entrance ; another behind, and still another ; her fin- ger is upon the trigger ; she thinks of her children, and fires ! The first Indian falls heavily to the ground-the second screams with pain-the others gather up the wounded and fly 1
That lone woman, by her courage and presence of mind, had repulsed twenty-five savage warriors. Had a word es- caped her lips after the explosion of the rifle, the lives of herself and children would have been lost. The perfect si- lence impressed the Indians, and believing armed men to be in the house, they fled .*
The Indians set fire to the barns and out-buildings, but did not venture to approach the house, from which a defence so heroic and successful had been made. Mann, himself, was found next morning, cruelly scalped and mutilated. Pursuit was made after the body of Indians, but they could not be overtaken.
Dr. White regrets, in a letter to General Sevier, the unwil- lingness of Congress to pay the men of his brigade, and its ungrateful neglect to pay the Chickasaws, and adds, "the Spaniards will not neglect the opportunity to detach those Indians from us. The Government of Louisiana is already fortifying at the Chickasaw Bluffs."
The Spanish authorities still retained possession of the
*Rev. T. W. Hume's Semi-centennial Address.
641
GOVERNOR BLOUNT'S MESSAGE.
fort at the Chickasaw Bluff, and it was not surrendered till a special demand was made for its surrender under the instruc- tions of the Federal Government to Governor Blount. An- ticipating that still further obstacles would be thrown in the
. way of surrendering Louisiana, Mr. Jefferson called for a regiment of volunteers from Tennessee, to be present at the surrender .*
As has been elsewhere shewn, the Territorial Assembly had been prorogued by Gov. Blount until the first Monday of October, 1795. For reasons mentioned in his Message, he had called them together by proclamation, at an earlier pe- riod, June 29, 1795. Upon that day, the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives again assembled at Knox- ville, and there held the second session.
In the Message of the Governor, he said :
"The principal object for which I have called you together, at an earlier period than that to which the General Assembly stood pro- rogued, is to afford an opportunity to inquire whether it is, as I have been taught to believe, the wish of the majority of the people, that this Territory should become a State, when by taking the enumeration there should prove to be sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, or at such earlier period as Congress shall pass an act for its admission ; and if it is, to take such measures as may be proper to effect the desired change of the form of government as early as practicable.
" Upon the head of Indian Affairs, I have the pleasure to inform you, that the prospect of peace between the United States and all the In- .dian tribes or nations, are more pleasing than in any other period since the commencement of the war between Great Britain and the United States. I would not, however, in thus expressing myself, be understood that it is my opinion, that no more murders and thefts will be commit- ted by Indians upon the frontier citizens ; on the contrary, I believe, that while there is a tribe of Indians remaining on this side of the Mis- sissippi,t uncircumscribed by the citizens of the United States, that a description of them by the chiefs, denominated bad young men, will continue, more or less, frequently to commit murders and thefts upon the frontier inhabitants ; but against that description of Indians, as well as all others, should an alteration of disposition take place, Congress, at the last session, by the augmentation of the military establishment, have enabled the President to give more effectual protection to the fron- tier citizens than they have hitherto experienced."
* Blount Papers.
t This is believed to be the first intimation of the wise policy, long afterwards recommended by General Jackson, and adopted by the Government, of removing the Indian tribes to the west of the Mississippi.
41
642
FLATTERING STATE OF THE FINANCES.
"Mr. Sevier moved for leave and presented a bill to estab- lish a College at Salem, in Washington county."
The bill establishing " Washington College, in honour of the illustrious President of the United States," was passed and ordered to be engrossed.
" An Act, etc. Whereas, the Legislature of North-Carolina estab- lished an academy in Washington county, by the name of Martin Aca- demy, which has continued for ten or twelve years past, under the pre- sidency of the Rev, Samuel Doak, and has been of considerable utility to the public, and affords a prospect of future usefulness, if invested with powers and privileges appertaining to Colleges."
The corporators were the Rev. Samuel Doak, President; the Rev. Charles Cummins, Edward Crawford, John Coson, James Balch, Robert Henderson and Gideon Blackburn; Judge Joseph Anderson; General John Sevier; Colonels Landon Carter and Daniel Kennedy ; Majors Leeroy Taylor and John Sevier; John Tipton, William Cocke, Archibald Roane, Joseph Hamilton, John Rhea, Samuel Mitchell, Jesse Payne, James Aiken and William Charles Cole Claiborne, Esquires ; Drs. William Holt and William Chester ; Messrs. David Deaderick, John Waddle, Jun., Alexander Matthews, John Nelson and John McAllister.
July 7 .- In Council. Mr. Sevier, from the Joint Commit- tee appointed for that purpose, offered the following address to the Governor :
" Sir :- The members of the Legislative Council, and of the House . of Representatives, beg leave to express to your Excellency their appro- bation of the object for which they were principally called together; and feeling convinced that the great body of our constituents are sensi- ble of the many defects of our present mode of government, and of the great and permanent advantages to be derived from a change and speedy representation in Congress, the General Assembly of this Territory will, during the present session, endeavour to devise such means as may have a tendency to effect that desirable object ; and, in doing so, we shall be happy in meeting with your Excellency's concurrence."
1795
The Joint Committee, to whom was referred the report of - the Treasurer of Washington and Hamilton Districts .. give, in the conclusion of their report, a flattering view of the condition of the finances :
" Your Committee beg leave to observe, that the monies, arising from the tax levied by the last General Assembly, very much exceeds their most sanguine expectations ; and that such will be the state of the Treasury Department, that the next tax to be levied may be very much
643
BLOUNT COUNTY ESTABLISHED.
lessened, and then be fully commensurate and adequate to defray every expenditure and necessary contingency of our government."
The condition of the Treasury, thus favourably indicated through official sources, doubtless had its influence, in deter- mining public sentiment in the Territory to aspire to and assume the higher position of an independent State. The great increase of population, the preference of the inhabi- tants for a state form of government, and the importance of having an immediate representation of this large section of country in Congress, induced the Assembly to have a census of the people made, so as to ascertain whether the Territory contained sixty thousand people. Upon that question, there was little conflict of opinion. Non progredi est regredi, is the Western maxim, and it was apparent that the Territo- rial Government was approaching its end-a single dissen- tient was found in the Assembly.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.