44 The price of this book is fixed by State Con-
tract, and any deviation therefrom should be reported
to your County Superintendent of Public Instruction,
or the State Superintendent at Nashville*"
See Text-Book Law of J899, Section &
t-
From the collection of the
z n
m
einger
v JUibrary
San Francisco, California
2006
Flag of the State of Tennessee
Adopted by act of the General Assembly, April 17, 1905. The three white
stars represent the three political divisions of the state, organized at different
periods in its history. They are bound together by the circular blue field;
the symbol represents three making one.
The design was made by Captain LeRoy Reeves, of the Third Regiment,
Tennessee Infantry.
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE
t
FROM 1663 TO 1914
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS
BY
G. R. McGEE
SUPERINTENDENT <>h CITY StTK >< »1.S, JACK.M >N, TENN.
TKACHER OF HISTORY IN 1'KAHODY STATE INSTITUTE
FORMERLY PRINCIPAL OF PEABODY HIGH SCHOOL, TRENTON, TENN.
NEW YORK ^-CINCINNATI.:- CHICAGO
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1899, 1909, 1911. BY
G. R. McGEE.
TENN. HIST.
E-P 30
PREFACE
THIS book has been written because the teachers of the state have
asked for it. How well it will meet their demands remains to be seen.
It is the result, in book form, of the author's long observation and
experience as principal of a large graded school and as an instructor in
history in the state institutes.
The material has been accumulated through many years and from
many sources. In the few instances where there are conflicting state-
ments I have followed my own judgment in reaching conclusions.
Whenever possible, I have consulted persons, places, or original records.
The greatest difficulty has been what to omit, as it is impossible to
embrace all in the limits of a schoolbook.
The book has been written for children of the fifth to the seventh
grade of our public schools, and in language that they can understand.
No effort has been made to do anything more than to tell the story of
a great state in a manner that will interest the readers for whom it is
intended. As the work progressed the test of schoolroom use has been
applied unsparingly, and with satisfactory results.
While intended for children, it is hoped that the book may prove
interesting to older readers. Some usually accepted statements in the
general history of our country have been flatly contradicted. This has
been done deliberately and after careful investigation. Not to have
done so would have been to leave the whole people of Tennessee mis-
represented with regard to the Civil War, and would have been espe-
cially unjust to the Union men of the state. History virtually presents
them in the attitude of " Yankee sympathizers." The truth is they
were simply Union men, without sectional consideration, and were as
hostile to northern disunionists as they were to southern ones. On the
other hand, nine tenths of the Confederate soldiers of Tennessee were
never secessionists. Justice and our own self-respect demand that our
children shall know the truth about these matters.
The appendix, containing the Constitutiop of Tennessee and a num-
ber of reference tables, will be found valuable to readers of every class.
3
4 PREFACE
My thanks are due to Professor S. G. Gilbreath of Peabody Normal
College, Superintendent C. S. Douglas of Gallatin, the officials of the
State Library and of the Tennessee Historical Society, for special
information on local history ; to Colonel John Allison of Nashville for
permission to use freely his "Dropped Stitches in Tennessee History";
to Hon. John R. Walker of Trenton for aid in preparing the tables of
the judiciary; and to Superintendent S. A. Mynders of Jackson for
assistance in reading the proofsheets. None of these gentlemen, how-
ever, are responsible for any error that may be found in the book.
I am especially indebted to my daughter, Miss Ora McGee, for her
valuable services in preparing the manuscript for the press, and to the
publishers for the taste and skill shown in the completed book.
G. R. McGEE.
JACKSON, TENN.,
February 12, 1900.
PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION
THE remarkable favor shown former editions of this book by critics,
teachers, and the general public is gratefully acknowledged by both
author and publishers.
About all that could be said in praise of a schoolbook has already
been said by the superintendents and teachers of the state in whose
schools it has long been a text-book.
In evidence of our gratitude for its kindly reception the book is now
presented, revised, enlarged, and Drought up to date. We hope that it
may prove more charming and useful in the future than it has been in
the past.
G. R. McGEE.
JACKSON, TENN.,
May, 1914.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PERIOD I. 1663-1769
PAGE
I. Introduction . .11
II. Indians 17
III. Explorers .......... 23
IV. Adventurers 29
PERIOD II. 1769-1796
V. The Revolutionary War 34
VI. The Pioneers 44
VII. Watauga Association 53
VIII. Robertson and Sevier 62
IX. Kings Mountain 67
X. Indian Wars 73
XI. State of Franklin 78
XII. The Cumberland Settlements 84
XIII. Davidson County . . . 91
XIV. The Spaniards 95
XV. The Territory .......... 100
XVI. Domestic and Social Life 107
PERIOD III. 1796-1861
XVII. Starting the New Government 114
XVIII. Administrations of Willie Blount 122
XIX. Administrations of Joseph McM inn 131
XX. Carroll, Houston, and Hall . . ^ 140
XXI. Administrations of William Carroll 145
XXII. Cannon's and Folk's Administrations 150
XXIII. James C. Jones's Administrations 159
XXIV. Four Administrations 165
XXV. Johnson and Harris 175
5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PERIOD IV. 1861-1865
PAGE
XXVI. Nullification and Secession . . 0 0 . .184
XXVII. Causes of the Civil War 191
XXVIII. The Battle Ground 201
XXIX. Famous Tennesseeans „ 208
PERIOD V. 1865-1914
XXX. Domestic Reconstruction , .217
XXXI. Political Reconstruction . . . . „ . .221
XXXII. Senter's Administration 227
XXXIII. Administrations of John C. Brown ..... 233
XXXIV. Administrations of Porter and Marks 238
XXXV. Hawkins's and Bate's Administrations . . . 243
XXXVI. Administrations of Taylor and Buchanan .... 248
XXXVII. Administrations of Turney and Taylor . . . .255
XXXVIII. McMillin's Administration 261
XXXIX. Frazier's Administration . . . . . . . 265
XL. Cox's Administration 268
XLI. Patterson's Administration 271
XLII, XLIII. Election and Administration of Governor Hooper 278, 282
XLIV, XLV. Schools 290,301
XLVI. Conclusion . . . 307
APPENDIX
Constitution of Tennessee i
Governors of Tennessee xxv
Secretaries of State . . xxv
Comptrollers xxvi
Treasurers xxvi
Superintendents of Public Instruction
State Board of Education ........
Commissioners of Agriculture xxix
Attorneys General xxix
Judges of the Supreme Court • . . . xxix
State Librarians xxxi
Legal Holidays xxxi
(List of counties, with dates of formation, population, and county seats,
pages 42, 43.)
TO THE TEACHER
GOOD maps and good books used under the direction of
an earnest and conscientious teacher will almost invariably
insure interest and enthusiasm in a history class.
To teach history successfully you must have a fair
knowledge of the general subject, — the broader the cul-
ture, the better for all concerned. Perfect familiarity with
the text-book used is indispensable. Not the mere famil-
iarity of knowing its words, but a clear view of its facts,
geography, scope and purpose, references, and allusions.
A good teacher seeks to interest, instruct, and inform
his pupils ; a poor one, to prepare them for an examination.
For the convenience of those who may use this book it
has been divided into Periods, as follows : —
PERIOD I. extends from 1663, the date of Charles II. 's
grant of Carolina to the Earl of Clarendon and his asso-
ciates, to 1769, the date of the first known settlement
of English-speaking people in Tennessee. The subjects
treated in this period are Indians, Explorers, and Adven-
turers. This period should be thoroughly mastered in its
facts and geographical details, and its references clearly
explained before the succeeding period is taken up.
PERIOD II. extends from 1769, the date of the first set-
tlement, to 1796, the date of Tennessee's admission into
7
8 TO THE TEACHER
the American Union. The subjects treated, under several
minor headings, are the Settlement and Organisation of
the State. These twenty-seven years embrace the " Heroic
Age " of Tennessee. The period is the most eventful,
romantic, and glorious in the annals of the state, with the
possible exception of the era of civil war. Judiciously
handled, it will be of absorbing interest and incalculable
benefit to those who study it.
PERIOD III. extends from 1796, the date of Tennessee's
admission into the Union, to 1861, the beginning of the
Civil War. The subject treated is The State befdre tJie
Civil War. It is the period of development in constitu-
tional, legislative, and judicial affairs ; and of growth from
pioneer communities into a great and powerful common-
wealth. It is1 notable for the number of distinguished
men it produced, and the prominent parts they took in the
arena of both state and national politics.
PERIOD IV. extends from 1861 to 1865, and embraces the
blood-stained years of The War between tJie States. It
should be closely studied in order that our young people,
who are now so far from the din of that strife, may clearly
understand the motives of the men of Tennessee who took
part in that memorable struggle on either the Confederate
or the Federal side. This is due the memory of the heroic
dead, and to the spirit of true patriotism which has ever
characterized Tennesseeans.
PERIOD V. extends from 1865, the close of the Civil War,
to the present. The subject is The State since the Civil
TO THE TEACHER 9
War. The whole period is within the memory of all per-
sons over fifty years of age. It is marked by great politi-
cal turmoil, the adjustment of a whole people to a new
order of living, and remarkable educational, commercial,
and industrial development.
The topics under the heading, "What have we learned?"
are not intended to be exhaustive, but only suggestive.
No one can prescribe exact questions for the use of a
competent teacher, and no effort has here been made to
do so. Neither is any special " method of instruction "
recommended. A clear ideal of what is desired and a
fixed purpose to work up to that ideal will usually suggest
reasonably good methods in any school work.
1SORTH AMERICA
SCALE OF MILES
110 Longitude West 90 from Greenwich 7U
10
PERIOD I. 1663-1769
INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
To THE GIRLS AND BOYS OF TENNESSEE :
We cannot properly begin to study the history of Ten-
nessee until we have taken a brief view of some parts of
the history of America and of the United States, therefore
I give you this introduction.
The people who live in Tennessee, who have made it a
civilized country, and who have made its history, are the
children, grandchildren, etc., of people who came from
Europe and settled in America. • Before the days of
Columbus the people of Europe knew nothing of Amer-
ica. They had never heard of such a country.
In 1492 Columbus sailed from Spain across the Atlantic
Ocean and discovered some of the islands of the West
Indies. He afterward discovered South America, but he
never saw North America. No people except savages,
that Columbus called Indians, then lived in America.
For more than a hundred years after Columbus's discov-
ery, people from Europe, especially from Spain, France,
and England, were busy sailing along the coasts, paddling
boats up and down the rivers and lakes, and tramping through
ii
12 INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
the woods and prairies of the new country. Each party of
explorers claimed for their own nation all the lands they
saw.
Now look at the map of North America, and I will explain
to you how some of these claims became so confused as to
Landing; of Columbus
cause a great deal of trouble to the people who moved into
the country, and a great deal of quarreling and fighting
among the nations that made the claims.
The Spaniards claimed that, as Columbus was in the
service of Spain when he made his discoveries, the whole
Western Continent should belong to them. As they made
their first settlements along the Gulf of Mexico they claimed
everything from the Gulf of Mexico northward to the Arctic
Ocean, besides the lands which they actually occupied on
the Gulf and to the south of it.
INTRODUCTION
The English said that Columbus never saw North Amer-
ica, but that it was first seen by John Cabot, in 1497, while
he was in the English service. On Cabot's discovery the
English claimed all the country from the Atlantic coast to
the Pacific Ocean.
The French claimed everything from the St. Lawrence
River and the Great Lakes southward to the Gulf of Mexico,
because Champlain, La
Salle, and some other
Frenchmen had been the
first to explore the inte-
rior of the country by
way of the St. Lawrence,
the Great Lakes, and the
Mississippi River.
Now look again at
your map and you can
plainly see that the three
nations were claiming
the same land, and that
what is now the State of
Tennessee is part of that
lnd,an
None of the nations
seemed to pay any attention to the rights of the Indians
who lived over the whole country " and were the real
owners of the soil. The Indians of course did not like
this, and while the English, French, and Spaniards quar-
reled and fought over their claims to the new lands,
the Indians, at one time or another, hated and fought
them all.
This will show you the real cause of some of the wars on
Tennessee soil that must be mentioned in the early history
INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
of the state, and will explain why Tennessee has been at
different times occupied by French, Spanish, and English
soldiers and traders.
In 1660 Charles II. became King of England. His
father had been executed about twenty years before, and
Charleston^.
<<y THE
UNITED STATES 1
18tio, March 4, 1789
M Lonritude West 85 from Greenwich 80
he himself had been driven out of England. Until he was
made king, he had lived as best he could in other countries
of Europe by the aid of some faithful friends. He was a
dissipated, frolicking, worthless sort of monarch, but he
seems to have been grateful to the friends who were kind
INTRODUCTION 1 5
to him in his exile, and to some of those who had helped to
make him king. To reward the Earl of Clarendon and
a few others of these friends he gave them, in 1663, all
that part of North America lying between 31 degrees
and 36 degrees of north latitude, extending from the At-
lantic to the Pacific Ocean, and called this grant Caro-
lina. The ''Clarendon Grant" was enlarged, in 1665, by
half a degree on the north, and by two degrees on the
south.
After white people had come from Europe and Virginia
to live in the country, this grant was divided into North
Carolina and South Carolina and the boundary lines were
considerably changed. The Mississippi River was made
the western boundary line, and the parallel of 36 £ degrees
the northern boundary line of North Carolina. The other
boundaries were fixed somewhat as you now see them on
your maps, except that there was no dividing line between
North Carolina and Tennessee. There was no Tennessee
in name. North Carolina extended from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Mississippi River, and what is now Ten-
nessee was then the western half of North Carolina.
Thus you see that the early history of our state is the
history of a part of North Carolina.
Be sure that you have the map well in mind before you
try to go farther in this book. A good history of the
United States and one of England will explain to you fully
some things that are very briefly mentioned in this and in
other chapters.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Date of the discovery of America by Europeans.
2. From what country Columbus sailed and what part of America he
discovered.
3. The first hundred years after Columbus's discovery.
1 6 INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
4. Claims' of the Spanish, of the English, of the French.
5. How the Indians1 rights were treated.
6. Result of the conflicting claims.
7. How these disputes have affected Tennessee.
8. Sketch of Charles II. of England.
9. Grant of American land to his friends.
10. Division of this grant and change of boundaries.
n. Tennessee about the year 1700. Give present boundaries
12. Other sources of information needed.
CHAPTER II
INDIANS
As our ancestors saw them, the Indians were tall, straight,
well-formed people, and were active, hardy, and strong.
Indians at Home
They had brownish red skins, some of them being much
darker than others. They had black eyes, and coarse,
straight, black hair; and the men had no beard. They
very rarely had handsome faces or even pleasant-looking
17
1 8 INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
ones. They had some noble traits of character, and some
of their chiefs were great and wise men for savages ; but
usually they were ferocious and untamable.
They were brave and cunning, cruel and revengeful,
very fond of gay colors and trinkets, very lazy and dirty,
and were great liars and rogues. Indeed, they did not seem
to think that there was much wrong in lying, stealing, and
murder. They were ignorant savages, and many of the
white men who first came among them to trade taught
them to gamble and to love strong drink. The evil things
they learned from the white traders, added to the vices
they already had, made the Indians a very bad people.
They had no houses but a sort of huts called wigwams.
They lived, as most savages do, chiefly by hunting and
fishing, though some of them had patches of corn and
beans and pumpkins. The women did nearly all of the
work, while the men hunted, fought, and lounged -about
the camp. They traded the skins and furs of the wild
animals they killed for earrings and beads, knives and
hatchets, red paint and bright-colored cloth, and such other
things as they fancied.
The people of Europe in the seventeenth century did
not know how to make such soft, warm woolen goods as
they do to-day, so furs were more valuable then than now.
This made the English, French, and Spanish traders
very active in the fur trade and each very anxious to get it
all. Each nation tried to make the Indians hate the other
two and not trade with them. This caused a great deal of
trouble. There was another set of traders who wanted
the Indians' land, and they caused more trouble. Nearly
all of them cheated and wronged the Indians shamefully,
and the Indians in turn killed many settlers and burned
their houses, and roasted the women and children in the
INDIANS 1 9
fire, and in many other ways treated the white people
shamefully. So much for cheating and wrongdoing in
general.
The Indians of North America were not all exactly
alike in appearance and habits of life, nor did they all
speak the same language. Those who lived in the same
region and spoke the same language were called a tribe ;
Indian Massacre
as, the tribe of Cherokees, the tribe of Chickasaws, etc.
Each tribe was governed by its chiefs or head men, and
different tribes were very often at war with each other.
Indeed, hunting and fighting seemed to be about the whole
business of an Indian's life.
When white people first settled on Tennessee soil, the
Cherokee Indians lived in the mountains and valleys of
what is now East Tennessee, and in the adjoining parts
of North and South Carolina and Georgia. They had
20
INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
cattle and horses, and raised considerable crops of corn.
They were rich Indians. The Cbickamaugas lived along
the little river or creek that now bears their name, and
in the mountains about where Chattanooga now stands.
These Chickamaugas were kinsmen of the Cherokees,
though they lived as a separate tribe.
The Creeks lived along the Tennessee River, in what
is now North Alabama, and perhaps in a little of the
southern part of Middle Tennessee.
The Chickasaws lived in North Mississippi and on the
high hills or bluffs along the Mississippi River in West
Tennessee, where Memphis and Randolph now stand.
The Choctaws lived in Mississippi, south of the Chicka-
saws, and sometimes came into Tennessee. There were
very few if any other Indians in what is now Tennessee,
besides those we have named.
Now carefully locate each tribe on the map, and you
will see that no Indians lived in Middle Tennessee except
along the extreme southern border, and none in West
Tennessee except along the Mississippi River.
The Chickasaws claimed all of West Tennessee as their
INDIANS 21
hunting ground, and there seems to have been no serious
dispute with other tribes about this claim. While they
did not live all over that part of Tennessee lying between
the Tennessee and the Mississippi rivers, they owned the
country, and hunted over it, and sometimes crossed over
into Middle Tennessee.
The Indians said that the Shawnees once lived along
the Cumberland River in Middle Tennessee, but were
driven out by the Cherokees,
Creeks, and Chickasaws. The
Uchees once lived
in the country around
Nashville, but the tribe
was killed out by the Cher-
okees. Other tribes may have
lived in Middle Tennessee in the long-gone years, but none
lived there when the white man first came west of the Alle-
ghany Mountains.
At that time all of the country bounded by the Cum-
berland Mountains, the Tennessee River, and the Ohio
River was a vast hunting ground claimed by the Chero-
kees, the Chickamau^as, the Creeks, the Chickasaws, the
Shawnees of Indiana, and the Iroquois of New York.
A part of this region was Middle Tennessee, and none
of the Indian tribes dared live there for fear of the attacks
of all the others who claimed the country as their hunting
TENN. HIST. — 2
22 INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
ground. So many and so fierce had been the battles in
this region that the part of it which lies between the Cum-
berland and the Ohio rivers was called " The Dark and
Bloody Ground," or, in the Indian tongue, " Kentucky."
As no one lived in all of this beautiful country, and only
occasional parties of Indian hunters passed through it, the
wild animals had it almost to themselves. Deer, "buffalo,"
bears, " elk," swans, geese, ducks, turkeys, and many other
kinds of wild game were abundant. This made it a fine
place for hunters, and when the white hunters heard of it,
some of them ventured into the' dangerous and disputed
game preserves, as you shall read in another chapter.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ?
1 . Personal appearance of the Indians.
2. Their tastes and. dispositions.
3. Their homes and manner of living.
4. Value of the fur trade in the seventeenth century.
5. On what day did the seventeenth century begin ? On what day
did it end ?
6. Rivalry of the English, French, and Spaniards.
7. Conduct of the traders and of the Indians.
8. An Indian tribe.
9. Tribes living in Tennessee, and home of each.
10. Tribes claiming Middle Tennessee ; West Tennessee,
n. " The Dark and Bloody Ground."
12. " A Game Preserve."
13. Wild animals in Tennessee.
14. The white hunters.
CHAPTER III
EXPLORERS
VERY soon after the discovery of America the Spaniards
began to explore the country around the Gulf of Mexico
De Soto discovers the Mississippi
and to make settlements there. You must remember that
the Spaniards claimed all the land in North America.
In 1539 a Spanish general named De Soto landed in
Florida with a party of soldiers and began to march
through the country northward and westward to see what
he could find. He found very little of anything except
woods and swamps and Indians and graves for many of
his men. For five years he wandered over what is now
23
24 INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and perhaps Ten-
nessee, crossing the Mississippi River into Arkansas about
where the city of Memphis now stands.
In 1542 De Soto died .in Arkansas or Louisiana and
was buried in the Mississippi River, which he had dis-
covered in 1541. This was the only important discovery
he made in all his wanderings. He is mentioned here
because he and his party were probably the first white
men that ever saw Tennessee. We do not know this, but
think it is probably true.
In 1607 the English made their first permanent Ameri-
can settlement, at Jamestown, in Virginia, and for more
than a hundred years they were busy making settlements
along the Atlantic coast. Remember that they claimed
from the Atlantic to tfee Pacific Ocean.
In 1605 the French, who claimed all from the St.
Lawrence and the Great Lakes southward, made their
first settlement at Port Royal, Nova Scotia; and in 1608
a Frenchman named Champlain founded Quebec in
Canada. In 1681 another Frenchman, named La Salle,
went west from Quebec to Lake Michigan and thence to
the Mississippi River. He floated down this river to its
mouth, and named the whole Mississippi Valley Louisiana,
in honor of King Louis XIV. of France. In 1682 he
went back up the river, stopped at the present site of
Memphis or near it, built a fort called " Prudhomme," and
left some French soldiers to hold it until he should go to
France and return. This is the first that we know of the
French in Tennessee. They afterward built another fort
in Tennessee at a place called French Lick on the Cum-
berland River, at or very near the site of Nashville.
This was one of an irregular line of forts extending
from Quebec to the mouth of the Mississippi River. With
EXPLORERS 25
soldiers in all this line of forts the French intended to
keep the English on the east side of the Alleghany Moun-
tains. But the English would not stay there. They
wanted the game and the furs and the rich land on the
west side, and said they meant to have them whether the
French were willing or not.
La Salle on the Mississippi
Much of the time from 1690 to 1763 the English and
French were fighting desperately, in what are called the
" Intercolonial Wars," to drive each other out of North
America. The Spaniards took part in some of the wars,
and most of the Indians helped the French.
The result of these wars was that the French were
driven out of North America. The English then held
Canada and all of the country east of the Mississippi
River (except New Orleans) ; but they gave Florida back
to Spain, its previous owner, in 1783. The Spanish had
26 INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
Florida and New Orleans and all the land west of the
Mississippi.
Florida at that time extended from the Atlantic Ocean
to the Mississippi River; but after all the fighting and
surrendering and treaty making, the northern boundary of
Florida had never been fixed to the satisfaction of ajl
parties. % Years afterward the Spanish governor general
at New Orleans thought he might be able to hold for his
royal master, the King of Spain, all the territory explored
by De Soto. So he went up the Mississippi to the mouth
of Wolf River and built Fort Barancas, on the site of
Memphis, and claimed all south from there as Spanish
territory. Tennessee, or a part of it, was then claimed
by the Spaniards on account of Columbus's discovery,
De Soto's exploration, and the Fort Barancas occupation.
We shall learn more about the Spanish claims further on.
All of the forts that have been mentioned were military
trading posts where French, Spanish, and a few English
fur traders dealt with the Indians or kept goods for that
purpose. As these traders were always wandering over
the country from one fort to another, or from the forts to
the Indian towns, they were among the very first white
people to explore the land we now call Tennessee.
During the period of French and Spanish exploration
the English colonists east of the mountains had not been
idle. In 1748 Dr. Thomas Walker and a party of hunters
came from Virginia into Powells Valley in East Tennessee,
crossed the mountain at Cumberland Gap, and hunted
along the Cumberland River. The mountains, the gap,
and the river were probably named by this party in honor
of the Duke of Cumberland, the prime minister of Eng-
land. After them came hunters and trappers from North
Carolina and South Carolina as well as Virginia, and some
EXPLORERS
of these gave names to Walden Ridge, Powells Valley,
and many other places in East Tennessee.
In 1756 or 1757 the English built Fort Loudon on the
Tennessee River, about thirty miles from the present city
of Knoxville, to keep the Cherokee Indians peaceable.
The French were trying to get them to make war on the
English settlers in North Carolina. Fort Loudon is the
place where English people first lived in Tennessee. But
it was not really a home ; it was only a fort in which
soldiers and traders,
with possibly a few
of their families,
lived for a short
time. It was taken
and destroyed by
the Indians three or
four years after it
was built.
Although the In-
dians destroyed the
fort and killed the
people there, we
know that white
men still ventured
into Tennessee, for
on the bark of a
beech tree in the valley of Boons Creek, has been found
the following inscription : —
" D. Boon CillED A BAR On Tree in ThE yEAR 1760."
Daniel Boone and other hunters were in Tennessee
about this time, and this inscription is very probably the
work of Boone or some of his friends.
Daniel doone
28 INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
After the treaty of peace was made between England
and France in 1763, many hunters and explorers besides
Boone and his companions poured over the mountains
from Virginia and North Carolina and South Carolina,
though the country was still dangerous for white men.
On their return home, these hunters told such fine
stories of the beautiful rich country they had seen, that
many people in Virginia and the Carolinas were anxious
to move west of the mountains, buy good land for very
little money, or take it from the Indians for nothing, and
establish pioneer homes in Tennessee.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ?
1. Spanish claims in North America.
2. De Soto and his wanderings.
3. His important discovery. Date.
4. His connection with Tennessee history.
5. English claims in North America.
6. English settlements. Date of first.
7. French claims in North America.
8. French settlements.
9. La Salle and Louisiana.
10. Fort Prudhomme. Date.
11. French Lick.
12. Line of forts — their purpose.
13. The Intercolonial Wars and the Indians.
14. The three nations after 1763.
15. Limits of Florida in 1783.
1 6. Fort Barancas. Spanish claims.
17. First explorers of Tennessee.
1 8. Explorers from the English colonies.
19. Fort Loudon. Date. Its character.
20. Daniel Boone.
2 1 . Effect of the treaty of 1 763 .
22. Effect of the hunters1 reports.
CHAPTER IV
ADVENTURERS
WHEN the English destroyed the French power in
America there were no states here as there are now, but
what are now the states of New Hampshire, Massachu-
setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Caro-
lina, South Carolina, and Georgia were then thirteen English
colonies. From Virginia southward each of them extended
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River.
The King of England appointed the governors in some
of the colonies, and in some of them the governors were
elected according to the provisions of a charter granted
by the king. But all of the governors and all of the peo-
ple were subjects of the King of England.
When England and France made their treaty of peace,
in 1763, nothing was said about the Indians' right to the
land west of the Alleghanies, which the French had been
forced to give up to the English. While the Intercolonial
Wars were going on, the French told the Indians that if
the English were successful they would take all of the
Indians' land from them. This made most of the Indians
help the French.
The English were victorious, and after peace was made
the Indians were very much alarmed when they heard of
the hunters and explorers, mentioned in Chapter III., com-
ing from the English colonies into their hunting grounds.
29
3O INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
They believed the English were about to do what the
French had said they would do. This was one of the
chief causes of a general Indian attack upon the English
colonies, called in the history of the United States " Pon-
tiac's War." The Indians were badly defeated in battle,
Pontiac was murdered by another Indian, and the war soon
came to an end.
King George III. of England did not wish his colonies
in America to be disturbed by any more Indian wars ; so
he ordered the governors of the colonies not to allow any
of his subjects in America to trespass on the Indian lands
west of the Alleghany Mountains. But the governors
either would not or could not keep them from it. The
king then made treaties with the Indians and appointed a
set of ofBcers called Indian Commissioners, who were to
go among the Indians, be friendly with them, hear their
complaints against white men who had wronged them, see
that the Indians had justice done them, and keep them
loyal to the king and government of Great Britain as
agreed in the treaties.
The king also issued an order that no one should settle
upon land belonging to the Indians, and that no one except
his agents should buy land from the Indians west of the
Alleghany Mountains. This order also provided that if
any white man did buy land from Indians and the Indians
moved away and gave it up to him, the white man should
not have a title to it, but it should become public land
belonging to the government of the king.
This order seemed to make the Indian reasonably safe
in the possession of his land ; but the people in the colo-
nies paid little attention to the king's order. They said
the Indians were very bad neighbors, that they had helped
the French in the French and Indian War, that in
ADVENTURERS 31
Pontiac's War they had tried to kill all the English,
that they were heathens and lazy barbarians who would
not work the land, and besides, that they had three or four
times as much as they needed if they would work it.
Thus, with one argument and another, some colonists
convinced themselves that they ought to cross the Alle-
ghanies and settle on the Indians' land, or at least see
where they would like to settle, in spite of the king and
his governors and Indian Commissioners
and all the redskins in North
America. So over the
mountains the adven-
turers came, and
roved through
the Indians'
hunting grounds',
killing his deer
and buffalo, and
occasionally an In-
dian himself; and some-
times the Indians killed
them.
Parties of hunters came into the
new regions and lived very much as
the Indians did, roaming about and
hunting for a year or more before returning home. These
were called "long hunters." Land companies sometimes
employed these " long hunters " .as guides for their sur-
veying parties which were laying out the land intended
for settlement or for sale to speculators.
Officers and soldiers who had fought in the French and
Indian War were sometimes paid in land warrants. A
land warrant is a written or printed paper, signed by the
32 INDIANS, EXPLORERS, AND ADVENTURERS
proper officers, and giving to the person to whom it is
issued the right to take and keep as his own property a
certain number of acres of the public land belonging to
the state or nation that issues the warrant. North Caro-
lina had issued some of these warrants, and the soldiers
who had received them wanted land in that part of North
Carolina which is now Tennessee.
Poor men with large families wished to improve their
fortunes by going west, where they could get good land
to give their children when they grew to be men and
women.
Rowdies and rogues and rascals of many kinds, who in
the older settled parts of the colonies were in great dan-
ger of being sent to jail or the whipping post, thought that
the wild woods west of the mountains would be a good
place for them to hide from the officers of the law.
Besides all these there were no doubt many people of
restless, daring spirit who wished to go west solely for the
sake of adventure and to see something new.
We do not positively know that any of these people
actually built houses and made themselves homes in Ten-
nessee before the year 1769. But we do know that for
six or more years before that date they were coming and
going across the mountains.
In 1767 the Iroquois complained that the white people
were taking their land and killing or driving away their
game. The Indian Commissioner for the northern tribes
then called a great Indian council at Fort Stanwix — near
the site of Rome, New York, and bought from the Iro-
quois and other northern tribes their title to all the lands
between the Ohio and Tennessee rivers. The Commis-
sioner for the southern tribes called a council at Hard
Labor, South Carolina, and bought the title to the same
ADVENTURERS 33
land, except a few reservations, from the Cherokees. The
Cherokees had chiefs in both councils.
These treaties were finished in December, 1768. Early
in 1769 we find William Bean living in his log cabin on
Boons Creek, near where it empties into the Watauga
River.
Before this time we have seen French, Spanish, and
English soldiers, traders, hunters, and explorers wander-
ing over the country and living at military posts in the
vast wilderness ; now we see a family and a home of Eng-
lish-speaking people established in Tennessee, and here
the real history of the state begins.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Difference between a colony and a state.
2. The thirteen English colonies, in the order given.
3. Extent of the four southern colonies.
4. Colonial governors. Charters.
5. Why the Indians helped the French in war.
6. Cause of Pontiac's War.
7. Order of King George III. to colonial governors.
8. Indian Commissioners.
9. Orders of the king concerning Indian lands.
10. How the colonists treated the king's orders.
1 1 . Land companies.
12. " Long hunters."
13. Owners of land warrants.
14. Other adventurers.
15. Treaty of Fort Stan wix.
1 6. Treaty of Hard Labor.
17. First real home of white people in Tennessee. Date.
PERIOD II. 1769-1796
SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF
THE STATE
CHAPTER V
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
LET us leave Captain William Bean in his Watauga
home while we learn a chapter of United States history.
We must learn this well in order that we may understand
the condition of affairs in the " Thirteen Colonies " men-
tioned in Chapter IV., and how this affected the settlement
in Tennessee. Remember that all of these colonies were
under the government of the King of England.
The laws of England are made by a body of. men called
the " Parliament." Part of the members are appointed or
born to the office and compose the House of Lords ; part
are elected by the people of Great Britain, and these
elected members compose the House of Commons.
The American colonists had forms of government that
resembled the government of their old home in England.
Each colony had a governor, who in general was the king's
representative, and a colonial legislature or general assem-
bly, instead of a parliament. Part of the members of this
legislature were appointed by the royal governor and were
called the council ; and part were elected by the people of
the colony and were called the assembly.
It is one of the rights of every freeborn Englishman
34
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 35
that he must not be taxed except by the parliament in
which he has representatives. The American colonists
claimed all the rights of Englishmen and said that they
should not be taxed except by the colonial legislatures in
which they had representatives. The colonists claimed
that the people in England and in America had the same
king, but not the same legislative body.
Before the French and English began the " Intercolonial
Wars " the English Parliament had never tried to lay taxes
on the Americans or make any local laws for them. The
king, and the governors he appointed, and the colonial
legislatures did all the governing in the colonies.
These wars had been very expensive, and at their close
England was in great need of money. The Parliament
thought the American colonies would be a good place to
get some of the money they needed, and they said the
wars had been partly for the Americans' benefit, so they
began to pass laws laying taxes on the Americans.
The Americans said they had no representatives in the
British Parliament, and that, therefore, the Parliament had
no right to tax them ; and that they would not pay a penny
of the taxes. The Parliament said they did have the right,
and they meant to use it, as the money was to be raised
only for colonial expenses, and that the Americans should
pay the taxes.
The Americans then petitioned the king to keep the
Parliament from taxing them, but the king took sides with
the Parliament, and the royal governors of course followed
the king's example, and most of the minor officers in the
colonies followed the governors. The king, the Parlia-
ment, the royal officials, and a few other people were on
one side of the dispute ; the colonial assemblies and most
of the American people on the other.
36 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
The Parliament also passed laws to make the Americans
ship their goods in certain vessels, and to prevent them
from manufacturing certain articles, and in many ways
seemed to treat them as if they were not as good as the
people in England.
The Americans resented all of these things and said
they were loyal subjects of the king and entitled to all the
rights of freeborn Englishmen, and that they intended to
have these rights if they had to fight for them.
Each year from 1765 to 1775 the quarrel grew worse,
and finally the king sent an army to force the Americans
to obey. Instead of obeying they deter-
mined to fight the king's soldiers, and
organized bodies of men to do this, call-
ing them Sons of Liberty or Minutemen
or Regulators.
In 1 775 the fighting began, and it con-
tinued nearly eight years. This war is
called the American Revolutionary War.
Those in America who took the side of
the king and Parliament were called
" Tories." Those who favored the Amer-
ican cause were called "Whigs."
As Tennessee was a part of North
Carolina, and as more of the first set-
tlers of Tennessee came from the eastern part of North
Carolina than from any other colony, we are interested
most in what happened there in the Revolutionary days.
People in this country now think that any one who is
honest, industrious, and moral, who obeys the laws of his
country and observes the rules of good manners, is entitled
to respect for his personal worth. Our ancestors in North
Carolina and in other colonies did not think exactly as we
Minuteman
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 37
do on this subject. They came mostly from England,
where people were divided into classes or grades of soci-
ety and were respected very much according to the class
to which they belonged. Living in America had modified
these English notions, but they still existed. Many people
left the older colonies and came to Tennessee to be rid
of these class distinctions. They wished to be free men
, respected for their own worth.
The class idea made the royal governors and tax col-
lectors and other officers of the king think it a great show
of rudeness that the American common people should be
claiming rights, and talking about liberties, and refusing
to obey the British Parliament. Many of the officials said
that these common people ought all to be killed for their
impudence, and robbed them and abused them until the
people thought that most of the king's officers ought to be
killed for their meanness. When people get into such a
temper as this it takes but little to start them fighting.
In North Carolina the royal officials were among the
most tyrannical and rascally in America, and Governor
Tryon and all of the petty scamps who held office under
him became so insolent and overbearing that the people
organized parties of men called Regulators to resist the
oppression of these officials.
In May, 1771, Governor Tryon, with a party of the
king's soldiers, fought a battle with a band of regulators
at Alamance Creek, about forty miles northwest of Raleigh.
The regulators were defeated, many of them were killed,
a few were captured and hanged, and many of those who
escaped crossed the mountains into Tennessee.
This battle made the people more angry than ever.
They wished to be loyal subjects of King George III. of
England, but if his officers were to treat them wrongly and
TENN. HIST. — 3
38 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
then kill them because they resisted, they began to think
it would be better to have no king at all. As matters
grew worse and the country more disturbed each year,
many more of the liberty-loving people fled to Tennessee.
In April, 1775, the colonial legislature of North Caro-
lina met at Newbern. The royal governor knew, from
the speeches of John Ashe and some others, that the
members of the assembly were not friendly to him or the
king's cause ; so he ordered the legislature to adjourn and
Battle of Alamance
the members to go about their own business and said he
would attend to the king's business without any of their
help.
This was the last royal legislature that ever met in North
Carolina. As soon as the assembly adjourned, the same
members reassembled without the governor's leave, de-
clared themselves representatives elected by the people
to secure the rights of free men, and said they meant to
attend to that business without any of the governor's help.
While they were in session the battle of Lexington was
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
39
fought, in Massachusetts, and the Revolutionary War had
begun.
May 19, 1/75, the Mecklenburg County Convention met
at Charlotte, elected Abraham Alexander chairman and
John Alexander secretary, and the next day adopted the
famous " MECKLENBURG RESOLUTIONS." These consti-
Mecklenburg Convention
tuted the first " Declaration of Independence " in America,
being more than a year older than the declaration adopted
by the Continental Congress at Philadelphia July 4, 1776.
In their most important parts the two documents are very
much alike.
While the strife between Great Britain and the colonies
was going on, many people, not only from North Carolina
but also from Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and
4<D SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
other places moved into the wilds of Tennessee, where there
were no king's officers and petty tyrants to trouble them.
Now keep in mind the following facts : —
1. The dispute between Great Britain and her colonies
in America began in 1765 about the rights of freemen and
brought on the Revolutionary War, which ended 1783.
The settlement of Tennessee began within these years, —
in 1769.
2. Many people in the older colonies, disgusted with
class distinctions brought over from Europe, moved into
Tennessee, where no such notions existed.
3. The people of North Carolina were among the first
and most active to resist British tyranny, and fought the
first battle against British authority at the Alamance in
May, 1771. Immediately after this battle many of the
defeated regulators moved into Tennessee.
4. Our North Carolina ancestors, in the famous " Meck-
lenburg Resolutions," published the first Declaration of
American Independence, May 20, 1775. The historian,
Bancroft, says of these people : " Any government but one
of their own institution was oppressive to them. North Car-
olina was settled by the freest of the free." These were
the patriots that made their homes beyond the mountains,
along the Holston, the Watauga, and the Nollichucky.
This chapter is intended not only to show you the con-
nection between the Revolutionary struggle and the early
settlement of our state, but also to give you some idea of
the bold, liberty-loving, independent people who founded
the early homes in Tennessee.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. The thirteen colonies.
2. British Parliament. Lords and Commons.
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 41
3. Colonial legislatures.
4. Rights of Englishmen.
5. Rights of American colonists.
6. Connection in government between England and America.
7. Laws before the Intercolonial Wars. After.
8. American view of parliamentary tax. British view.
9. Petition of the Americans to the king. Result.
10. Impositions in addition to taxes.
11. War begins. Date.
12. « Whigs " and " Tories.1'
13. Why we are interested in North Carolina.
14. Real respectability. Classes of society.
15. Effect in North Carolina of class distinctions.
1 6. Effect on settlement of Tennessee.
17. The Regulators.
18. Battle of the Alamance. Effect on Tennessee.
19. Effect on the people of North Carolina.
20. Last " royal legislature " in North Carolina.
2 1 . Battle of Lexington.
22. Mecklenburg Convention. Date. Declaration of Independence.
23. Effect on Tennessee of the Revolutionary struggle.
24. The four facts to be remembered.
COUNTIES OF EAST TENNESSEE
Name
When
formed
Pop.,
1910
County Seat
Name
When
formed
Pop.
1910
County Seat
Anderson
1801
17,7*7
Clinton
Knox
1792
94.187
Knoxville
Bledsoe
1807
6,329
Pikeville
Loudbn
1870
13,612
Loudon
Blount
J795
20,809
Maryville
Marion
1817
18,820
Jasper
Bradley
*835
16,336
Cleveland
McMinn
1819
21,046
Athens
Campbell
1806
27,387
Jacksboro
Meigs
1835
6,131
Decatur
Carter
1796
19,838
Elizabethton
Monroe
1819
20,716
Madisonville
Claiborne
1801
23,504
Tazewell
Morgan
1817
11,458
Wartburg
Cocke
1797
Newport
Polk
1839
14,116
Benton
Grainger
1796
13^888
Rutledge
Rhea
1807
I5.4IO
Dayton
Greene
1783
3^083
Greeneville
Roane
1801
22,860
Kingston
Hamblen
1870
13,650
Morristown
Scott
1849
12,947
Huntsville
Hamilton
1819
89,267
Chattanooga
Sequatchie
1857
4,202
Dunlap
Hancock
1844
10,778
Sneedville
Sevier
1794
22,296
Sevierville
Hawkins
1786
23,587
Rogersville
Sullivan
1779
28,120
Blountville
|ames
1871
5,210
Ooltewah
Unicoi
1875
7,201
Erwin
"Jefferson
1792
17.755
Dandridge
Union
1850
11,414
Maynardville
Johnson
1835
13.191
Mountain City
Washington
1777
28,968
Jonesboro
COUNTIES OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE
Bedford
180?
22,667
Shelbyville
DeKalb
1837
15.434
Smithvilie
Cannon
1835
10,825
Woodbury
Dickson
1803
19,955
Charlotte
Cheatham
1856
10,540
Ashland City
Fentress
1823
7,446
Jamestown
Clay
1870
9,009
Celina
Franklin
1807
20,491
Winchester
Coffee
1835
15,625.
Manchester
Cites
1809
32,629
Pulaski
Cumberland
1855
9.327
Crossvllle
Grundy
1844
8,322
Altamont
Davidson
1783
149,478
Nashville
Hickman
1807
16,527
Centerville
Name
Houston
Humphreys
Jackson
Lawrence
Lewis
Lincoln
Macon
Marshall
Maury
Montgomery
VI oo re
Dverton
Perry
Pickett
Benton
Darroll
"hester
Torkett
Decatur
Dyer
layette
jibson
rlardeman
rlardin
rlaywood
When
formed
1871
1809
1801
1817
1843
1809
1842
1835
1807
1796
1872
1806
1819
1879
1835
1821
1879
1870
1845
1823
1824
1823
1823
1819
1823
Pop .„
1910
6,224
13.908
15.036
17.569
6,033
25,908
14.559
16,872
40,456
33.672
4,800
15,854
8,815
5.087
County Seat
Erin
Waverly
Gainesboro
Lawrenceburg
Hohenwald
Fayetteville
Lafayette
Lewisburg
Columbia
Clarksville
Lynchburg
Livingston
Linden
Byrdstown
Name
Putnam
Robertson
Rutherford
Smith
Stewart
Sumner
Trousdale
Van Buren
Warren
Wayne
White
Williamson
Wilson
When
formed
1842
1796
1803
1799
1803
1786
1870
1840
1807
1817
1806
1799
1799
Pop.,
1910
20,023
25.466
33.199
18,548
14,860
25,621
5.874
2,784
16,534
12,062
15420
24.213
25.394
COUNTIES OF WEST TENNESSEE
12452 Camden
23-971 Huntingdon
9.09° Henderson
16,076 Alamo
10,093 Decaturville
27,721 Dyersburg
30,257 Somerville
41,630 Trenton
23,011 Bolivar
17.521 Savannah
25,910 Brownsville
Henderson
Henry
Lake
Lauderdale
Madison
McNairy
Obion
Shelby
Tipton
Weakley
1821 17,030
1821 25,434
1870 8,704
1835 21,105
1821 39,357
1823 16,356
1823 29,946
1819 191,439
1823 29,459
1823
County Seat
Cookeville
Springfield
Murtreesboro
Carthage
Dover
Gallatin
Hartsville
Spencer
McMinnville
Waynesboro
Sparta
Franklin
Lebanon
Lexington
Paris
Tiptonville
Ripley
Jackson
Selmer
Union City
Memphis
Covington
Dresden
43
CHAPTER VI
THE PIONEERS
WHEN an army moves from one place to another it can-
not always travel along public roads, but sometimes must
make its own roads. The soldiers who go in front to cut
trees, clear roads, and do other necessary work are called
" pioneers." The pioneers are those who lead the march
and prepare the way for the army to come after them.
The people who come first into a new country, build the
first houses, raise the first crops, etc., are called the pio-
neers of that country, because they go before the others
and prepare the country for civilized life.
Virginia was next to North Carolina in the number of
pioneers she sent into Tennessee. William Bean, of Vir-
ginia, made the first settlement on Watauga River in 1 769,
and his son Russell Bean, was the first white child known
to have been born in Tennessee. Very soon Bean had
neighbors around him, and this section was called "The
Watauga Settlement."
About the year 1771 Parker and Carter, wishing to
trade with the Indians, set up a store near the present
town of Rogersville. People from near Abingdon, Vir-
ginia, which was then called Wolfs Hill, and some others
soon settled about this store. This community was called
"The Carters Valley Settlement."
About the year 1772 Jacob Brown opened a store for
Indian trade on the Nollichucky River. Pioneers soon
44
THE PIONEERS 45
gathered around this store, and the settlement was called
Brown's Store, or " The Nollichucky Settlement."
Now find Holston River on your map ; fix in mind its
location, and the direction it runs in Tennessee. Then
locate Watauga River, Nollichucky River, and Rogers-
ville, and you will know just about where the first three
groups of pioneer cabins stood in Tennessee.
The first settlers were not troubled by Indians for sev-
eral years. The Cherokees were the only tribe very
near them, and they had enough of fighting just then.
These Cherokees were fond of war, — in fact, said they
could not live without it. A little while before Bean set-
tled on the Watauga the Cherokees decided, as they had
no neighbors worth fighting, that they would go over and
fight the Chickasaws. The Chickasaws beat them terribly
in battle, plundered their camps, killed numbers of their
warriors, and chased the remainder of them back home.
After this sore defeat they were not in condition to pro-
voke a war with the white men, and therefore left the
settlers in peace for several years.
The first settlers of Tennessee thought they were in
Virginia, but when the boundary line between Virginia
and North Carolina was established west of the mountains,
they found themselves in that part of North Carolina which
had been reserved by treaty for the Cherokee Indians.
As soon as the settlers learned this they secured from
the Indians a ten years' lease of the lands they claimed.
Afterward they bought the land from the Indians, giving
what the red men thought was a big price, and what the
white men knew was a very small one. At that time a
tract of land about as large as the present county of Wash-
ington or Rutherford or Gibson could be bought for about
ten or fifteen dollars.
46 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
One of the greatest troubles about the sales and treaties
of these early days was that neither white men nor Indians
honestly observed boundary lines. The Indians were a
sort of grown-up children, who knew very little about
moral law or duty, and the wisest and best chiefs among
them could not keep their young men from trespassing on
the land they had sold to the white people. Some of the
white men were more greedy than ignorant, and would
not do what they knew to be right in keeping off the
Indians' land. This was one cause of Indian wars.
The pioneers were a hardy, resolute, fearless class of
people. They had come into a wilderness to make homes,
to better their fortunes, and to enjoy the liberty they did
not have in the older colonies. They expected to face
dangers and endure hardships, and they did both with
the courage and fortitude that belong to the Anglo-Saxon
race.
Let us see if we can picture to ourselves how these pio-
neers looked, how they lived, what they did.
Most of them wore moccasins instead of shoes. The
men and boys wore short pantaloons and leather leggings
reaching from the foot to above the knee. They had no
coats, but wore hunting shirts. These were sometimes of
heavy cloth, but usually of dressed deerskin, and were worn
over the other clothing just as we wear coats. They were
cut and made very much like an ordinary shirt, except that
they were open the entire length of the front, and had a
belt at the waist. In this belt the pioneer carried a small
hatchet, or tomahawk, and a long, sharp hunting knife.
He wore a cap of mink skin, or of the skin of some other
small animal, very- often with the tail for a tassel. He
had a long, muzzle-loading, flintlock rifle, and a leather
pouch suspended by a strap over his shoulder. In this
THE PIONEERS
47
pouch he carried his gun wipers, tow, patching, bullets,
and flints, and fastened' to the strap was a horn in which
he carried his powder. Now, can you see how the pioneer
looked ?
The women and girls wore bonnets, dresses, shawls, etc.,
very much as they do to-day, except that grown people's
skirts were a little ,<»^
shorter and girls' a little
longer than now, and all
were very plainly made.
There were no sewing
machines in that day,
and our great - grand-
mothers had so much of
other work to do that
they spent but little of
their time on tucks and
ruffles.
Cotton was little
known then ; the people
raised hemp, flax, and
wool, spun them into
thread with a hand
wheel, wove the thread
into cloth on a hand
loom, and cut out and made up all their garments at
home.
There was no other way to get clothing. There was no
place to buy anything, except at the stores of Indian traders,
and they kept very few things that white people wanted.
There were no roads and no bridges, so wagons and
carts could not be used. The pioneer moved into the
country on foot or on horseback and brought his household
Pioneer Girl
48 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
goods on pack horses. These household goods would now
be considered a very scant outfit. They were about as
follows : the clothes of
the family, some blank-
ets and a few other bed-
ick Horses
clothes, with bedticks to be filled with grass, hair, or other
suitable material ; a large pot, a pair of pothooks, an oven,
a skillet, and a frying pan ; a hand mill to grind grain, a
wooden trencher to make bread in, a few pewter plates,
cups, and other dishes ; some axes and hoes, the iron parts
of plows, a broadax and a froe, a saw, and an auger.
Added to these were supplies of seed of field crops, gar-
den vegetables, and fruit trees. The pioneer who had all
these things was thought to be very well furnished indeed.
Many pioneers did not have half so much.
When the family reached the place they wished to make
their home, the men and boys cut trees and built a log
house, split boards with the froe and made a roof, which
THE PIONEERS 49
was held on by weight poles, since the pioneers had no
nails and no place to get them. They split logs and
hewed the sides flat and smooth to make a floor and door
shutters, built the chimney of logs and split sticks, cov-
ering the inside with a heavy coat of clay to keep the
wood parts from taking fire. They finished the house
by filling the spaces between the logs of the walls with
clay mortar to keep out the cold wind. The cabin was
rather rough and not very handsome, but it was strong
and warm.
Carpets, mirrors, rocking chairs, and many other things
with which we furnish our houses were unknown to the
pioneer. He made some rough, strong bedsteads and
tables, benches and three-legged stools, and drove some
pegs into the walls, or fastened up some deer horns, to be
Log House
used as racks for clothing, guns, and other articles. Then
he employed the best mechanic he could find to make a
spinning wheel and a hand loom for his wife and daughters
to use.
The family is now settled and all that are old enough go
SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
to work. The horses and cattle are turned into the woods
to eat grass in summer and cane in winter, and they need
little or no feeding, but are taught to come home at night
to get salt and a little grain.
The father and sons cut the small trees and bushes from
a piece of land and chop girdles around the large trees to
kill them. They make rails and build a fence around this
piece of land, pile the brush and burn it, and they have a
field ready to plow and plant. After the first crop has
been raised there is usually plenty in the settler's cabin,
for his land is new and very rich.
The mother and daughters spun, wove, knit, cooked,
washed, dressed skins, and made clothing for the family.
Wild game fur-
nished all their
meat, and maple
sap their sugar;
they got water
from natural
springs, and all
the cooking was
done on the fire-
place.
There were no
schools, no
churches, no
towns, no rail-
roads, not even a
wagon road, —
nothing but the
vast wilderness filled with wild animals and wild Indians,
with here and there a few white settlers. Do you not
think it required brave hearts to live there ?
Spinning Wheel
THE PIONEERS 5 1
That was about a hundred and forty years ago. The
people of that day never saw a cooking stove nor a sewing
machine, a cotton gin nor a wheat thresher, a grass mower
nor a horse rake, a steamboat nor a railroad, a telegraph
nor a telephone, a roller mill nor a street car, a barbed
wire fence nor a can of vegetables, a brass cartridge nor a
breech-loading gun, nor a hundred other things that are
very common with us.
You must not think that these pioneers were stupid and
ignorant. Many of them lived grand and noble lives.
They loved liberty more than luxury, and, sacrificing ease
for independence, they laid for us the foundation of a great
commonwealth. It should be an important part of the
business of every boy and girl in Tennessee to take good
care of this precious inheritance.
At the pioneers' social parties that followed logrollings,
cornshuckings, and quiltings, young men and maidens
enjoyed, in their simple way, the same pleasures that have
ever been dear to all young hearts. The boys and girls
had games and sports as boys and girls have to-day. They
worked and played beneath skies as fair as those of Italy,
under the shadow of mountains grand in their beauty as
the Alps, and beside streams more sparkling and musical
than the classic Arno.
Old people, young people, and children, all had brave
hearts and willing hands, and at Watauga, Carters Val-
ley, and Nollichucky they were preparing the way for civi-
lization.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Military pioneers.
2. Civil pioneers.
3. Pioneers of Tennessee.
4. First settler. Date.
52 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
5. First three groups of settlements. Locate carefully.
6. First settlers not troubled by Indians.
7. Settlers find they are in North Carolina. Action.
8. Price paid to Indians for land.
9. One cause of some Indian wars.
10. Character of pioneer people.
11. Dress of pioneers. How obtained.
12. Outfit and method of moving.
13. Houses and furniture.
14. Work of the family.
15. Some things pioneers of Tennessee never saw. Why ?
1 6. What the pioneers loved most.
17. What the pioneers have done for us.
18. Pleasures of young people and children.
19. The three settlements.
CHAPTER VII
WATAUGA ASSOCIATION
AFTER the pioneers had lived quietly a little while in
their. new homes in Tennessee they began to feel the need
of something else besides log cabins, rich land, and plenty
of game.
They had come to the new country to enjoy liberty and
they had it in full. In fact, there was a little too much of
it for a community where all were not good people. Some
bad men came among the good ones and used their liberty
to do wrong. There were no sheriffs, nor magistrates,
nor judges in the new settlements to make disorderly char-
acters behave themselves or to punish them for misbehav-
ing. There was no place for the settlers to record the
deeds to their land, no court to act upon the wills of people
who died or to appoint guardians for their children, no
officer authorized to issue a marriage license ; in fact, the
pioneers were without any government. It is true they
were in North Carolina, but at first they did not know this,
thinking instead that they were in Virginia ; and if they
had known all about their situation, it would have been
of little value to them, for at that time, 1772, they hated
the royal government in North Carolina, as many of them
had fled from its oppression. Besides all this, a journey
from Watauga to the capital of either North Carolina or
Virginia would then have required more time and would
53
54 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
have been more difficult than a trip would now be from
Rogersville to the capital of California.
Something had to be done to secure orderly and decent
life for a civilized people. The pioneers promptly settled
the question by forming a free government of their own.
This government was the Watauga Association, organized
in 1772.
At the beginning the association included only the
Watauga and the Carters Valley settlements, but in 1775
it was known that some people of the Nollichucky Settle-
ment were " Tories." Men from Wolfs Hill, Carters Val-
ley, and Watauga went down to Brown's Store and made
the Nollichucky people, and all other disaffected people,
take the "oath of fidelity to the common cause" of
American liberty. Nollichucky became part of the Wa-
tauga Association, and there was very little more of " Tory-
ism " in Tennessee.
The original paper, called "Articles of Association,"
that these people all signed and agreed to live by, has
been lost ; but from some other old documents we have
learned a good deal about this simple and original form of
government.
The people met in general convention and elected a
committee of thirteen men who were to take the laws of
Virginia as a guide and make laws suited to the needs of
the new settlements. This committee was the legislative
body. The Committee of Thirteen elected from their own
number five commissioners who were to elect one of their
own number chairman, settle all disputes, punish offenders,
and discharge other duties similar to those performed by
our county and circuit courts. This was the judicial body,
but seems also to have had some executive powers.
The clerk of the court was elected by the Committee
WATAUGA ASSOCIATION 55
of Thirteen. There was a sheriff and a prosecuting attor-
ney, but we do not know by whom they were chosen.
These were the executive officers, so far as we know.
It is not probable that the same men served all the time
in any of these offices, but we know nothing of changes
except in the office of clerk. Felix Walker, Thomas Gom-
ley, William Tatham, and John Sevier were clerks at dif-
ferent times.
Here is a list of the officials as their names appear, in a
petition, without date, sent to North Carolina in 1776 : —
COMMITTEE OF THIRTEEN.
John Carter, Chairman. Charles Robertson. Zach IsbelJ.
Jas. Robertson. James Smith. Jacob Womac.
John Sevier. John Jones. Robert Lucas.
William Bean. George Russell. William Tatham.
Jacob Brown.
THE FIVE COMMISSIONERS. OTHER OFFICERS.
John Carter, Chairman. William Tatham, Clerk.
Charles Robertson. Lewis Bowyer, Attorney.
James Robertson. (The name of the sheriff is
John Sevier. unknown.)
Zach Isbell.
As a model of government the Watauga Association
would not please a modern lawyer or politician, but under
it the new settlements grew rapidly in numbers and thrift,
and all seemed prosperous and happy.
The people had an absolutely free government, one that
was wholly of their own making, one that had been estab-
lished " by the consent of every individual." The stanch
patriots who managed affajrs thought that such a govern-
ment ought to be respected and obeyed, — and it was. The
commissioners held their sessions at regular times, recorded
deeds, probated wills, issued marriage licenses, fined those
56 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
who were disorderly, sent rascals to the whipping post for
small offenses and hanged them for greater ones, with the
energy and promptness of men who were thoroughly in
earnest about the discharge of public duties.
When the Revolution began, the Watauga Association
named their country Washington District, in honor of Gen-
eral George Washington, and voted themselves indebted
to the United Colonies for their share of the general ex-
penses of the Revolutionary War.
This action made the British try to destroy the settle-
ments. Alexander Cameron was Indian Commissioner
for the British government among the Cherokees. He
furnished guns and ammunition for the Indians and per-
suaded them to make war on the settlers.
In the spring of 1/76, a friendly Indian woman, named
Nancy Ward, told the white people that seven hundred
Cherokee warriors, in two divisions, intended to attack the
settlements. The chief, " Dragging Canoe," was to com-
mand one division, and a chief named " Old Abraham,"
the other.
Dragging Canoe was to capture Heaton's Station, a fort
between the two branches of Holston River, about six miles
from their junction, and then destroy all the settlements
in that region. Old Abraham was to capture the Watauga
Fort and destroy everything in that region. After destroy-
ing the Tennessee settlements both divisions were to go
into Virginia and there continue the robbing, burning, and
killing. In the Virginia raid they were to be joined by
"The Raven," a chief who was to lead a third band of
warriors.
When the settlers heard of this, they were very much
alarmed. They sent the news to their Virginia friends
and asked them to send men and ammunition to help in
WATAUGA ASSOCIATION 57
the defense. The Virginians sent both. The Tennes-
seeans made their forts stronger, gathered the women and
children into them, and provided plenty for all to eat.
There were forty fighting men at Fort Watauga, and
one hundred and seventy, including the Virginians, at
Heaton's Station.
A pioneer fort or station was made by building at .each
corner of a square piece of ground a strong log house,
with others be-
tween these if
needed, all hav-
ing their doors
facing the inside
of the square.
Thick posts eight
or ten feet high
were then set side by side .
between the houses so as
to make a solid wall all around
the square. A gate was made
of heavy timber and fastened
on the inside with a strong chain or bar. Small open-
ings were made in the walls for the men in the fort to
shoot through. These openings were called portholes
or loopholes. Sometimes the houses at the corners had
a second story so much larger than the lower one that it
projected two or three feet beyond the wall of the fort.
From the loopholes of these blockhouses, as they were
called, an enemy might be shot if he had succeeded in
getting up to the wall of the fort to cut or burn it. Such
a fort as this was a very good protection against Indians,
as they had no cannon and the guns they used could not
send a bullet through a thick log.
TENN. HIST. — 4.
58 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
In July, 1776, the Indians came. The men at Heaton's
Station, following the advice of Captain William Cocke
and Isaac Shelby, marched out of the fort, met Dragging
Canoe at Island Flats, killed many of his best warriors,
wounded him, and totally routed his whole band. The
white people did not have a man killed and had only five
wounded.
The Watauga men were too few to march out and fight
openly, but these forty good riflemen defeated Old Abra-
ham's three hundred and fifty warriors when the fort was
attacked, though the Indians tried for more than a week
to capture it.
James Robertson was captain and John Sevier lieuten-
ant of those forty brave pioneers. These are the two
greatest men in the early history of Tennessee, but every
man in that fort was a hero whose memory deserves to be
honored whether his name is known or not.
After these battles a part of the Indians prowled about
the settlements in parties of two or three, stealing cattle
and horses, burning houses, and killing people whom they
found alone, until the settlers killed most of them or drove
them off. The people therefore decided that the best way
to -protect themselves from the Indian raids would be to
attract the Indians' attention to their own homes and make
them afraid of the white man's raids.
Virginia and North Carolina sent soldiers to take part
in the expedition against the Indians. The Watauga men
joined them, and they marched into the Cherokee country,
killed all the Indians they could find, burned their towns,
destroyed their crops, killed or drove away their horses
and cattle, and tried to make them understand that attack-
ing the Watauga settlements was a dangerous business.
This Indian war made all of the settlers determined
WATAUGA ASSOCIATION 59
Whigs. Those who had been disposed to be Tories and
had to be forced to take the oath, now hated the British
for having set the Indians against them.
The Watauga settlements had grown rapidly under
their simple form of government, and the people had
hoped to establish a colonial government of their own
similar to those of other American colonies. But the
Revolutionary War had begun, and they thought them-
selves too few to fight all the Indians and British and
Tories that might be sent against them, so they considered
it best to join some other colony.
In August, 1776, they asked to be annexed to North
Carolina. One hundred and thirteen men signed the
petition for annexation, each with his own hand except
two, who made their "mark." There were not more than
six or seven hundred people in all the settlements, so these
signers must have been about all of the men. From this
we see that less than two per cent of the pioneers were
unable to write. Our ancestors were not illiterate back-
woodsmen.
In November, 1776, the Provincial Congress of North
Carolina met at Halifax to draw up a bill of rights and
form a constitution for the state. Among the delegates
were John Carter, John Sevier, Charles Robertson, and
John Haile from Washington District, so we may safely
conclude that Watauga had been annexed, and we learn
that three of the men who had helped to found the
Watauga Association helped to frame the first free con-
stitution of the State of North Carolina.
The Watauga Association, though annexed to North
Carolina, seems to have continued its government until
February, 1778. In November, 1777, Washington District
became Washington County, with boundaries including
60 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
the whole of the present State of Tennessee. What a
huge county that was ! Can you give the boundaries ?
Following- is a list of the first justices of the peace in
Washington County. These magistrates, who took the
oath of office in February, 1778, composed the first county
court that was ever organized in Tennessee.
William Bean. J. Chisholm. Thos. Price.
John Carter. William Clarke. Valentine Sevier.
Zach Isbell. William Cobb. John Shelby, Jr.
Robert Lucas. Benjamin Gist. James Stuart.
James Robertson. Andr. Greer. Jesse Walton.
Charles Robertson. Thos. Houghton. Rich'd White.
George Russell. Jno. McMaihen. Benjamin Wilson.
John Sevier. Jno. McNabb. Joseph Wilson.
Jacob Womac. William McNabb. Mich1! Woods.
Compare the first nine names with the names of the
" Committee of Thirteen," and you will see that, although
the Watauga Association had ceased to exist, the manage-
ment of the public affairs of Washington County was
largely directed by the same men that had helped to found
and administer the first entirely free government in
America.
The germ of Tennessee was the Watauga Association ;
the first government established on this continent abso-
lutely free of religious tests, class distinctions, kingly
dictation, or proprietary interference. It was "a govern-
ment of the people, by the people, and for the people " ;
it served its purpose and has passed to its place of honor
in the temple of history. Let us honor the memory of the
pioneers who had the wisdom to found it and the courage
to administer its difficult affairs through six years of toil
and hardship on a remote and dangerous frontier.
WATAUGA ASSOCIATION 6 1
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Need of the pioneers. Why ?
2. Distance from civilization.
3. Watauga Association.
4. Articles of Association.
5. The legislative body.
6. The judicial.
7. The executive.
8. Changes in office.
9. The list of names.
10. Character of the government,
n. Prompt administration of law.
12. Washington District. Patriotism.
13. Conduct of the British.
14. Nancy Ward.
15. British and Indian plan.
1 6. Preparations of the Watauga Association.
17. A station or fort.
1 8. The battles at Heaton's Station and Watauga.
19. The two greatest men.
20. Indian methods after the battles.
21. Invasion of the Cherokee country.
22. Effect of the Indian war on " Toryism."
23. Petition for annexation to North Carolina.
24. The signers of the petition. A " mark."
25. The annexation, and end of Watauga Association.
26. First county court in Tennessee. Date.
27. Names of men connected with Watauga Association, first constitu-
tion qf North Carolina, and first county court in Tennessee.
28. The first free government in America and its founders.
CHAPTER VIII
ROBERTSON AND SEVIER
James Robertson. — Colonel Richard Henderson of North
Carolina bought from the Cherokee Indians a very large
tract of land, lying partly in
what is now Tennessee, and
partly in what is now Kentucky,
and called it Transylvania. Be-
fore making the trade with the
Indians he employed Daniel
Boone and several other hunt-
ers to go out and examine the
land for him.
This party of hunters left
Wake County, North Carolina,
in the spring of 1769, and with
them went a young man who
wished to find for himself better
James Robertson
land than the sandy pine ridges
of North Carolina. This young man was James Robertson.
He was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, in 1742, and
while he was a small boy his parents moved to North
Carolina, where he grew to manhood.
He married Miss Charlotte Reeves and was living with
his wife and one child, in Wake County, when Boone and
his party of hunters started over the mountains. He
traveled with Boone and his companions as far as Watauga
62
ROBERTSON AND SEVIER 63
and there stopped with William Bean and another settler
named Honeycut.
Robertson was so pleased with the Watauga country,
that he built a house and raised a crop there and then went
back to North Carolina for his wife and child. In 1770 or
1771 he moved his family to their new home, and, as we
already know, became one of the leading men in the
Watauga Association. He was not related to his friend
and associate, Charles Robertson, who was from South
Carolina.
Late in the year 1778 James Robertson left Watauga
and went to a new home deeper in the wilderness. He
settled near where Nashville now is, and soon helped to
organize a government there somewhat like the Watauga
Association. He became chairman of the " Committee of
Notables," and was the real leader of the new settlement
in all of its struggles.
He was colonel and afterward brigadier general of his
district, Indian Commissioner to the Cherokees, a member
of the North Carolina Legislature, and, in 1796, a member
of the convention that framed the first constitution of the
State of Tennessee. He died at the Chickasaw Agency
near Memphis, in 1814, while on a mission from President
Madison to the Chickasaw Indians. His body was removed
to Nashville in 1825.
He has very justly been called "The Father of Middle
Tennessee." His long life was one of continual activity
and usefulness. He was not a great scholar, but his letters
indicate fair education. He was a cool, prudent, fearless,
firm man, of keen judgment, good manners, and great
kindness. His personal appearance is described by his
granddaughter, Mrs. Cheatham, as follows : —
"He was about five feet nine inches in height, heavy
64 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
built, but not fat. His head inclined slightly forward, so
that his light blue eyes were usually shaded by his heavy
eyebrows. His hair was very dark, — like a mole in color, —
and his complexion, though naturally very fair, was dark-
ened and reddened by exposure. I remember him as
being uncommonly quiet and thoughtful and full of the
cares of business. We all loved and venerated him."
John Sevier. — The Huguenots of France were a reli-
gious denomination somewhat like American Presbyte-
rians, and were so cruelly perse-
cuted that many of them fled to
England and America. Among
the refugees who came first to
England and then to America,
was a family named Xavier. In
England this name became Se-
vier. These Seviers were the
ancestors of John Sevier, who
was born in Rockingham
County, Virginia, in 1745. He
seems to have been reasonably
well educated for the age in
which he lived. He was mar-
ried at seventeen years of age, and at twenty-eight was a
widower with three sons.
In 1772 he visited Watauga and met James Robertson.
Soon after this he moved to Watauga, and some time after
the defeat of Old Abraham he married Miss Katherine
Sherrill, who has been called his " Bonnie Kate."
He was a member of the " Committee of Thirteen,"
Robertson's lieutenant at the battle of Watauga, com-
mander of the Tennesseeans at the battle of Kings
Mountain and in many Indian wars, governor of the short-
John Sevier
ROBERTSON AND SEVIER 65
lived State of Franklin, member of Congress from North
Carolina and from Tennessee, and first governor of the
State of Tennessee, and held many other important public
positions. While on a mission from President Madison to
the Creek Indians, in 1815, he died at the agency in Ala-
bama. His remains were removed to Knoxville in June,
1889.
Sevier was five feet eleven inches high, weighed about
one hundred and fifty pounds, had light hair, fair skin, blue
eyes, was strikingly handsome in form and features, and
remarkably kind and generous. His manners were grace-
ful, winning, and exceedingly popular. He was a more
dashing and brilliant man than Robertson and was his
equal in courage, firmness, and self-reliance. He had no
more solid qualities of character than Robertson, but was
a man of broader views and greater statesmanship.
No history of Tennessee could be written without say-
ing a great deal about Robertson and Sevier. As their
names must be mentioned so often, it is best that you
should be familiar with the lives of these greatest of all
the pioneers of Tennessee. This sketch of them is very
short, and you should read some larger books.
These two great men were lifelong friends. Both came
to Tennessee in the early years of its settlement, both
shared the perils and enjoyed the love and esteem of their
fellow-pioneers, both devoted the whole of their long lives
to the service of the state, both died far from home while
on Indian missions for the United States government,
and within a year of each other. The bodies of both were
removed, long years after death, to be buried in the soil
of the state they had loved and served so well. Truly,
" they were very lovely in their lives, and in death tfiey
were not divided."
66 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
Of James Robertson ? Of John Sevier?
1. Birth, time and place.
2. Education.
3. Marriage.
4. Settlement in Tennessee.
5. Public services.
6. Qualities.
7. Personal appearance.
8. Comparison.
9. Death and burial.
CHAPTER IX
KINGS MOUNTAIN
WHEN the Watauga settlements became Washington
County, in 1778, a wagon road was opened across the
mountains into the settled parts of North Carolina, and
travel became much easier. Many more people then
moved into Tennessee, and in 1779 the huge County of
Washington was divided, part of its territory being cut
off to form Sullivan County, the
second county organized in Tennes-
see. Isaac Shelby was appointed
colonel of the new county, and, after
a short time, John Sevier was made
colonel of Washington County. In
the same year Jonesboro, the oldest
town in Tennessee, was laid out and
made the county seat of Washington
County.
The Tennesseeans were known to
be thorough Whigs, and as they increased in numbers they
became more able to aid the Revolutionary cause, and they
did this to their utmost. To their enemies they were a very
troublesome sort of soldiers. They had no baggage to
look after. All were mounted on fleet horses that had been
raised to make their own living in the woods. Each man
carried a small sack of parched corn which he ate instead
of bread, and killed wild game for his meat. A blanket and
67
68 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
a long Deckhard rifle, with the usual hunting knife and
tomahawk, completed his equipment. They came suddenly
upon their enemies, fought with deadly effect, as every
man was a sure marksman, and moved away so swiftly as
to defy pursuit.
When Alexander Cameron set the Indians to making war
on the Tennessee settlements, as related in Chapter VII.,
he was obeying the orders of Captain Stuart, the British
Indian agent for all of the southern tribes. This was
carrying out a general plan of the British government
for the Indians to attack the Americans on the west while
the British soldiers were attacking them on the east. We
have learned how the Indians were defeated at Watauga
and Island Flats. Colonel William Moultrie shot the Brit-
ish war ships to pieces at Sullivans Island so that the
British army could not be landed at Charleston to make
the attack on the east, and the whole plan of 1 776 was a
failure.
A similar plan was laid out by the British for the year
1780, and Governor Rutherford of South Carolina asked
Colonel Sevier and Colonel Shelby to send him all the
men they could spare to help defend Charleston. Two
hundred men started, but the British had captured Charles-
ton before they had gone halfway on their journey. They
then joined General McDowell of North Carolina and won
a battle at the Enoree River.
Next the British took Savannah, and then Cornwallis
defeated Gates at Camden, and the British and Tories
held nearly all the important places in Georgia, South
Carolina, and North Carolina. The American cause
seemed lost. McDowell's forces disbanded and crossed
the mountains.
Among the British officers Colonel Patrick Ferguson,
KINGS MOUNTAIN 69
who commanded the left wing of Cornwallis's army in
North Carolina, was one of the most active and energetic
in punishing Whigs and gathering Tories into the army
to go with Cornwallis into Virginia to finish the war there.
Ferguson sent word to the Tennesseans, or over-moun-
tain men, as he called them, that he intended to make
them a visit and burn their houses and destroy their settle-
ments unless they returned to their allegiance to the King
of England. As they had no idea of returning to alle-
giance to any king, they decided to pay Colonel Ferguson
a visit instead of waiting for him to call on them.
Sevier and Shelby got Colonel William Campbell of
Virginia, Colonel Cleveland of North Carolina, and some
other leaders who had small bodies of soldiers, to join
them, and made Colonel Campbell commander of their
whole force of about fifteen hundred men. Ferguson was
at Gilbert-town, on his way to Watauga, when he heard
that the over-mountain men, with their Deckhard rifles,
were coming to call on him.
This was not what Colonel Ferguson expected, nor was it
at all to his liking. He decided that Gilbert-town was not
a good place to receive company ; especially visitors that
were very handy in the use of Deckhard rifles. He there-
fore retreated to Cowpens and sent to Cornwallis for more
men, though he had about two thousand, partly British
regulars and partly Tories. Some of his messengers were
captured by the Whigs, and none reached Cornwallis until
about the time of the battle of Kings Mountain. No help
came, and his Tories deserted him until he had only about
fifteen hundred men.
From Cowpens he marched to the boundary line be-
tween North Carolina and South Carolina, and posted his
men on the top of a very high, steep hill, which he named
70 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
Kings Mountain, and declared that all the over-mountain
men and all the other rebels in America could never drive
him from his position.
Campbell and the hardy pioneers followed him steadily
and rapidly, making the last part of their march all day
and all night in a drenching rain. Many of the men could
not keep up with the rapid march, and only about eleven
Battle of Kings Mountain
hundred took part in the battle, — more than half of them
being Tennesseeans.
On Saturday, October 7, 1780, the pioneers surrounded
the mountain and began the battle. Ferguson was a
brave and skillful officer, but the pioneers were better
marksmen than his men, and his soldiers fell thick and
fast around him. De Peyster, his second in command,
begged him to surrender, but he refused, cut down the
white flag that was twice raised, sounded his silver whistle
KINGS MOUNTAIN 71
to rally his men, and stubbornly continued the battle until
he was shot dead. This was the end of Ferguson's vain
threat to burn the houses and destroy the settlements of
the over-mountain men. The over-mountain men had
killed him and destroyed his army to protect their own
homes. Not only had they done this; they had cut off the
left wing of Cornwallis's army, and he was forced to re-
treat from North Carolina.
When Ferguson fell, De Peyster surrendered at once.
The actual fighting lasted a little more than one hour.
Two hundred and twenty-five British and thirty Americans
were killed. One hundred and eighty British and sixty
Americans were wounded. Eight hundred prisoners, fif-
teen hundred guns, many wagons and horses, and a large
amount of plunder of various kinds 'were surrendered.
The prisoners were sent into Virginia,' and the wagons
and other property that could not be carried away were
burned. After hanging nine Tories, who had been guilty
of desperate crimes, the over-mountain men went quickly
back to their homes, as they feared an Indian raid might
occur while they were absent.
The battle of Kings Mountain marks the turning point
in the Revolutionary War. It was won chiefly by the
skill and energy of Sevier and Shelby and the heroic
courage and endurance of their patriotic soldiers. These
men were pure patriots who served their country because
they loved their country, not because they expected or
received any pay. The early settlers of Tennessee richly
deserved the high honor of being called " THE REAR GUARD
OF THE REVOLUTION." This is the title of a very charming
book, by James R. Gilmore, in which is told much about
John Sevier and James Robertson and the Watauga settle-
ment.
72 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. First county of Tennessee. Size.
2. Second county. Why organized. Date.
3. Military commanders of each county.
4. Importance of county colonel at that time.
5. Oldest town in Tennessee.
6. Tennessee soldiers of the Revolutionary period.
7. War plans of the British for 1776. Result.
8. The call for Tennesseeans in 1780.
9. American disasters.
10. Colonel Ferguson and his message to the over-mountain men.
1 1 . Plan and arrangements of the Tennesseeans.
12. Ferguson's preparations to reteive his expected visitors.
13. The march and number of men in the battle.
14. Battle of Kings Mountain.
15. After the battle.
16. Importance of the victory.
17. " The Rear Guard of the Revolution."
CHAPTER X
INDIAN WARS
THE war that began with the Indian attack upon the
Watauga settlements has been described in Chapter VII.
This was not the first nor the last Indian war in which
the Watauga people were engaged. The others of most
importance to the Watauga settlers will be described in
this chapter.
Point Pleasant. — In 1774 Lord Dunmore, Governor of
Virginia, sent some surveyors into Kentucky to lay out
land which had been bought from the Indians by the
treaty of Fort Stanwix. The Indians killed the surveyors
and began a war on the Virginia settlers. The governor
ordered General Lewis to raise an army and kill the
Indians or drive them out of Kentucky.
At that time the Watauga settlements were claimed
by Virginia. Captain Evan Shelby, the father of Isaac
Shelby, raised a company of fifty men at Watauga and
joined General Lewis's army. Isaac Shelby was lieuten-
ant, and James Robertson and Valentine Sevier, a brother
of John Sevier, were sergeants in that company.
October 6, 1774, the army camped on the banks of the
Ohio River, where Point Pleasant now is, and sent out
hunters each day to supply the camp with game. A little
before daylight, on the morning of October 10, James
Roberston and Valentine Sevier started out hunting and
met an army of Indians coming to attack the camp. They
TENN. HIST. — 5 73
74 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
fired on the Indians and ran back to the camp. Soon the
battle began. It lasted all day and was one of the fiercest
ever fought by the Indians. They were thoroughly beaten
in the end, and fled across the Ohio River. This was
Watauga's first experience in Indian wars.
Chickamauga. — The Chickamaugas were the most fero-
cious and lawless of all the Indians, and they had been
joined by a number of white outlaws worse than themselves.
In 1779, the British Indian agents were collecting in the
Chickamauga towns, just below where Chattanooga now
stands, the guns and ammunition to be used by the Indians
in the campaign of 1780, already explained in Chapter IX.
The settlers did not know this, but they did know that
the Chickamaugas were prowling about, stealing and kill-
ing, and that they seemed to have plenty of guns and
ammunition. The settlers suspected where these came
from and determined to destroy the Chickamauga towns.
Captain Evan Shelby was chosen by North Carolina
and Virginia to command the expedition against the
Chickamaugas. He knew all about Indians and their
habits, and was himself as silent and sly as an Indian.
His force floated down the Tennessee River in boats and
came upon the Chickamaugas so unexpectedly that they
were able to offer little resistance. He killed their braves,
destroyed the British guns and ammunition, burned their
towns and their corn, and left them scattered in the woods
and too busy getting enough to eat to trouble the white
people for at least a year after his visit.
Boyds Creek. — When Sevier and his men returned from
Kings Mountain, they found that they had not reached
home a day too early. The Indians were preparing to
attack the settlements. Sevier determined to treat them
as he had treated Ferguson, — go to them instead of wait-
INDIAN WARS 75
ing for them to come to him. He gathered his trusty
riflemen, met the Indians at Boyds Creek, and slaugh-
tered them without mercy.
Echota. — After the battle at Boyds Creek, Sevier pushed
forward to the Little Tennessee River and defeated another
body of Indians at Echota. As this was the home of
Nancy Ward, the friendly Indian woman, it was not
destroyed. All the other towns of that region were
burned.
Tellico. — The towns along the Tellico, Hiawassee, and
Chickamauga were laid in ashes, and Sevier pushed on
to the Coosa River in Georgia. Everything that could
be of any use to the Indians was burned, broken, killed,
or carried away. Sevier took only prisoners enough to
exchange for white people that had been carried off by
the Indians. Behind him he left only dead Indians and
cattle, smoke-blackened ruins, and ravaged fields. This
whole expedition lasted sixty-three days, and Sevier had
only one man killed.
Tuckasege. — In 1781 the Cherokees living high up in
the mountains, about the head waters of Little Tennessee
River, began stealing horses and cattle and killing settlers.
They thought their country was too wild and rough for
Sevier to reach them, but he and his bold riflemen climbed
over the wild, high mountains and carried slaughter and
fire and destruction to the Tuckasege towns as they had
done to the valley towns the year before.
To go into the details of all of Sevier's Indian wars
would make this chapter too long. Enough has been
told for you to understand his methods. Sevier was a
really kind and generous man, but he was a fearless and
resolute one. He knew the Indians well, and knew that
they would continue to plunder and kill white people
76 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
unless they were made afraid to do it. For this reason
he adopted measures that made the name of " Nollichucky
Jack," as the Indians called him, a dread and a terror to
the Cherokees.
The Indians were treated very unjustly in many ways,
and wicked white men often led them into trouble. We
have seen how the British brought ruin upon them by
Indian Battle
starting them into war with the Watauga or East Tennessee
settlers. Further on in this history we shall see how the
Spaniards led them into trouble with the Cumberland, or
Middle Tennessee, settlers. The Indian's greatest mis-
take was that he would not try to become civilized. A
civilized and a savage people can never live peaceably
together. The white men knew this and, as the Indians
would not be civilized, the white people tried to extermi-
nate them as they did wolves or bears or other dangerous
animals.
INDIAN WARS 77
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ?
1 . Formation of General Lewis's army.
2. The Watauga company.
3. Battle at Point Pleasant.
4. Character of the Chickamaugas.
5. British arrangements among them.
6. Captain Evan Shelby's expedition.
7. Boyds Creek.
8. Echota.
9. Tellico, Hiawassee, Chickamauga. and Coosa Rivers.
10. Length of Sevier's campaign. Results.
1 1 . Tuckasege.
12. Sevier's methods.
13. Conduct of white men toward the Indians.
14. The Indian's greatest mistake.
CHAPTER XI
STATE OF FRANKLIN
IN 1783 another section of territory was cut off from
Washington County and formed into Greene County.
There were then three counties in what is now Tennessee,—
Washington, Sullivan, and Greene. The people of Ten-
nessee, in spite of all difficulties and dangers, had steadily
increased in numbers and wealth and were beginning to
feel strong enough to form a new state of their own.
The Revolutionary War was over and the Congress and
all the states were very much in debt for war expenses.
Congress had proposed that the states should give their
western lands to the general government and that Congress
should sell these lands and pay all of the debts.
The states agreed to this plan, and in 1784 North
Carolina ceded to the United States what is now the State
of Tennessee and gave Congress two years in which to
accept or reject the grant. This seemed at first to be all
good enough, but very soon facts were discovered that
alarmed the people of Tennessee very much.
There had been no suitable arrangement for a govern-
ment during the two years that Congress might delay
accepting.
There had been no brigadier general appointed for the
three counties, and no one else could lawfully call out the
soldiers. The Indians might attack the settlers at any time
and kill and plunder as they pleased.
78
STATE OF FRANKLIN 79
No judge of the superior court had been provided, and
no one else could legally try criminal cases. As soon as
this should become known, the horse thieves and murderers
and bandits of all classes would crowd into the settlements,
where they would be safe from law and do as they pleased.
The people had no desire to live through two years of
Indian butchery and lawlessness. They abused North
Carolina roundly, said that she cared nothing for her
children west of the mountains, and had never been any-
thing more than a stepmother to them at best. After
saying as many bad things of their stepmother as they
could think of, they determined to take care of themselves
in their own way, without leave or license from the State
of North Carolina or any one else.
Each military company elected two representatives, and
these representatives formed the County Committee. The
County Committees called a general convention which
met at Jonesboro in August, 1784, and elected John Sevier
president and Landon Carter secretary. This convention
resolved to form a new state and provided for another
convention to form a constitution and start the new govern-
ment. Soon a very strange constitution, providing that
lawyers, doctors, and preachers should never be members
of the legislature, was presented. It also contained sev-
eral other things so new and strange that the people
would not have it. Then the constitution of North Caro-
lina, with a few changes, was adopted, and the new state
was named Franklin. Frankland was first proposed, but
it was changed to Franklin in honor of Dr. Benjamin
Franklin.
John Sevier was elected governor of the new state, and
David Campbell judge of the superior court. Greeneville
was made the capital of the state. The first legislature
80 SE1TLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
met early in 1785 ; Landon Carter was speaker of the Sen-
ate, and Thomas Talbot was clerk. William 'Cage was
speaker of the House, and Thomas Chapman was clerk.
The new government went at once into the discharge of
all the duties of a regularly formed state. It made treaties
with the Indians, opened courts, organized new counties,
and fixed taxes and officers' salaries to be paid in money,
corn, tobacco, whisky, deer skins, mink skins, beeswax,
tallow, hemp, flax, linsey, wool, bacon, and in fact almost
anything in common use among the people. What a time
the tax collectors must have had !
When the Governor of North Carolina heard what was
going on over the mountains he sent an address to the
people of the new state, ordering them to disband their
government and return at once to their allegiance to the
State of North Carolina. The Legislature of North Caro-
lina repealed the act of cession to the United States, John
Sevier was appointed brigadier general of the militia, and
David Campbell was appointed judge of the superior court
of the district.
John Sevier at once advised the people to drop the
Franklin movement, as North Carolina had provided all
that was necessary for their proper government and pro-
tection. They would not listen to his advice, but said they
would have a new state and that he must be their governor.
As he could not make them follow his advice he deter-
mined to serve them, and for more than two years he put
forth every effort of his splendid talents to establish and
maintain the State of Franklin.
Two parties grew up in the country, — the Franklin party
and the North Carolina party. John Sevier was the leader
of the Franklin party, and a man named John Tipton, of
the North Carolina party. Tipton was at first strongly in
STATE OF FRANKLIN 8 1
favor of the Franklin movement, but when he saw that
the people preferred Sevier for governor, he changed to
the other side. He hated Sevier more than he loved any
party or principles. Most historians seem to consider him
a very high-tempered, narrow-minded man.
The Legislature of North Carolina passed acts of pardon
for all those who would return to their allegiance, and
Governor Caswell issued proclamations in a kind and gen-
erous spirit, and these acts led many people to think better
of North Carolina than they had done a year before. Be-
sides this, a great many people began to be afraid that if
they did not return to their allegiance their stepmother
might conclude to give them a little of the persuasion that
mothers sometimes give when their children are naughty
and unruly. For these and other reasons the North Caro-
lina party became stronger every day. After a while a
set of North Carolina officers were elected and there were
two governments in force in the same country.
The rival officers quarreled and fought over their sup-
posed rights ; the stronger party often turned the weaker
one out of doors and took possession of the courthouses,
jails, and public records ; the people did not know to which
officers they ought to pay taxes, and therefore paid no taxes
at all ; marriage licenses, guardian bonds, mortgages, deeds,
and all public papers recorded by one party were not rec-
ognized as lawful by the other, and everything was getting
into such a tangle that many of the people heartily wished
that they had never heard of the State of Franklin.
Sevier tried with all his might to persuade North Caro-
lina to agree to the independence of the State of Franklin,
but North Carolina would not do it. He then tried to get
the United States Congress to recognize the state, but
Congress would not listen to the proposition. Finally he
82 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
tried to get the help of the State of Georgia, but Georgia
said it was none of her affairs and that North Carolina
and Franklin must settle it between themselves.
Day by day the Franklin party became weaker, and
when Sevier's term as governor expired, in March, 1788,
the State of Franklin was dead and North Carolina was
in full control. Sevier went on an expedition against the
Cherokees, and on his return was arrested and handcuffed
by order of Tipton, who held office under North Carolina.
Sevier was sent over the mountains to be tried for trea-
son ; that is, attempting to form a separate government
within the territory of a state and refusing to obey the
governor when ordered to return to his allegiance to North
Carolina. He was rescued by his friends, neither the judge
nor the sheriff seeming to care, and was never tried. Really,
nobody except Tipton was very anxious to have him tried.
He was soon elected to the Senate of North Carolina, was
restored by act of the legislature to all his former privileges,
and was made brigadier general of the Washington Dis-
trict. In 1789 he was elected a member of the United
States Congress from the western district of North Caro-
lina, and was the first congressman from the Mississippi
Valley. Year after year his fame increased until the end
of his long life, and he is, perhaps, the grandest figure in
Tennessee history.
It is not at all probable that the Franklin movement was
a willful rebellion or an ambitious revolution. John Tipton
and a few others like him were very anxious to have the
State of Franklin until they found that they could not get
the offices they wanted, and then they turned against it.
Perhaps some men of the Franklin party were influenced by
bad motives, but the great majority were not. Sevier, Cocke,
Doak, Ramsey, Campbell, Carter, Houston, and many others,
STATE OF FRANKLIN 83
who held the high offices of the Franklin government, had
all the offices they wanted before the State of Franklin
was formed and also after it ceased to exist. They were
all great and good men who had the unbounded confidence
of the people and had nothing personal to gain by the for-
mation of a new state.
The State of Franklin was organized because the people
demanded it. They knew that the formation of a new
state had been provided for. in the annexation of Watauga
to North Carolina. They were beginning to feel strong
enough for the change, and when they considered them-
selves abandoned by North Carolina without law or pro-
tection they thought the time had come to form the new
state.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Counties in 1783.
2. Increase in numbers and wealth.
3. Plan for paying the Revolutionary war debts.
4. Cession of Tennessee to the United States.
5. Cause of alarm among the settlers.
6. Opinions of North Carolina.
7. Organization of the State of Franklin.
8. Chief officers and capital.
9. Acts of the new government.
10. Action of the governor and legislature of North Carolina.
11. John Sevier's advice. Result.
12. The two parties and their leaders.
13. Action of Governor Caswell and its effect.
14. The two sets of officers. Resulting confusion.
15. Sevier's efforts to establish the new state.
16. End of the State of Franklin.
17. Sevier's arrest and result.
1 8. Sevier restored to citizenship and office.
19. Was the formation of Franklin a rebellion ?
20. Character of the prominent men of Franklin.
21. Real cause of the Franklin movement.
CHAPTER XII
THE CUMBERLAND SETTLEMENTS
Do you remember anything of Colonel Richard Hender-
son and his " Transylvania " purchase mentioned in Chap-
ter VIII. ? He had a number of partners, and they were
all together called "The Transylvania Company."
All the fine land he bought from the Indians was worth
nothing unless he and his partners could get settlers to
live on it. Land that produces no crops or other wealth
is of no real value.
Many of the Indian chiefs were in favor of this sale of
land because they thought that white settlers along the
Cumberland and Kentucky rivers would keep northern
Indians off their southern hunting grounds. Oconostota,
a famous Cherokee chief, opposed the sale and predicted
that the white people would have a great deal of trouble
in settling the country they had bought. His prediction
was correct, as we shall see in the course of this story.
The Transylvania Company offered large tracts of good
land for a very small price to any one who would settle on
their purchase. In 1778 Thomas Sharpe Spencer and a
party of hunters came from Kentucky to settle in Middle
Tennessee near where Nashville now stands. The place
was then called Big Salt Lick or French Lick, and was a
wild, lonely, dangerous country. After clearing a piece of
ground, near Castalian Springs, in what is now Sumner
County, planting corn, and learning the dangers of living
there, all of the party except Spencer said they would rather
84
THE CUMBERLAND SETTLEMENTS
keep the hair on their heads and not have quite so much
rich land and fat game. They went back to Kentucky,
leaving Spencer by himself in the wilderness. He said he
would risk the Indians' getting
his scalp, so he watched his clear-
ing, raised his crop of corn, and
lived all the following winter in a
big, hollow sycamore tree. This
man was the first actual settler in
Middle Tennes-
see.
Spencer did
not know that
there was a
white man with-
in a hundred
miles of him,
but there were
along the Cum-
berland River
a few hunters
and trappers in
the service of
Captain De Mumbreun, or Montbreun, a French fur trader
who afterward lived at Nashville.
Spencer was a man of gigantic size. One day he passed
near the hut of one of these trappers ; soon afterward, it
is said, the trapper saw his tracks and ran away to the
French settlements on the Wabash River and reported
that the Cumberland country was inhabited by such big
giants that he was afraid to stay there. This story may
be true or it may be a joke that some one made on the
great size of Spencer's feet.
Spencer at Home
86 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
We do not know what promises the Transylvania Com-
pany made to James Robertson and some of his Watauga
friends, but they must have been very liberal. Late in the
year 1778, Robertson, seven other white men, and one
negro left Watauga and traveled through the woods to the
place where Spencer had raised his crop of corn during the
summer of that year. They at once selected land near
French Lick, built cabins and forts, cleared fields, and
planted corn the following spring. Soon after the arrival
of Robertson's party they were joined by another under the
lead of a trapper named Casper Mansker.
Robertson went to see General George Rogers Clark at
Kaskaskia, about the title to their lands, and on this trip
met John Raines and a party of pioneers on their way to
Kentucky. He persuaded them to go with him to French
Lick. Soon after Raines came a party of settlers from
South Carolina moved in, and, for a little while, there was
almost a steady stream of immigrants coming into the
Cumberland country.
% Robertson and his companions had left their wives and
children at Watauga. December 22, 1779, a flatboat called
the Adventure, and a number of small craft, left Fort
Patrick Henry, on the Holston River, to float down the
Holston into the Tennessee, and down the Tennessee to
the Ohio, then to be poled and paddled up the Ohio to the
Cumberland, then up the Cumberland to French Lick.
This fleet of boats was under the command of John Don-
elson, and carried the families of Robertson and his associ-
ates, in company with many other immigrants, to the
Cumberland country. They did not reach Nashville, or
French Lick, until April 24, 1780.
John Donelson kept a daily journal of this long voyage.
It is one of the most interesting old documents of Tennes-
THE CUMBERLAND SETTLEMENTS 87
see history, but is too long to be given here. You can
find the whole of it in Ramsey's Annals of Tennessee and
in some other large histories.
Donelson's journal tells how these brave adventurers
suffered from hunger and cold, and storms and wrecks,
and sickness and Indian attacks, and how they succeeded
in passing through all of these, and many other perils,
and finally landing at the Big Salt Lick to take posses-
sion of the log-cabin homes that loving hands had built
for them.
All of the immigrants that have been mentioned did not
settle at Nashville. In May, 1780, .there were eight regu-
lar stations, or forts, and some scattered settlements. The
stations were Nashborough, the present Nashville ; Free-
land's, north of Nashville ; Gasper's, farther north at
Goodlettsville ; Fort Union, about six miles up the river
from Nashville ; Eaton's, on the east side of the Cumber-
land about two or three miles below Nashville ; Stones
River, west of the Hermitage ; Asher's, very near Galla-
tin; and Bledsoe's at Sulphur Springs, or Castalian Springs,
in what is now Sumner County. Can you describe a
pioneer fort or station ? If you cannot, turn back and
read Chapter VII.
As soon as the pioneers had established homes in the
wilderness they set about organizing a government that
would insure decency and good order in the new settle-
ments. Each station sent representatives to Nashborough,
and they drew up a " Compact of Government " which
was signed, May 13, 1780, by two hundred and fifty-six
persons, only one man making his "mark."
The " Compact of Government " is a long document
that may be found in Putnam's History of Middle Tennes-
see. It provided a government suited to the needs of the
88 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
time and place for which it was made. The judicial and
executive powers were placed in the hands of twelve
" Notables " or " General Arbitrators." James Robertson
was made the chairman of this body and was therefore
the real governor of the colony and the commander of the
militia.
Robertson and his associates in office went to the dis-
charge of their public duties in much the same manner as
did the " Committee of Thirteen " at Watauga, except that
they never hanged any one. The "Compact of Govern-
ment " did not give them that power.
Y Until the summer of. 1780 the Cumberland settlers were
not troubled by Indians. There were three reasons for
this. i. John Sevier had given the Cherokees enough of
war to keep them quiet for a little while. 2. One of the
boats in Donelson's fleet carried a family that had small-
pox. This boat was kept behind the others. The Indians
captured it, killed the people, plundered the boat, took
smallpox themselves, and died by hundreds. 3. The win-
ter of 1779-80 was so severe that the Cumberland River
was frozen deeply enough for cattle to be driven across it
on the ice.1 This severe weather made game very scarce
and kept the Indians busy making fires and getting enough
to eat.
In the summer of 1780 the Indians began to kill the
settlers and hunters that they found alone or in small
parties, and this was kept up all the season. There was
1 Only twice, if at all, in the history of Tennessee has the weather been so
cold as in 1780. On " Cold Friday," February 5, 1835, cattle and hogs were
frozen to death. On the night of February 12, 1899, the official record shows
29 degrees below zero at Trenton, 28 at Union City, and 27 at Dresden.
These are the lowest records in the state. We have no official record for
1780 and 1835.
THE CUMBERLAND SETTLEMENTS
89
no open attack upon the settlements, but if a man went
out to gather corn, to hunt, to feed his stock, or to visit a
neighbor he was in constant danger of being shot by an
Indian hidden away in a thicket or canebrake.
Indian Warriors
In spite of this constant danger and loss of life, the
Cumberland settlements were growing stronger and better
prepared to resist the fierce Indian war which came upon
them the next year.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. The Transylvania Purchase.
2. Indian views of the treaty and sale.
3. Inducements to settle in the Cumberland country.
4. The first settler in Middle Tennessee.
5. Spencer and the Frenchman.
TENN. HIST. 6
90 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
6. James Robertson and his party.
7. Other settlers.
8. The voyage of the Adventure.
9. John Donelson's journal.
10. The eight stations or forts.
11. The Compact of Government.
12. No Indian troubles until the summer of 1780.
13. First Indian warfare on the Cumberland.
14. Progress of the settlements.
CHAPTER XIII
DAVIDSON COUNTY
IN the spring of 1781 the Indians determined to destroy
the Cumberland settlements, and Cherokees, Creeks, Chick-
amaugas, and some others united for this purpose. They
Defense of Nashborough
attacked the fort at Nashborough, April 2, 1781, and were
totally defeated by the heroic settlers in a savage fight
called the battle of the Bluffs. At a critical time in the
battle, Mrs. Robertson, it is said, turned out of the fort
about fifty fierce dogs and set them on the Indians.
91
92 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
After their defeat the Indians divided into small parties,
stole horses and cattle, burned houses, and killed people
who were at work or out hunting. They could quack like
ducks or gobble like turkeys or imitate the cries of nearly
all wild beasts and thus lead hunters up to their hiding
places and shoot them. The white men soon learned this
trick and turned it against the Indians. Mansker, Spen-
cer, Castleman, and many others became even more expert
at " gobbling up " Indians than the Indians were in deceiv-
ing them.
For years every man in the Cumberland settlements
slept with a loaded rifle within reach. If one plowed or
chopped, others stood guard for him with loaded guns ready
for use. Some one was constantly on watch at the gates
of the forts, and scouts ranged the woods in all directions.
No one outside of a fort was safe for a single moment.
James Robertson is said to have slept with one eye open
every night ; that is, he was constantly watchful and care-
ful for the safety of the settlement. He was a wonderful
man, — a man of iron when necessary, — but withal so
kind and true that he was the friend, the guide, the coun-
selor and commander of all the people, and the real " Father
of Middle Tennessee."
In 1783 the Cumberland settlements were organized into
Davidson County, embracing in its territory all of Middle
Tennessee north of Duck River. A Court of Pleas and
Quarter Sessions (county court) was established by North
Carolina and the "Compact of Government" came to an
end. A log courthouse eighteen feet square, and a jail of
smaller size and like material, were built. Nashborough
was made the county seat, and its name was changed to
Nashville in 1784. James Robertson was elected represen-
tative to the North Carolina Legislature, and attended the
DAVIDSON COUNTY 93
sessions regularly, though he had to go and come more
than six hundred miles, and half of the way at the constant
risk of his life. What a brave, true-hearted man he must
have been !
The newly formed county court seems to have been
about the nearest approach to an omnipotent body that
ever existed in North America. It levied and collected
taxes, cleared roads, laid out towns, sent offenders to jail
and the whipping post, opened and operated a land office,
regulated the currency, made and enforced sumptuary
laws, raised and equipped armies, declared war and made
treaties, tried to negotiate with a foreign nation, — Spain,
— for the navigation of the Mississippi; in fact, did a
little of everything within the power of a governor, legis-
lature, and courts of a state, besides several things that
were not. There seems to have been only one thing that
it could not do ; that was to draw money from the North
Carolina treasury. Not a penny would North Carolina
ever spend for the benefit of her western settlers.
Strange as the proceedings of Davidson County Court
may now appear, it was necessary that those magistrates
should act as they did. Immigrants were constantly com-
ing in and were a welcome addition to the strength of the
settlements. They had to buy corn until they could raise
a crop. Now, if some one who had corn to sell wished to
ship it down the Cumberland River and sell it to a Ken-
tucky distiller, the court would issue .an order forbidding
it. This looks like taking a man's personal rights from
him. We should call such an order a sumptuary law.
But it was a necessity ; the corn was needed to make
bread for the incoming settlers until they could raise a
crop.
It seems to us very absurd that a county court should
94 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
keep a standing army. But the Cumberland people were
six hundred miles from the capital of their state; they
were in the midst of savage enemies and had to take care
of themselves. They looked to their county court for
everything pertaining to the public safety, as it was the
only legal authority within reach of them. The men who
composed this court were true patriots. While they took
the responsibility of some very strange and arbitrary
acts, they seem always to have tried to serve their people
faithfully.
Under the rule of this all-powerful county court the
Cumberland settlements grew and spread over the coun-
try, though some one was killed almost every day by the
Indians. Robertson and all of the wise men tried to make
peace with the savages, but could not do it. In another
chapter I will explain to you why they could not.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1 . Indian plans for 1781.
2. Battle of the Bluffs.
3. Indian warfare after the battle.
4. Conditions under which settlers lived and worked.
5. " The Father of Middle Tennessee."
6. Davidson County.
7. The county seat, courthouse, and jail.
8. Representative in the legislature.
9. Remarkable proceedings of the county court. Reasons.
10. Who now exercise the powers then exercised by that county court ?
1 1 . Prosperity of the county.
12. Efforts to make peace with the Indians.
CHAPTER XIV
THE SPANIARDS
Now let us learn a chapter 'of Spanish American history
so that we may better understand the condition of the
Cumberland people. It looks a little strange that we
should study Spanish affairs in order to understand about
Tennessee, but we must do it, and the lesson must be well
learned.
In 1762, while the "Intercolonial Wars" were going
on, England took Cuba from Spain. The next year, you
remember, England and France made their treaty of peace,
and France surrendered all of her territory east of the Mis-
sissippi River (except New Orleans) to England ; about the
same time, also, France gave New Orleans and all her land
west of the Mississippi to Spain. England thus owned all
of the country east of the Mississippi, except New Orleans
and Florida ; but by the same treaty of 1 763, she gave
Cuba back to Spain in exchange for Florida, so as to have
all of her American possessions together. Study carefully
the map of North America in connection with this para-
graph, — do not try to understand it without the map
before you.
In 1783 the Revolutionary War closed, the thirteen
English colonies in North America became independent
states, and thus England lost all of her territory east of
the Mississippi except Canada and Florida. England then
gave Florida back to Spain in exchange for the Bahama
Islands, and left Spain and the United States to quarrel
95
96 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
over the northern boundary line of Florida, which had
never been definitely established.
As the United States was not at that time a strong
nation, Spain at once put soldiers into the forts at Pensa-
cola, Mobile, New Orleans, and Natchez ; and the Spanish
governor general, who lived at New Orleans, claimed
what is now Alabama, Mississippi, much of Tennessee,
and a small part of Kentucky as Spanish territory. In 1794
he built Fort Barancas where Memphis now is.
Nearly all of the Indians in this territory, except the
Chickasaws, hated the Americans. The Spaniards told
the Indians that the King of Spain was their friend, and
that he would keep the Americans from taking their land
from them. Then they sent out their agents and traders,
who furnished the Indians with guns and ammunition and
told them to kill out all of the white settlers west of the
mountains in Tennessee.
To make still more trouble for all of the people of the
United States, west of the mountains, the Spaniards would
not allow them to use the Mississippi River. In those
days there were no railroads nor good wagon roads across
the mountains. The western settlers had no way to carry
their produce to market except by the rivers, and all of
these rivers finally ran into the Mississippi. The settlers
could not buy tea nor coffee nor sugar nor anything else
unless they could get to a market to sell their crops and
thus get money to buy. what they needed.
You are probably thinking that it seems very foolish
and wicked for the Spaniards to have encouraged the In-
dians to kill white people, and to have kept the western
settlers from buying and selling in Natchez and New
Orleans, where many Spanish merchants were anxious to
trade with them.
THE SPANIARDS 97
The Spanish officials thought they had good reasons for
acting as they did. Count Aranda, the Prime Minister of
Spain, had told the Spanish king that the United States,
if left to themselves, would soon become a great power
and drive the Spanish out of North America. A Creek
Indian chief, Alexander McGillivray, had made a very simi-
lar prediction to the governor general at New Orleans.
The object of the Spanish authorities, therefore, was to
keep the United States from becoming a great power.
They determined to prevent the use of the Mississippi
River for trade, and thus discourage western settlement ;
to get the Indians to destroy the settlements that were
already in Tennessee and Kentucky ; then to claim that
the northern boundary of their Florida possessions was
somewhere near the mouth of the Ohio River. If this
plan could be carried out, they knew that the United
States would be much weaker and Spain much stronger in
America.
As one means ut carrying out their purposes, the Span-
iards made a treaty with McGillivray, and promised him
the regular pay of a Spanish general if he would keep the
Indians at war with the Cumberland settlers. The Span-
ish traders furnished plenty of guns and ammunition, and
the business was exactly to the taste of McGillivray and
the Indians.
Now you can understand why Robertson and the Cum-
berland settlers could not make peace with the Indians.
The chiefs were paid to keep the war going on. McGilli-
vray did not care how many white people nor how many
Indians were killed, nor whether Spain or the western
settlers were ruined by the war. He stayed in his Alabama
home and pretended to be a friend to both parties while
drawing his pay and keeping up the war.
98 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
McGillivray was only one fourth Indian. His father
was a Scotchman of good family, his mother a half-blood
Indian. Her father was a Spaniard who held office in the
French army. From Pickett's History of Alabama, and
other sources, we learn that McGillivray was tall, slender,
very handsome, a fine scholar, a polished gentleman in
manners, having the cool judgment and shre-wdness of a
Scotchman, the self-conceit and duplicity of a Spaniard,
and the treachery and ferocity of an Indian. Perhaps he
was altogether the most remarkable combination of scholar,
savage, gentleman, ruffian, diplomat, knave, and scoundrel
that ever lived in America.
This man, who seems to have had no more conscience
than a wildcat, ruled the Creeks and Seminoles, and had
great influence among other tribes. He made fair prom-
ises to James Robertson and to the Spanish governor,
accepted presents from both, though he cared nothing for
either of them, and never had the slightest regard for his
own promises. He kept the Indians making war on the
settlers only because he was paid to do so, and kept mak-
ing fair promises to the Cumberland people because he
hoped thereby to get more pay.
Robertson finally learned McGillivray's character, and
saw that it was useless to have any dealings with him.
He then turned his attention to the Spanish governor at
New. Orleans in order to secure peace for the Cumberland
settlements. . /
0
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ?
1. Conquest and transfers of American territory in 1762 and 1763.
2. Other transfers in 1783.
3. Spanish claims east of the Mississippi in 1783.
4. Spanish dealings with the Indians.
THE SPANIARDS 99
5. Spanish markets of Natchez and New Orleans necessary to western
settlers.
6. Predictions of Count Aranda and of Alexander McGillivray.
7. Spanish plans and purposes in preventing the use of the Mississippi.
8. The treaty with McGillivray.
9. Why Robertson could not make peace with the Indians.
10. Family history of Alexander McGillivray.
11. Personal appearance and general character.
12. Dealings with Robertson and the Spaniards.
13. Lesson learned by Robertson.
14. Next efforts for peace on the Cumberland.
CHAPTER XV
THE TERRITORY
IN all of their struggles with Indians, and hardships of
every kind, the Cumberland people never received any
real help from North Carolina. The legislature passed
acts that amounted to nothing more than giving them
leave to take care of themselves. This they knew they
could do, and had done without any acts of the North
Carolina Legislature, and therefore they did not feel very
grateful to North Carolina, or very much in love with her
ways.
James Robertson wanted for his people two things,
which he saw he would never get through the aid of
North Carolina. One was a real treaty of peace with
the Indians, and the other was the free navigation of the
Mississippi River.
The Spaniards wanted the Tennessee and Kentucky
settlements entirely destroyed, or they wanted them to
form new governments, and become part of the Spanish
empire in America.
Don Estevan Miro was the Spanish governor at New1
Orleans. Robertson wrote him a very nice letter, and he
sent Robertson a very pretty reply. A number of letters
passed between them, in which they did a great deal of
bowing and smiling and handshaking and passing of com-
pliments, — all on paper, of course, — and I am afraid
none of it was sincere. This sort of dickering in fine
100
THE TERRITORY IO1
phrases between politicians is called diplomacy. Each
tries to get as much and give as little as he possibly can,
and be so polite and smiling and agreeable about it that it
shall appear to be just the other way.
Robertson had the North Carolina Legislature name
Middle Tennessee " Miro District," and Governor Miro
declared that he felt himself highly honored, and promised
to do great things for the Cumberland settlers ; but he did
very little, as far as the settlers could see. The Indians
kept killing them, and they were allowed only a very
restricted use of the Mississippi River.
Some things that Robertson wrote to Miro have made
some people believe that he wished the western settlements
to join the Spanish colonies. No one who has carefully
studied the life and character of Robertson ought to be-
lieve this. He was too good a man, too stanch a patriot,
too great a lover of liberty, to wish himself and family and
friends to be subjects of the King of Spain.
While Robertson was using all of his art and skill with
the Spanish governor, while Bledsoe and Raines and
Castleman and others were fighting the Indians, while
men, women, and children were daily being killed within
sight of their own doors, North Carolina again ceded Ten-
nessee to the United States government. This cession was
made in February, 1790, and was accepted by Congress
in April ; and in May a bill was passed for the govern-
ment of "The Territory of the United States South of the
Ohio River."
William Blount was appointed governor of the newly
formed territory, and David Campbell judge of the supe-
rior court. John Sevier was made Brigadier General of
Washington District, or East Tennessee, and James
Robertson of Miro District, or Middle Tennessee.
102 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
Rogersville was first made the capital of the territory,
but in a little while the seat of government was moved
to Knoxviile.
The legislature of the territory was composed of a
legislative council, elected by Congress, and a territorial
assembly elected by the peo-
ple of the territory. The
Legislative Council was com-
posed of the following !i\v
members : —
Griffith Rutherford, President.
John Sevier.
James Winchester.
Stockley Donelson.
Parmenas Taylor.
This council made George
Roulstone their clerk, and
eiount Christopher Shoat their door-
keeper.
The Territorial Assembly was as follows : —
From Washington County, Leroy Taylor and John Tipton.
From Sullivan County, George- Kiitl.i^-.
From Greene County, Joseph Hardin.
From Davidson County, James White.
From Sumncr County, David Wilson.
From Hawkins County, William Cocke and Joseph McMinn.
From Tennessee County, James Ford.
From Jefferson County, ()<•<)!-<• Doherty and Samuel Wear.
From Knox County, Alexander Kelly and John Baird.
David Wilson was elected speaker; Hopkins Lacy was
made clerk. The Assembly elected James White as dele-
gate of the territory to the United States Congress.
Till-: TKKKUOKY IO3
This legislature did some good service, — educational,
military, and political. The first session began on the
fourth Monday in February, 1794. Before this date the
laws of the territory had been selected by the governor and
judges of the courts, I mm the laws of any of the states.
In the list ot representatives y<»u SIT the name of James
Ford from TcnntSStt County. There is now no such
county. It was west of 1 )avidson and Simmer counties.
When the state took the name Tennessee, the county
was abolished and its territory was divided into the two
counties of Robertson and Montgomery.
During (iovernor Hlount's administration two new
counties, Sevier and Hlount, were lormed; the population
was greatly increased, and the Indian wars were brought
to .m end. The ending <>l the wars, however, was not due
to (iovernor Hlount, the Assembly, nor the United States
Congress, but chielly to the bold acts of James Robertson
and the people nl the Cumberland settlements.
When Tennessee became a territory of the United
States, the President was trying to make a treaty with
Spain lor the 1 1 ve navigation of the Mississippi River.
This was just what Robertson and his Middle Tennessee
people wanted. Governor Hlount was ordered to allow no
attack on the Indians, lest the Spaniards might be offended
and reluse to make the treaty.
The people waited and waited, but no treaty came.
Plenty of Indians came, however, and they skulked about
the settlements, burning houses, stealing horses, and kill-
ing people until tin- settlers -ot out of patience waiting for
the treaty with Spain. They begged to be allowed to
attack the Indians, but (iovernor Hlount said, "No, you
must not; that might upset all the negotiations with
Spain."
104 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
The settlers waited awhile longer and learned that
Spanish traders were buying American scalps from the
Indians, in order to get them to kill more white people.
Then their anger knew no bounds. They threatened to
kill both Indians and Spaniards in spite of the governor,
the President, or any one else. Robertson said, " Be
patient." And they obeyed him.
Robertson's brother was killed, then his son was killed ;
men, women, and little children were murdered almost
every day. Buchanan's Station was attacked by five or
six hundred Indians, but was successfully defended by
fifteen heroic men, with the aid of the brave women, who
molded bullets and loaded the guns through all that stub-
born fight. Finally the patience of Robertson and of
every one else came to an end, and they determined to
disobey their rulers and give the Creeks and Chickamaugas
a taste of Sevier's methods with the Cherokees.
In September, 1794, General Robertson ordered Major
Ore to destroy the five lower towns of the Chickamauga-
Cherokees. The most important of these were Nickojack
and Running Water. They were all on or near Tennessee
River, below Lookout Mountain, and so secure did the
Indians consider them that they said not even " Nolli-
chucky Jack " could reach them.
Several years before this time the Indians had killed a
man named Brown and all of his family except one little
boy. This boy grew up among the Indians of .the lower
towns and knew all about the places. The Indians had
been forced to exchange him for some prisoners Sevier
had taken, and Robertson persuaded him to guide Major
Ore and his five hundred men to the lower towns.
With Brown as a guide, the soldiers came silently and
suddenly upon the Indians and so completely surrounded
THE TERRITORY 1 05
them that very few escaped. The destruction was as
thorough as if Sevier had done the work. Every Indian
that was seen, except a few women and children, was
killed, every wigwam was burned, everything was taken
away or destroyed. Some Spanish traders were killed,
and Spanish goods, guns, ammunition, a military commis-
sion for an Indian chief, and property and scalps of Cum-
berland people were found in the Indian towns. This is
called the Nickojack Expedition or Ore's Expedition.
When the report of this expedition reached the ears of
the officials, there was a great stir. The Secretary of War
wrote a severe letter 'to Governor Blount, and Governor
Blount wrote a stinging reproof to General Robertson,
and General Robertson wrote a sharp reply in which he
said, in effect, that he and the Cumberland people did not
intend to sit still and be scalped by the Indians while the
officials were passing compliments with the Spaniards ;
and if they did not like his way of doing they might get
some one else to serve as brigadier general. But he was
too valuable a man to dismiss from office, and here the
matter ended. The Indian wars in Middle Tennessee also
ended, except a few raids of little importance, though very
annoying.
In 1795 there were found to be more than sixty thousand
people in- the territory. This was a population large
enough to make a state. A convention was therefore
called, which met at Knoxville in January, 1796, and
framed the first constitution of the State of Tennessee.
Andrew Jackson proposed the name of the state, though
it had been called the Tennessee country long before this
time. In June, 1796, President Washington signed the
act of Congress that made Tennessee the sixteenth state
of the American Union.
TENN. HIST. — 7
I06 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ?
1. Aid of North Carolina to the Cumberland people.
2. Robertson's two important wants.
3. What the Spaniards wanted.
4. Correspondence between Robertson and Miro.
5. Diplomacy.
6. Miro District.
7. Charges against Robertson.
8. Second cession of Tennessee to the United States.
9. Organization of the territory.
10. The territorial legislature.
1 1 . Tennessee County.
12. Important events of Governor Blount's administration.
13. The treaty making with Spain.
14. Effects of waiting for the treaty.
15. Threats of the settlers.
1 6. Buchanan's Station.
17. The end of the waiting.
18. The five u lower towns."
19. The Nickojack Expedition.
20. Effect among the officials.
21. Effect on Indian wars in Middle Tennessee.
22. How the territory became the State of Tennessee.
CHAPTER XVI
DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE
DOMESTIC life means the way families live in their own
homes. The domestic life described in Chapter VI. may
be taken as a fair picture of that in all early settlements
in Tennessee.
Social life means how people of different families that
live in the same community act in their mingling and inter-
course with each other. Much of social life belongs to the
churches and the schools, and much of this chapter will
be devoted to them.
Among the pioneers the ties of personal friendship were
made very strong by common dangers and common hard-
ships. Whenever necessary, they would share with one
another their money, clothes, provisions, ammunition, tools,
labor, or anything else that they might have. A settler's
cabin was open, without money and without price, for the
relief or assistance of any worthy man. If a man had a
house to build or logs to roll in his newly cleared ground,
or any other work that was too heavy for one man, he
invited his neighbors to help him. They always came
cheerfully and never thought of being paid for their work.
Indeed, they would have considered the offer of pay as an
insult. The one who had been helped was expected to
help others. To fail to invite a worthy neighbor to such
workings, or to refuse to go when invited, was considered
an evidence of very bad manners, not far removed from
downright meanness.
107
108 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
If a man was sick or unable from accident to care for
his crop, his neighbors assembled and did the work for
him in a single day, and went home thinking they had
done only a neighborly act. Selfishness, dishonesty in
word or act, and cowardice were vices not to be endured
in a pioneer community. Persons guilty of these were
promptly driven out of the country.
There were few disputes or lawsuits, therefore little
need for lawyers except as counselors on legal forms of
doing business. The people were hardy and strong, and
sickness was very rare. Hence there were few if any
doctors. Young people usually had their social pleasures,
dancing, games, etc., at night after the labors of the log-
rollings, house raisings, and quiltings were over. The
boys and girls did not grow up in total ignorance, but it
was a hard task for them to get the little education they
received. Books were few and costly and not at all suit-
able for children. Teachers were scarce and not very
expert in their business. About two months of mid-
summer and about the same length of time in midwinter
furnished the only school days of the most fortunate. At
all other times of the year it was necessary for all that
were old enough, to work at clearing ground, cultivating
a crop, or making clothing.
Until the Indian wars were ended there could be no
schools outside the forts. Teachers and pupils would have
been butchered and the houses burned in short order.
After the wars were over, log cabins were built to be used
as both schoolhouses and churches. In the forts, or outside
of them, those schools of early days were very different
from the schools that you attend. Many of the school-
houses had no floor but the ground. There were no desks,
blackboards, globes, charts, etc. The seats were long
DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE
benches, without backs, made of hewed logs. The " writ-
ing bench " was a hewed-log shelf, the proper height for
writing, extending along the wall usually the entire length
of the house. The windows were openings, the whole
length of the house, made by sawing out a log on each
Inter.or of a Schoolhouse
side. There was no glass used, but wooden shutters were
sometimes provided.
^f- There were three divisions of the pupils, — the big boys,
the little boys, and the girls. The big boys brought their
axes to school as regularly as their books ; they felled trees
and cut them into firewood for the use of the school.
The little boys carried in the wood and made fires ; the
girls kept the house clean.
y There were no classes or grades as we have them now ;
each pupil usually stood close beside the master and recited
alone, except at the spelling hour, when all stood in line
IIO SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
and spelled orally. All studied their lessons aloud, and
the amazing din this created did not seem to disturb any one.
The principal books used were Dilworth's Speller, Dayball's
^Arithmetic, Pilgrim s Progress, and the Bible. Each pupil
made his own copybook of foolscap paper and brought his
own bottle of ink made from oak balls or elder berries.
The master made all of the pens out of goose quills, and
wrote all of the copies.
School opened about seven o'clock in the morning and
closed about five o'clock in the afternoon. The noon
recess was from one to two hours. The school was in
session on Saturday and Sunday just as it was on any other
day of the week. Time was precious, and there were no
Sunday schools, and rarely any church services, to attend.
With all of the disadvantages of their surroundings,
many of the boys and girls of pioneer days managed to
get a fairly good education.
Do you think you would have
done so ?
In 1778 or 1779 Samuel
Doak, who was educated at
Princeton College, New Jersey,
came to Washington County,
and soon after his arrival
opened a good school in a log
cabin on his own farm. This
is said to have been the first
real institution of learning in
Samuel Doak the Mississippi Valley. In
1783 Doak's school was incorporated by the North Carolina
Legislature as Martin Academy. In 1795 the territorial
legislature chartered Martin Academy as Washington Col-
lege, located at Salem, and Doak was made its president.
DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE III
In 1794 Blount College was founded near Knoxville.
Samuel Carrick was made president of this school, which
is now the University of Tennessee. This was probably
the first nonsectarian college chartered in the United
States. Greene College was founded at Greeneville by
its first president, Hezekiah Balch, in 1794. In 1785 the
Legislature of North Carolina incorporated Davidson
Academy, near Nashville. Now take your map and
locate Salem, Greeneville, Knoxville, and Nashville, and
you will have in mind the only places in Tennessee where
a liberal or high school education might be obtained when
the state was admitted to the Union in 1796.
About the year 1772 Charles Cummins, a Presbyterian
minister of Abingdon, Virginia, was preaching occasion-
ally to the Watauga settlers. He was probably the first
ordained preacher that ever held religious services among
the white settlers of the state. Long before this date,
however, priests of the Roman Catholic Church had held
religious services in what is now Tennessee, among the
French and Spanish explorers and soldiers.
Tidence Lane, a Baptist minister, was the first known
regular pastor of a church in Tennessee. His church was
established at Buffalo Ridge, Washington County, in 1779.
Samuel Dpak, who was a Presbyterian, was preaching at
various places among the Watauga settlers at about the
same date. As preacher, teacher, and politician, his influ-
ence in the state was immense, and its effects are still felt.
^<The first Methodist preacher in Tennessee, that we
know of, was Jeremiah Lambert, who came to the Holston
Circuit in 1783. Bishop Asbury held the first Methodist
Conference in Tennessee in 1788. It was held at a private
house, lasted three days, and the bishop preached every
day. The three denominations mentioned were the princi-
112 SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
pal ones, perhaps the only organized ones, in Tennessee
when it became a state. The Presbyterians were most
numerous.
The Bible, the hymn book, and the catechism came with
the settler into Tennessee, and were the principal books,
very often the only ones, in the early log-cabin homes.
Whether the pioneers were Presbyterians, Baptists, or
Methodists, those who professed to be religious were
thoroughly so according to the standards of their day.
They were men of strong convictions, very independent
in thought and very decided in action. They had the
greatest contempt for counterfeits or shams of any kind.
Churches were few and very rude in structure. The
log schoolhouses, courthouses, and private dwellings were
used as places of worship. When it was known that there
would be preaching at a certain house, nearly all the set-
tlers within fifteen miles of the place would assemble at
the appointed hour. The congregation would look very
strange to-day. The women and girls were clad in home-
spun dresses, with quilted or slat bonnets on their heads and
moccasins on their feet. The men and boys wore hunting
shirts and leather leggings, coon-skin caps, and moccasins ;
and all carried their rifles as if going to war. They never
knew what moment the Indians might attack them.
The congregation was quiet and orderly. There were
usually two sermons; one in the forenoon and one in the
afternoon, but none at night, unless the services were held
in a fort. The minister read out the hymns, two lines at
a time, and the whole congregation sang them from mem-
ory. Sermons and prayers were usually long, and more
earnest and forcible than polished or elegant.
Try to imagine for yourself the appearance of every-
thing at one of these meetings : the grand, wild forest ;
DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE 113
the rough log walls of the house ; the slab benches with
no backs ; the dirt floors ; the severely simple and quaint
service ; the strange dress of the people and the preacher ;
the rifles standing around within easy reach ; the sun-burned,
wind-browned faces ; the stern, resolute expression of coun-
tenance, that comes from daily contact with danger and
hardship. When you see all this, remember that those
broad-shouldered, strong -limbed, stern -faced men and
women were true in purpose, loving in heart, and heroic
in soul. They feared God, but nothing else. They went
to church for His service alone, and their worship was " in
spirit and in truth."
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ?
1. Domestic life.
2. Social life.
3. Domestic life described in Chapter VI.
4. Friendship among the pioneers.
5. Heavy work.
6. Bad manners.
7. Sick or disabled neighbors.
8. Intolerable vices.
9. Lawyers and doctors.
10. Difficulties of getting an education.
11. A pioneer schoolhouse, pupils, classes, books.
12. Samuel Doak's school.
13. Blount College.
14. Greene College.
15. Davidson Academy.
16. The four places to be located on the map.
17. First religious services in Tennessee.
1 8. First regular pastor in Tennessee.
19. Influence of Samuel Doak.
20. First of the Methodists.
21. Religious books and religion among the pioneers.
22. A pioneer meeting.
23. The imaginary picture and conclusion.
PERIOD III. 1796-1861
THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
CHAPTER XVII
STARTING THE NEW GOVERNMENT
GROWN people usually think that boys and girls know
•very little about politics, and that they have very little
taste for learning the political history of their country.
This idea may be correct, but I do not believe it, and in
this chapter will be given, in connection with other things,
some simple facts of political history.
The government of the United States, and of each
state of our country, is intended to be a government of
public opinion. That is, the laws must be made and exe-
cuted as the majority of the' people wish these things to
be done. An election is only a regularly established way
of finding out what public opinion is.
The officers elected are not the people's masters ; they
are public servants chosen1 to carry out the will of the
people. All of our officers should be treated with the
greatest respect, and all of our laws should be carefully
observed. It is a shame for any one in this free govern-
ment to be disrespectful or disobedient to officers or to
violate law. We are a free people ; therefore disrespect
to officials or disregard of law is an insult to the whole
people. Try to understand this and remember it.
114
STARTING THE NEW GOVERNMENT 11$
In all free governments there will grow up two or more
political parties. People of equal patriotism have differ-
ent opinions about the best way to conduct public affairs.
Those who hold the same or nearly the same opinions
will unite to form one political party, while those who
differ from them will form another party.
When the Constitution of the United
States was formed in 1787, there immedi-
ately began to be two political parties :
the Federalists, who thought that very
great powers should be given to the
general or federal government; and the
Anti-Federalists, or Democratic Republi-
cans, who thought that more powers
should be held by the states and fewer Alexander Hamilton
given to the federal government.
Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury in
President Washington's Cabinet, was the leader of the
Federalists; Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State in
President Washington's Cabinet, was the leader of the
Democratic Republicans, or Democrats, as they were
afterwards called.
When Tennessee became a state, nearly all of her people
believed the political doctrines of Thomas Jefferson to be
the right ones. As nearly all were of the -same political
opinion, there was no party contest for any office and very
little trouble about electing officers.
Five members from each of the eleven counties were
elected to form the constitutional convention. This con-
vention met at Knoxville, January n, 1796, and elected
William Blount chairman ; William Maclin secretary ;
John Sevier, Jr., clerk.
A committee, of two members from each county, was
THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
appointed to draw up a bill of rights and a constitution for
the state. So well did they do the work, according to the
ideas of that day, that Jefferson said it was the best and
most republican constitu-
tion that had been made.
The fathers of our state
government had the two
virtues. of economy and in-
dustry. They charged the
state $1.50 a day for their
services in the convention,
and 3^ cents a mile for
traveling expenses ; they
paid the clerks $2.50 a
day, and the doorkeeper
$2.00 a day ; the entire in-
cidental expenses were only
$12.62; and the convention
returned to the treasury the
unexpended remainder of
the money that had been
set apart for their use. The whole session lasted only
twenty-seven days.
As soon as the convention adjourned, Governor Blount
issued an order for the election of a governor and members
of the legislature for the new state. The elections were
held according to this order, and the first Legislature of
the State of Tennessee met at Knoxville, the first capital of
the State of Tennessee, March 28, 1 796.
^The Senate organized by electing James Winchester
speaker, Francis A. Ramsey clerk, Nathaniel A. Bucking-
ham assistant clerk, Thomas Bounds doorkeeper. The
House of Representatives organized by making James
Thomas Jefferson
STARTING THE NEW GOVERNMENT 1 1/
Stuart speaker, Thomas H. Williams clerk, John Sevier,
Jr., assistant clerk, John Rhea doorkeeper.
When organized, the legislature examined the " election
returns " and decided that John Sevier was elected gov-
ernor. He was sworn into office, in presence of both
houses of the legislature, March 30, 1796, by Judge Joseph
Anderson.
The legislature then elected the following officers :
William Maclin, Secretary of State ; 'Landon Carter, Treas-
urer of Washington and Hamilton Districts; William Black,
Treasurer of Miro District ; John McNairy, Willie Blount,
and Archibald Roane, Judges of the Superior Court ; Hop-
kins Lacy, John Lowry, and Howell Tatum, Attorneys for
the State ; William Blount and William Cocke, Senators
in Congress. As the state was not admitted into the
Union until June, the senators were reflected in August.
Andrew Jackson was elected by the people to be repre-
sentative in Congress.
Perhaps you wish to know why the people were so
anxious to have a state government. The territorial gov-
ernment had been a good one, Governor Blount was an
able and popular man, and the territory was thriving and
prosperous under his administration. Why have all these
conventions and elections ? Why did the people put them-
selves to the trouble and expense of making a change ?
While a territory, Tennessee could take no part in the
government of the United States, as the people had no
senators or representatives in Congress. The people were
bound to obey the laws passed by Congress and to live
under the government of the President of the United
States ; but they had no voice in making the laws and no
vote in electing the President. This was one reason for
making the change.
Il8 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
The governor and the judges of the territory were
appointed by the President, and the Legislative Council
was elected by Congress. This left the people very little
share in their local or home government, and did not suit
their free and independent spirit nor serve their best
interests. They wished to elect their own governor and
their own legislature and manage their own home affairs.
This was another reason for making the change. Thus
we see that the wish to take part in national affairs and
to enjoy the benefits of local self-government were the chief
causes that led the people to form a state government.
The constitution of the state provided that two years
should be the term of office for the governor, and that no
man should be allowed to hold the office for more than
three terms in succession. Governor Sevier was elected
three times without opposition, and was followed, in 1801,
by Archibald Roane. In 1803 Sevier was again a candi-,
date, but Roane was a candidate against him.
Sevier's enemies tried to defeat him by telling the
people that Sevier had been speculating in land warrants
while he was governor, and tried to make it appear that
he had forged some of them. John Tipton and Andrew
Jackson took part in circulating these reports. In 1798
Sevier had appointed Jackson a judge of the superior or
supreme court, the legislature had afterward elected him,
^.nd he was still holding that office. Sevier denounced
Jrim very bitterly as being ungrateful and showing himself
unfit to be a judge. So fierce did the quarrel grow that
Jackson challenged Sevier to fight a duel, but their friends
interfered and put an end to the quarrel.
Tipton got the legislature to investigate the charges
against Sevier's honesty, but nothing could be proved that
injured him in the estimation of the people, as they again
STARTING THE NEW GOVERNMENT 119
elected him governor for three successive terms and then
sent him to Congress.
The treaty of 1795, between the United States and Spain,
gave the western people a very restricted use of the Mis-
sissippi River. In 1797 it was charged against William
Blount in the United States Senate that he had entered
into a conspiracy to take Louisiana and Florida away from
Spain and transfer them to England, as he thought Eng-
land would be a better neighbor than Spain.
On this charge William Blount was expelled from the
United States Senate July 8, 1797. A United States offi-
cer was sent to Knoxville to arrest him and take him to
Philadelphia to be tried for high crimes. But the whole
affair was as bad a failure as the attempt to try Sevier for
treason. Blount would not go ; the officer alone could not
take him by force, and when he summoned men to help
him they very politely refused to do so, and told him that
Blount had done nothing wrong and could not be carried
out of Tennessee for trial.
After investigation the United States Senate decided
that they had no case against Blount. He was immedi-
ately elected to the state senate and made speaker of that
body. He died at Knoxville, March 21, 1800, and is
buried in the churchyard of the First Presbyterian Church.
Next to Sevier and Robertson he was the most popular
and beloved man in the state. The people never believed
that he intended any wrong in the Louisiana affair. In
1800 Spain secretly gave the whole of Louisiana back to
France; and in 1803 President Jefferson bought it from
France for $15,00x3,000, and thus put an end to all trouble
about the Mississippi River. This purchase also put an
end to the very small Federalist party that had existed
in Tennessee — all went over to Jefferson.
120 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
From the organization of the state, in 1796, to the close
of Sevier's last term there had been but two governors.
Sevier had served twelve years, Roane had served two.
The growth and prosperity of the state had been wonderful.
Treaties had been made with the Indians, farms had been
cleared, roads opened, bridges made, churches and school-
houses built, new counties formed, towns laid out and occu-
pied, stores, shops, and post offices opened ; better buildings
than pioneer cabins were beginning to appear ; and com-
merce was beginning to feel the effects of free navigation.
Lawyers, preachers, and other men of learning were com-
ing into the country. The population had grown from a
little more than sixty thousand to two hundred and sixty
thousand people. Silk dresses, Leghorn bonnets, ruffled
shirt fronts, and beaver hats might have been seen on the
streets of Knoxville. When Governor Sevier passed out
of office, in 1809, Tennessee was a thriving young state
just entering upon the brilliant career that was opening
before her, — prosperity in all her wide domain, peace
within all her borders, and plenty in all her homes.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1 . The kind of government under which we live.
2. An election.
3. Duty of officers.
4. Duty of the people in a free government.
5. Cause of political parties.
6. Two parties that began in 1787.
7. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.
8. Political opinions and elections in Tennessee in 1796.
9. The constitutional convention. Place, date, number of members.
10. The committee and their work.
1 1 . Evidences of economy and industry:
12. First legislature and first capital of the state.
STARTING THE NEW GOVERNMENT 121
13. First senators and first representative in Congress.
14. Why the people wished to have a state government.
15. First and second governors. How long did each serve ?
1 6. Charges against Sevier in 1803.
17. Quarrel between Sevier and Jackson.
1 8. The Tipton investigation and its result.
19. The expulsion of William Blount from the United States Senate.
20. The attempt to arrest and try him.
21. Close of Rlount's career.
22. End of the Mississippi River troubles.
23. General condition of the state in 1809.
CHAPTER XVIII
ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIE BLOUNT
IN 1809 Willie Blount, a brother of Senator William
Blount, was elected governor ; he served three successive
terms, closing his last administration in 1815. He was not
a great or brilliant man like
Sevier, nor was he the equal
of his brother William. He
was an honest, patriotic, sen-
sible man ; he was a firm
friend of Andrew Jackson,
was popular with all parties,
and made a good governor.
The first three years of
Blount's time in office were
similar to the last years of
Sevier's administrations. The
people were busy with all
the occupations of a new and
growing state. They had open markets, free trade, and
rich land. They raised fine stock and big crops ; bought
and sold goods and land, and worked and played very
much as you see people doing now.
One thing occurred during this administration that
slightly changed the physical geography of the western
part of the state.
In 1811 earthquakes were felt in the country near
the Mississippi River, from the mouth of the Ohio to
Willie Blount
122
ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIE BLOUNT 123
Vicksburg. In West Tennessee the shocks were very
severe. Great cracks were opened in the ground, some
of them ten miles long, as wide as an ordinary street or
public road, and deep enough to bury a two-story house
in. Every season has partly filled them with leaves,
brush, etc., but traces of many of them may still be seen
in the counties of Lake, Obion, Dyer, and Lauderdale.
The mouth of the Reelfoot River was lifted up, and for
miles along its course the land sank down far below the
country around it. The sunken places were afterward
filled with water, and thus was formed the famous Reel-
foot Lake, from which Lake County takes its name. No
white people had homes in West Tennessee at that time,
but a few white hunters and traders were in the country.
Slight earthquakes have occasionally been felt in the same
region ever since then.
About the time that Tennessee became a state, Napo-
leon Bonaparte was rising into power in France. In
1799 he made himself ruler of his country, and until 1815
he -kept all Europe in a tumult of war. He conquered
all the nations of central and western Europe, except Eng-
land, but England held the mastery of the seas, and was
determined to hold it at any cost. To do this it was
necessary to have a great many seamen.
The war was so long, and so many sailors were killed
in the great sea fights, that the British government was
obliged to impress men, or force them to go into the navy.
Next, it claimed the right to search the ships of other
countries to see if they had on board any British sailors
that might be forced into the British Navy. The United
States declared that England should not search American
ships. England declared that she would do it, and she
did search many of them. This, with some other disputes,
124
THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
finally brought on what is called the War of 1812, or the
Second War with Great Britain.
V"As soon as war was declared, in June, 1812, the Ten-
nesseeans v o 1 u n -
teered as soldiers
in great numbers.
General Andrew
Jackson was placed
in command of
them, and they
started to New Or-
leans to defend that
city and the south-
ern country against
the British. They
stopped at Natchez,
however, as it was
learned that the
British were not on
their way to New
Orleans.
In January, 1813,
General Jackson re-
ceived orders from
the Secretary of
War to discharge
his soldiers and turn
over all his wagons,
provisions, etc., to
General Wilkinson
of the regular army.
Jackson replied that some of his soldiers were sick,
and the well ones not able to pay their own expenses
Impressing Seamen
ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIE BLOUNT
125
back home, and that he would not discharge them at
Natchez.
This was a very bold stand for a volunteer army officer
to take, but it showed Jackson's courage and his love for
his soldiers. He put his sick men into the wagons and
marched his troops back to Tennessee, and then dis-
charged them. When Congress met, the members said
Jackson had done right, and they voted the money neces-
sary to pay the expenses of bringing the soldiers home.
Tecumseh was a famous chief of the Shawnee Indians,
who lived in the Northwest Territory. When the United
States and Great Britain
went to war, in 1812,
Tecumseh tried to unite
all the Indians against
the Americans. He and
his brother, the Prophet,
visited the Chickasaws,
Choctaws, and Creeks,
and got William Weath-
ersford, a half-breed
Creek chief, and most of
the Creek Indians to
unite with them. The
Chickasaws and Choc-
taws would have nothing
to do with the plot.
In August, 1813, the
Creeks captured Fort
Mimms, near Mobile, and butchered men, women, and
children, though they had surrendered under promise of
protection. Some of these people were Tennesseeans,
and at once the Creek War became a Tennessee war.
Tecumseh addressing the Indians
126 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
The men of Tennessee volunteered to fight both Indians
and British, and called for General Andrew Jackson to
lead them.
In the early years of our state there existed a very fool-
ish custom of fighting duels to settle difficulties. Jesse
Benton and William Carroll had fought a duel in which
Jackson had acted as Carroll's second. When Jesse Ben-
ton's brother, Thomas H. Benton, heard of this, he said a
great many ugly things about Jackson. Jackson threat-
ened to horsewhip him as soon as they met. But that was
a rash promise, as Benton was very much the same kind
of man as Jackson. They met in Nashville and had a
desperate fight in which Jackson was badly wounded. He
was in bed from the effects of this wound when he was
called to take command in the Creek War.
Jackson's heroic soul did not hesitate a moment. The
soldiers were enlisted, General John Coffee was sent with
the cavalry to Huntsville, and the remainder of the army
assembled at Fayetteville, where Jackson took command.
Hearing that Weathersford and his hostile Creeks were
moving toward Tennessee to attack some friendly Indians,
Jackson pushed forward into Alabama to protect the
friendly Indians.
The war raged over North Alabama, with Jackson suc-
cessful in all the battles though he was many times almost
ruined by lack of supplies, failure of General Cocke to aid
him at the right time, and mutinies among his hungry
soldiers. It is said that a soldier one day complained to
the general that he had not had enough to eat in several
days. " Neither have I," said the general, " but I will
divide what I have with my soldiers," and pulling a
handful of acorns out of his pocket he offered them
to the soldier. The man told his comrades, and they
ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIE BLOUNT 127
decided that if the general could live on acorns they
could too.
Governor Blount came to Jackson's rescue when lazy or
rascally contractors were allowing him and his army to
suffer. The governor, upon his own responsibility, fur-
nished nearly $400,000 to buy provisions and ammunition
for the army. The money was afterward repaid from
the public treasury.
After the Creeks had been defeated many times they
gathered in nearly full strength at a bend of the Talla-
poosa River called Tohopeka, or the Horseshoe. They
built a strong breastwork of logs across the narrow part
of the bend, and considered their camp safe against all
attack.
The country between the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers
was called the " Hickory Ground." The Indians' prophets
had taught the Indians that this country could not be con-
quered by the white man. Jackson cut a road through
the Hickory Ground to Tohopeka, and captured the place
after a desperate battle, in which
seven hundred Creek warriors were
killed and three hundred women and
children were captured. This was in
March, 1814, and afterward Jackson
was called "Old Hickory."
This battle ended the Creek War
and destroyed the power of the Creek
nation. Weathersford surrendered
and lived peaceably in Alabama the
Weathersford
remainder of his life. Most of the
Creeks were moved to the Indian Territory in 1836, and
the remainder of them joined the Seminoles in Florida.
We shall hear no more of the Creek Indians, as a tribe, in
128 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
this history. Like most other Indian tribes they were
much abused and sadly wronged. British and Spanish
emissaries were continually getting them into war with the
Americans, who in self-defense were obliged to kill them
or drive them from their lands.
In the spring of 1814 Jackson was made a major gen-
eral in the United States Army and was given command
of the southern country. In August Colonel Nicholls, of
the British Army, made his headquarters at Pensacola and
tried to excite the Indians and the people of Louisiana
against the United States.
General Jackson wrote the Spanish Governor of Florida
that he must not allow the British to come into his terri-
tory to make war on the United States. The governor
paid no attention to this letter, and in November, 1814,
Jackson marched his army into Florida and captured and
destroyed Pensacola and took possession of Mobile. He
then notified the Spanish authorities that he would treat
them all as enemies if they allowed any more harboring of
British in their territory.
From Pensacola Jackson moved to New Orleans, which
the British threatened to attack. Here on January 8, 1815,
he fought one of the most remarkable battles recorded in
history. With an army of volunteers, inferior in numbers
and arms, he totally defeated an army of Wellington's
veteran soldiers, inflicting a loss of nearly three thousand
men, while the Americans lost only twenty-seven.
The battle of New Orleans was unnecessary, as peace
had been made between the United States and Great Brit-
ain, by their agents in Europe, December 24, 1814. Does
it not seem strange that no one at New Orleans knew any-
thing of this on January 8, 1815 ? If a treaty were made
in Europe to-day, it would be known in New Orleans the
ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIE BLOUNT
129
same day that the papers were signed. Can you explain
this great difference ?
The war with the Indians and the .British, and espe-
cially the battle of New
Orleans, made Andrew
Jackson one of the great
men of the United
States. John Coffee,
William Carroll, William
Hall, and Sam Houston
had also won fame in
the wars, and Tennessee
had become the " Volun-
teer State " of the Amer-
ican Union.
Governor Willie
Blount's administration
closed with the people
, j j . i r i r Battle of New Orleans
glad and thankful for
the return of peace, and proud of the fame of their
state in war.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Successor of Governor Sevier. Character.
2. First three years of Willie Blounfs time in office.
3. Earthquakes of 181 1. Reelfoot Lake.
4. Napoleon Bonaparte and Great Britain.
5. Impressing seamen.
6. « Right of Search.1'
7. War of 1812. Other name.
8. Tennessee volunteers and their first expedition.
9. "The mustering out."
10. Tecumseh's plans.
1 1 . Fort Mimms massacre.
12. Effect in Tennessee.
130 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
13. Duel between Carroll and Jesse Benton.
14. Jackson and Thomas H. Benton.
15. Campaign against the Creeks.
1 6. Jackson's troubles in the war.
17. Governor Blount's aid.
18. Battle of the Horseshoe.
19. Result to the Creek Indians.
20.' Jackson, Nicholls, and the Spanish governor.
2 1 . Pensacola and Mobile.
22. Battle of New Orleans.
23. News in 1815 and at the present time.
24. Effect of the wars on Jackson and on Tennessee.
25. Other famous Tennessee soldiers.
CHAPTER XIX
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOSEPH McMINN, 1815-1821
JOSEPH McMiNN was elected Governor of Tennessee at
the close of Willie Blount's third term in 1815. Governor
McMinn was a. native of Pennsylvania, and had been a
soldier in the Revolutionary War. After the close of the
war he came to Tennessee and settled in Hawkins County.
He was~ a plain farmer, and had been a member of the
Tennessee Legislature, and speaker of the Senate in 1807.
McMinn seems to have been a good, honest man ; more
of a politician than a statesman, and not very much of
either. His honesty, industry, and tact gave him the con-
fidence of the people, but he had not the ability to deal with
some of the troublesome questions that came up during
his administrations.
A bank, properly managed, always makes money for its
owners and is a great convenience to the people in trans-
acting their business. But if the management is bad, or
the officers dishonest, a bank may do a great deal of mis-
chief. From 1807 to 1865 the State of Tennessee made
many experiments in the banking business. The legisla-
tures that passed the various banking laws seem to have
thought, either that the state could make money by these
schemes and thus save the people from paying taxes to
support their state government, or that the state banks
could lend the people money on better terms than other
banks would lend it, and thus make business more active
in the state.
132 . THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
From bad management, or political contrariness, or the
dishonesty of bank officers, or some great misfortune, like
the Civil War, most of the banking plans turned out
badly, and the state lost money and got into debt by these
ventures.
Governor McMinn favored some of the worst of these
banking laws. He did not do this because he was dis-
honest or intended to do wrong, but because he was not
statesman enough to see the bad effects that would follow
the bad laws. A majority of the members of the legisla-
tures that passed these acts were equally honest and
patriotic ; they intended no wrong, they simply made
mistakes.
A complete history of the connection of the state with
banks would make this book a very large one, and the
girls and boys of Tennessee would find that part of it very
dry reading. In fact, I believe they would not read it at
all, and what they would be able to learn from it would
be of very little use to them if they did read it ; therefore
I shall not write it. When necessary, I shall refer to the
banks and banking acts under the different administra-
tions, as many governors besides McMinn had to deal with
them. That is all that this book will have to say about
banks.
While McMinn was governor, the Seminole Indians in
Florida were joined by some of the Creeks who had not
surrendered after the battle of the Horseshoe. White
outlaws and negroes also joined them, and the whole band
of ruffians and savages began stealing, robbing, and mur-
dering along the borders of Alabama and Georgia. This
was in 1818.
Florida still belonged to Spain. President Monroe tried
to get the Spanish governor to stop the mischief, but noth-
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOSEPH McMINN, 1815-1821 133
ing was done. He then told General Jackson to stop it.
Jackson gathered some Tennessee troops, got some more
from Georgia and Alabama, and marched into Florida.
He captured and killed all the outlaws he could find, and
burned the Indian towns. He also took the Spanish
towns of St. Marks and Pensacola, and drove the Spanish
governor out of the country.
Among the prisoners were two British subjects, Arbuth-
not and Ambrister. Jackson had Arbuthnot hung and
Ambrister shot because they had been furnishing guns
and ammunition to the Indians, buying stolen goods from
them, and encouraging them to keep up their robberies
and murders.
This trouble came near causing a war between Spain
and the United States, but the next year President Monroe
.bought Florida from Spain, and all further trouble was
avoided.
To avoid any possible trouble with the friendly Chicka-
saw Indians, General -Jackson and General Shelby were
directed, as soon as Jackson had ended the Seminole dif-
ficulties in 1818, to buy all of the Chickasaws' land east
of the Mississippi and north of the thirty-fifth parallel of
north latitude. This land consisted of West Tennessee and
Western Kentucky.
The most important event within the six years that
McMinn was governor was the early settlement of West
Tennessee. This settlement was unlike that of East
Tennessee and Middle Tennessee ; for in West Tennessee
the ax and the plow had far more to do with the advance
of civilization than did the rifle and the tomahawk. There
were no wars connected with it.
Remember that all of Tennessee lying between the
Tennessee and Mississippi rivers was the hunting ground
134 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
of the Chickasaw Indians, and that these Indians had
always been friendly with the English-speaking white
people. The whole of West Tennessee was bought from
these Indians in 1818, and opened for settlement in 1819.
Now spend a few minutes studying the map of West
Tennessee. Note the course of the Tennessee River, and
of the Big Sandy, which flows into it. Look at the Mis-
sissippi River and its tributaries, the Obion, the Forked
Deer, the Big Hatchie, and the Wolf. Imagine the con-
dition of the country as it was in 1818, with not a county
laid out, not a town or a railroad, not even a settlement of
white people nor a wagon road of any kind ; nothing but
forests of giant trees and dense canebrakes covering the
whole land. No Indians lived in the country except at the
Chickasaw Bluffs, on the Mississippi River. It was a vast
hunting ground that the Indians had sold to the white
people, and was just opened for .settlement.
Now suppose some people at Nashville, some at Knox-
ville, and some at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in the year 1819,
that wished to move into West Tennessee ; how would they
go there ? The Knoxville people could float their flatboats
down the Tennessee River until they came to what is now
Hardin County, or down to the mouth of Big Sandy, and
up that river into what is now Henry County, or might
stop anywhere between these counties, or might go
farther on. The Nashville people could float down the
Cumberland River into the Ohio, and join the Pittsburg
emigrants, and all go down the Ohio into the Mississippi.
They might stop anywhere between what is now Tipton-
ville, in Lake County, and the bluff where Memphis now
stands, or they might go up the Obion River, or the
Forked Deer, or the Big Hatchie, or the Wolf.
What we have supposed on this subject is exactly what
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOSEPH McMINN, 1815-1821 135
occurred. The first settlements were made along the
rivers, and the early settlers lived very much as the pio-
neers of East and Middle Tennessee had done, except
that they built no forts and had no Indian wars. As the
people could give all of their attention to the pursuits of
peace, they quickly opened roads, made bridges and ferries,
. J
Flat boat
and got into direct communication with Middle Tennessee
and Kentucky/
The country was settled rapidly, and between 1819 and
1824 there were organized in West Tennessee the counties
of Obion, Weakley, Henry, Dyer, Gibson, Carroll, Tipt$n,
Haywood, Madison, Henderson, Shelby, Fayette, Harde-
man, McNairy, and Hardin. These are the older -coun-
ties of the western division of the state, all the others
having been formed by cutting off parts of these. No
other section of the great Southwest had ever grown so
136 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
rapidly in population and wealth. See if you can tell why
this was so.
Which is the oldest settlement in West Tennessee is a
disputed question. The temporary homes of hunters and
traders have been called settlements, and actual settlements
have been called camps, until the subject is very much
confused. Perhaps Memphis is as old as any of them.
It is certain that white people were permanently settled
there in 1820, and perhaps a little earlier, and there could
have been no legal settlement anywhere in West Tennes-
see before 1819.
The counties and towns of our state have usually been
named in honor of some distinguished man ; as Monroe
County for President Monroe, Robertson Country for Gen-
eral James Robertson, McNairy County for Judge McNairy,
Knoxville for General Knox, Nashville for Colonel Nash,
Jackson for President Andrew Jackson. If you study
over the names, you will find this to be the general rule,
but Memphis is one of the exceptions.
There are two great rivers of the world that you will
find very much alike in some respects, though very differ-
ent in others. They are the Nile in Africa and the Mis-
sissippi in North America. Each rises in a region of lakes
and flows, through a valley famed for its fertile lands and
abundant crops. Each empties into the sea by a " delta
mouth " ; that is, the mouth of each river is divided into
several branches.
Long, long before the Christian era, before the days
when Abraham went down into Egypt, there stood, on the
banks of the Nile, a famous city called Memphis. It was
the great commercial center of the valley of the Nile in
the long, long ago. The people who settled on the Chick-
asaw Bluffs wished their new town to become the great
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOSEPH McMINN, 1815-1821 137
commercial city of the valley of the Mississippi, and they
named it Memphis.
The spot upon which Memphis stands is historic ground,
and it is most probably the part of Tennessee that was
first known to white men. About it cluster memories
of the visionary ambition of De Soto ; the patience, and
devotion of Marquette ; the heroic enterprise of La Salle ;
Louis XIV. and the Crozat grant; the disastrous battles
the French with the Chickasaws ; the intrigues of Miro,
Carondelet, and Gayoso ; the forts Prudhomme, Assump-
tion, -Barancas, and Pickering; the daring schemes of
Aaron Burr ; the long struggle with Randolph for com-
mercial supremacy ; the grotesque titles of " Pinch " and
" Sodom " ; and the wise foresight and prudence of John
Overton.
If the long line of Frenchmen, Spaniards, and English-
men ; of soldiers, priests, and adventurers ; of Indians,
hunters, and traders ; of early settlers, land surveyors, and
flatboat men, could rise from their graves and tell us all
that happened on that bluff from 1541 to 1821, it would
make a story of far more wild and romantic interest than
any tale of the Arabian Nights.
The voices of these men are silent, and all of the story
can never be told, but I will give you a list of books from
which you can learn a great deal of it. When you have
time or opportunity to do so read Ramsey's Annals of Ten-
nessee, Phelan's Larger History of Tennessee •, Perkins's
Annals of the West, Monette's History of the Mississippi
Valley, Roosevelt's Winning of the West, Keating's His-
tory of Memphis, and a good history of the United States.
Memphis was never the center of settlement for West
Tennessee as Nashville had been for Middle Tennessee.
There was no necessity for such a center. The whole
TENN. HIST. 9
138 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
country was peaceable and might be settled anywhere.
The greatest danger was from bears, panthers, wolves,
and wildcats, and the greatest mischief they did was to
kill the settlers' pigs, calves, and colts. To kill out these
troublesome beasts of prey the Chickasaw Indians were
encouraged to hunt over the country after many white set-
tlements had been made.
The Donkey and the Hunters
General Tipton, for whom Tipton County was named,
was raising good farm stock on the south side of Hatchie
River. He had several fine donkeys and hired out one of
these, named " Moses," to a Mr. Barnes -on the north side
of Hatchie. Moses got away from Barnes and started
home. In Hatchie bottom he was killed by some Chicka-
saw hunters, who thought he was a new kind of wild beast.
They sold his hide to a trader, and Barnes found it on
a trading boat in Hatchie River. He called up the
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOSEPH McMINN, 1815-1821 139
Indians and explained to them that the animal belonged
to General Tipton and was worth $500. The Indians
brought up their horses, appointed three white men and
two Indians to value them, and gave Barnes enough of
them to pay for Moses.
From the early settlement to the Civil War the growth
of West Tennessee was rapid and prosperous, with no very
striking or tragic events in its history.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ?
1. Dates of Governor McMinn's administrations.
2. Character and public services of Joseph McMinn.
3. Advantages of a well-managed bank.
4. Ideas of Tennessee legislators about banks.
5. Mistakes of the governor and legislature.
6. History of Tennessee banks.
7. Outrages in Georgia and Alabama.
8. Government of Florida in 1818.
• 9. Jackson's method of stopping the trouble.
10. Execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister.
1 1 . Purchase from the Chickasavvs.
12. Most important event while McMinn was governor.
13. Compare first settlements in West Tennessee with those of East
and Middle Tennessee.
14. Natural ways of travel in West Tennessee.
15. How the country was acquired and why it grew so rapidly.
1 6. Counties organized from 1819 to 1824.
17. Oldest settlement in West Tennessee.
1 8'. Names of our counties and towns.
19. The Nile and the Mississippi.
20. Ancient and modern Memphis.
21. Historic events connected with Memphis
22. Books of reference.
23. Why Memphis was not a center of settlement.
24. Encouragement to Chickasaw hunters.
25. Story showing their honesty.
CHAPTER XX
CARROLL, HOUSTON, AND HALL, 1821-1835
Up to 1821 the four governors who had served the state
had been elected for their personal worth, without regard
to questions of public policy or, as we call it, politics.
There was a change in 1821. The prominent candidates
for governor then were Edward Ward and William
Carroll.
Ward was a Virginia gentleman of learning and wealth,
but of manners and habits not suited to the plain ways of
a new state. He had aristocratic notions of government
and society, and was accused of having been a Federalist
in Virginia, and of having changed his politics after he
came to Tennessee for the purpose of getting votes.
These things made him unpopular.
William Carroll was a native of Pennsylvania, and had
come to Nashville as a hardware merchant when quite a
young man. He was a successful business man, fond of
^military life, and had been one of Jackson's bravest and
best officers in the Creek War. He was plain and sincere
in manners, social in disposition, and especially popular
with his old soldiers.
The constitution of 1796 made taxes upon large land
owners lighter, proportionally, than upon small ones.
Under this constitution also the legislature elected all of
the judges of courts and justices of the peace to hold office
140
CARROLL, HOUSTON, AND HALL, 1821-1835 141
for life if they behaved well. The county courts elected
the coroners, sheriffs, trustees, etc., for the counties.
This left the people to elect only the governor and mem-
bers of the legislature.
Carroll advocated a change of the constitution to reform
these and many other affairs in the government of the
state. Ward wished the constitution and government of
the state to remain as they were. This was the chief issue
between the two candidates. With this canvass began the
prominent parts that newspapers have since taken in the
elections of the state. Before that date the papers pub-
lished the news as they found it and said little about can-
didates.
The canvass was quite warm and exciting, and many
ridiculous and amusing things were said and done on both
sides. The great mass of the people supported Carroll,
and he received more than three times as many votes as
Ward. Carroll was governor for three successive terms,
or until 1827, when Sam Houston and William Hall filled
the office for two years. After this Carroll was again
elected three times in succession. That is, Carroll was
governor from 1821 to 1835, except the two years from
1827 to 1829. John Sevier and William Carroll are the
only men who have ever held the office of Governor of
Tennessee for twelve years.
As the administration of Houston and Hall has no
marked or special features, these men will be considered
here, and the long term of Carroll will be treated in an-
other chapter.
Sam Houston was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia,
in 1793, and came to Tennessee in 1806. Hard work and
little schooling was the lot of his boyhood. When a large
boy he joined a band of Cherokee Indians and lived among
142
THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
them nearly two years. He then joined the army and
made himself famous at the battle of the Horseshoe.
After peace was made he studied law and was elected
district attorney at Nashville. In 1823, and again in
1825, he was elected to
Congress. In 1827 he
succeeded William Carroll
as governor. In January,
1829, he married Miss
Eliza Allen of Sumner
County. About the first
of April she left him and
returned to her father's
house. Neither of them
ever accused the other of
anything wrong, or ever of-
fered a word of explanation
of this strange conduct.
Immediately after the separation from his wife, Houston
resigned the governorship and went to the Indian Terri-
tory, where he lived for some time with his old friends,
the Cherokees. From there he went to Texas and became
the leader of the Texans in their war with Mexico. He
was commander of the Texan army in the famous battle
of San Jacinto which won the independence of Texas.
He was made president of the new republic, and after it
was annexed to the United States he was senator in Con-
gress, and afterward governor of the state. He reared
in Texas a family of two sons and four daughters, having
married Miss Margaret Lea, from Marion, Alabama. He
died in 1863.
When Houston resigned the governorship, William Hall
was speaker of the state Senate. By the provisions of the
CARROLL, HOUSTON, AND HALL, 182.1-1835
143
constitution he became governor, and served from April,
1829, till October, when Carroll succeeded him.
William Hall was born in Virginia and came to Sumner
County, Tennessee, in his
youth. He had become
sheriff of his county, and a
brigadier general in the
Creek War, and was a de-
voted friend of Andrew
Jackson and William Car-
roll. As speaker of the
Senate he had shown him-
self an able and capable
officer. His term as gov-
ernor was only about six
months, and was too short
for the display of any great
statesmanship.
The Houston-Hall administration contented itself with
maintaining, as nearly as possible, the policy of Carroll,
which was perhaps the best it could have done. It was
remarkable for nothing except the sudden and dramatic
resignation of Houston, and the consequent display of van-
ity and sensitiveness in the character of a really great man.
/
William Hall
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ?
1. Political questions before 1821.
2. Sketch of Edward Ward.
3. Sketch of William Carroll.
4. Provisions of the constitution of 1796.
5. The issue between the two candidates.
6. The newspapers.
7. The canvass.
144 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
8. Result of the election.
9 Length of Carroll's governorship.
10. Successor of Carroll in 1827.
11. Sketch of Sam Houston in Tennessee.
12. After he left Tennessee.
13. What is meant by " speaker of the Senate" ?
14. When does he become governor of the state ?
15. Sketch of William Hall.
16. Noted events of the Houston-Hall administration.
CHAPTER XXI
ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIAM CARROLL, 1821-1835
AMONG the first acts of Governor Carroll was the giving
of some good advice to the people of the state. He told
them that stay laws and replevin acts and loan offices and
state banks, and all the other
fine things that politicians and
office seekers had been talking
about so nicely, could never put
any wisdom into their heads nor
any money into their pockets ;
that if they wished to be wise
men they must use their own
common sense and think and
study about how to manage
their own affairs ; that if they
wished to improve their for-
tunes it could be done by work-
ing more and talking less about
hard times ; by spending less money for foreign goods and
saving what they made ; by paying their debts and attend-
ing to their own business, instead of waiting for luck or
Providence or office holders to attend to it for them.
I suspect that this would be very good advice for people
of the present day ; even for girls and boys in school, who
are sometimes tempted to grumble about hard lessons and
trust to luck or their teachers or some one else to help
them, when they should go resolutely to work and help
'45
William Carroll
146 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
themselves. But of course none of the girls and boys who
read this book ever act that way, and if you should see
any that do, you may just read them Governor Carroll's
advice.
The governor knew that if he could get the people to
think and act as he advised, there would soon be money in
the treasury to make the improvements in roads, buildings,
etc., that the state needed very much ; and that he would
be able to secure changes in the government that would be
of real value to the whole people.
The following were the principal things that Governor
Carroll earnestly advocated : —
1. A change in the constitution that would improve the
methods of laying taxes and electing officers, and that
would avoid conflicts between the different courts.
2. A good system of internal improvements.
3. A state penitentiary.
4. A hospital for insane people.
5. A state capitol.
These were not the only measures that Governor Carroll
advocated, but they were the principal ones, and he secured
all of them except the building of the capitol. That was
not begun until 1845.
In Chapter XX. the election of officers by the legisla-
ture and the county courts has been explained. The con-
stitution of 1796 did not establish any courts, but provided
that the legislature might establish superior and inferior
courts of law and equity. The legislature established
county, circuit, chancery, and supreme courts ; but failed
to specify the exact duties or jurisdiction of each court.
Under this system a man might bring a suit before a
justice of the peace, and appeal to the county court, and
then the other party might take it out of the county
ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIAM CARROLL, 1821-1835 147
court to the circuit court, and then appeal to the supreme
court. Before it could be decided there, the lawyers of
either side might file a bill in equity and take the case out
of the supreme court and have it all tried over again in
the chancery court, and then appeal again, and so on.
The poor men who had started the suit would then begin
to wish they had never heard of it, and their neighbors
who were witnesses wished it more heartily still, and often
said so in very emphatic language. The witness fees,
clerks' fees, lawyers' fees, and court costs in a five-dollar
suit would sometimes amount to $500 or more.
Governor Carroll said that the constitution ought to be
changed so as to allow the people to elect their own
officers to serve for a specified term ; and that it should
establish courts and regulate or limit their jurisdiction.
In 1834 he succeeded in having a convention held which
made a new constitution that reformed these and many
other features of the state government.
Nearly all of the governors from Sevier to Carroll had
asked the legislatures to vote money for "internal improve-
ments." Internal improvements mean just about this :
to hire men to pull logs, brush, and other obstructions
out of the smaller rivers so that boats could sail freely in
them; to open 'and grade wagon roads and bridge the
streams between the different towns and counties; and
to do whatever else might be needed to make traveling
over the state, carrying crops to market, and bringing
goods from market, easier and cheaper for the people.
Governor Carroll got larger appropriations for these
purposes than other' governors had received, and made
very great improvements, especially in the smaller rivers.
Later in the history of the state " internal improvements "
included macadamized roads and railroads, but there was
148 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
not a railroad built in the state until 1851, when the Nash-
ville and Chattanooga began to run the first train of cars
in Tennessee.
Long ago the punishments for violations of the law were
often cruel and brutal. The offender was branded with
a red-hot iron, or was whipped until the blood ran down
to his heels, or his hands and neck and feet were made
fast in the stocks and kept there until he fainted from the
summer heat, or was frost-bitten by the cold of winter.
Very often the juries would not convict a man that was
guilty, because they knew the punishment would be greater
than was deserved. This had a bad effect. Lawbreakers
became more numerous, and Governor Carroll recom-
mended that many punishments be changed to hard labor
in the county workhouses and the penitentiary. His
recommendation was followed, and in 1831 the peniten-
tiary was established where lawless characters are locked
up for a term of years, sometimes for life, and are made
to work every day at some useful employment.
Another great event in the history of this administra-
tion was the founding at Nashville, in 1832, of a hospital
for the insane. Before that date the unfortunate people
who had lost their reason had to be kept in the county
jails, or taken care of by their friends at great trouble and
expense, and usually without proper arrangements for
their comfort or safety. From the small beginning at
Nashville in 1832, the state has enlarged this grand charity
to three fine asylums : one near Nashville, built in 1849 ; one
near Knoxville, built in 1883 ; and one near Bolivar, built in
1887. When people spend their money for the relief of the
suffering and unfortunate, it shows that they are becoming
a kinder and better people, and the beginning of such
charities is an important event in the history of a state.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIAM CARROLL, 1821-1835 149
You must not think that Governor Carroll alone accom-
plished all the reforms mentioned in this chapter, or that
all that he did has been mentioned. He did many other
good things and many good people helped him, but he
was the leading spirit. When he believed a measure to
be right he never cared whether it was popular or not ;
he kept urging it until he convinced the people and the
legislature that it ought to be carried out. With the
possible exception of John Sevier no other governor of
Tennessee ever exercised as commanding an influence
over the people and the legislature, and Carroll's adminis-
trations mark in the history of the state an epoch that
was almost revolutionary in results.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Governor Carroll's good advice.
2. Application to girls and boys.
3. Probable result to the state of following the governor's advice.
4. Five principal measures advocated.
5. Were these five all ?
6. Reference to Chapter XX.
7. Courts under the Constitution of 1796.
8. A small lawsuit under this old system.
9. Constitutional convention of 1834.
10. Explain "internal improvements."
1 1 . First railroad in Tennessee.
12. Legal punishment in the olden time.
13. Effect on juries and on crime.
14. Governor Carroll's ideas on this subject.
15. Date of establishing the penitentiary.
1 6. Insane people before 1832.
17. Location of asylums for the insane. '
1 8. What is shown by the building of such institutions ?
19. William Carroll's work as a governor.
20. His influence in the state.
CHAPTER XXII
CANNON'S AND FOLK'S ADMINISTRATIONS, 1835-1841
FROM 1830 to 1850, it might be said, Tennessee almost
ruled the United States. Her senators and representatives
in Congress were shrewd and able men, her great states-
men filled important places
in the Cabinet and in for-
eign ministries, her lawyers
were judges of federal, cir-
cuit, and supreme courts,
and Tennesseeans were
Presidents during twelve
years in a period of twenty.
No other state except Vir-
ginia had ever held so
commanding an influence
in national affairs.
In this chapter will be
given short sketches of
some of these distinguished
men, and of some of their
political battles.
Andrew Jackson was born at Waxhaw, South Carolina,
in 1767. At fourteen years of age he was in the Ameri-
can army fighting the British. His brother was killed in
the war, and he himself was wounded and much abused by
the British. He never forgot their injustice and cruelty.
Andrew Jackson
CANNON'S AND FOLK'S ADMINISTRATIONS, 1835-1841 151
At the close of the Revolution he studied law and came to
Rogersville, Tennessee, in 1788 or 1789. Thence he
moved to Nashville, where he made his home for the
remainder of his life.
He was a soldier in the Nickojack Expedition, member
of the constitutional convention of 1796, representative
The Hermitage
and senator in Congress, judge of the Superior Court of
Tennessee, a general in the army, and President of the
United States from 1829 to 1837. He died at " The
Hermitage," his home near Nashville, June 8, 1845, and
he and his wife are buried there. Rarely, if ever, has a
man lived who had such lofty patriotism, such bitter
prejudices, such dauntless courage, and such unbending
will.
152 THE STATE BEFORE, THE CIVIL WAR
After the War of 1812 Jackson was one of the most
noted men in the United States. In 1824 he was a candi-
date for President, against John Quincy Adams of Massa-
chusetts, William H. Crawford of Georgia, and Henry
Clay of Kentucky. Jackson received 99 electoral votes,
Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. It required 131
votes to elect, so no one was elected by this vote, and in
accordance with the Constitution of the United States the
House of Representatives had to elect a President. Clay
disliked Jackson and persuaded his friends to vote for
Adams. Adams was elected and made Clay his Secretary
of State. Jackson and his friends charged Adams and
Clay with having made a corrupt bargain, and this made
Clay and Adams and their friends dislike Jackson even
more than before.
Since the death of the Federalist party in 1812, all the
people had been Democratic Republicans, but after the
contest between Jackson and Adams the Clay and Adams
party began to be called National Republicans and the
Jackson party, Democrats.
Jackson and Adams were again candidates for President
in 1828, and Jackson was elected. He served eight years,
being reflected in 1832. He was firm and resolute in
carrying out his ideas of duty, and very hostile to all who
differed from him ; and he made many bitter enemies and
many warm friends. He was very anxious to have Martin,
Van Buren of New York succeed him in 1837, and his
attempts to force his ideas on the people of Tennessee
divided his party in the state.
Hugh L. White was one of the distinguished Tennes-
seeans of this period. He was born in North Carolina in
1773, and came to Tennessee in 1786. He became a
member of the legislature, judge of the supreme court of
CANNON'S AND FOLK'S ADMINISTRATIONS, 1835-1841 153
the state, and United States senator. He wished to be a
candidate for President in 1836 to succeed Jackson in 1837.
Andrew Jackson, Felix Grundy, Aaron V. Brown, Cave
Johnson, James K. Polk, John Catron, and others were
against him. A newspaper, called The Nashville Union,
was established to oppose him.
Some of those who favored Hugh L. White were John
Bell, Newton Cannon, Ephraim H. Foster, Allen A. Hall,
and David Crockett. The Whig and The Clarion were
two newspapers at Nashville that advocated White's cause.
Tennessee voted for White, but Van Buren was elected
President in 1836.
William Carroll was the Democratic, or Jackson, candi-
date for governor in 1835, and Newton Cannon the Na-
tional Republican, or White, candidate. From about this
date the National Republicans were called Whigs. Cannon
was elected, not because
the people thought less of
Carroll, but because they
were unwilling to submit
to Jackson's dictation. The
people loved and honored
General Jackson, but they
thought he had no right to
try to make them vote for
Martin Van Buren for
President.
Newton Cannon was
born in North Carolina in
1781, and came to Tennes-
see when he was a boy.
He became a lawyer and was elected a member of the legis-
lature from Williamson County in 1811. From the legis-
TENN. HIST. — 10
Newton Cannon
154 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
lature he went to the Creek War and became a colonel of
volunteers. In 1814 he was elected to succeed Felix Grundy
in the United States Congress. He was Governor of Ten-
nessee four years, from 1835 to 1839. He was again the
Whig candidate in 1839, but was defeated by James K.
Polk, who served only one term, from 1839 to 1841.
The administrations of Governor Cannon had no special
influence on the affairs of the state. The Seminole War
in Florida occurred in 1836, and Tennesseeans, according
to their custom, took an active part in the war. Pioneer
life had nearly passed away. Towns, cities, schools,
churches, and well-cultivated farms were becoming numer-
ous, and evidences of growing wealth and culture were
seen in all parts of the state. Carroll's vigorous adminis-
trations and the constitutional convention of 1834 had
made needed reforms in the state government, and this
was a period of law and order.
The last years of Carroll's rule and the first years of
Cannon's saw the overthrow of the worst band of crimi-
nals that ever infested the Southwest. Before good wagon
roads and railroads were made, nearly all of the .commer-
cial wealth of the country passed up and down the rivers.
The very worst characters of the country assembled along
the rivers for the purpose of stealing and robbing from
the boats, and sometimes bands of them would take pos-
session of a little river town and defy the authorities.
They were called river pirates.
John A. Murrel was a Tennesseean of whom his coun-
trymen have just cause to be ashamed. He was a man of
good sense and could have been a useful citizen if he had
turned his attention to something besides, meanness. He
made himself famous, or rather infamous, as the " great
land pirate." He lived in Madison County, and organized
CANNON'S AND FOLK'S ADMINISTRATIONS, 1835-1841 155
all of the thieves, robbers, gamblers, cutthroats, and ruf-
fians that he could, from Kentucky to New Orleans, into
one band of which he was the chief." They gambled in the
towns, robbed boats on the rivers, stole horses and negroes
from farms, and killed people everywhere. They threat-
ened to kill any person who reported one of their number
to the officers of the law.
In 1834 Virgil Stewart discovered Murrel in the act of
stealing negroes from one of his neighbors. Murrel was
sent to the penitentiary for ten years, and was completely
broken down in mind and health by the time his term
expired. He lived but a short time after his release from
prison. Five gamblers and ruffians tried to take posses-
sion of Vicksburg, Mississippi, on the 4th of July, 183,5.
"They were captured and hanged
by the citizens without trial. At
other places some were hanged,
some shot, and some sent to
prison. This was the end of the
Alurrel Clan and the river pirates.
James K. Polk was born in
North Carolina November 2,
1795. He came to Tennessee in
1806, but was educated at the
University of North Carolina,
where he graduated in 1818.
He studied law, but soon went
into politics, and was a member of the legislature in. 1823.
From 1825 to 1839 ne was a representative in Congress
and speaker of the House of Representatives for the* last
four years of this period. He was Governor of Tennessee
from 1839 t° l84I, and President of the United States from
1845 to 1849. His term of office closed March 4, 1849,
James K. Polk
156 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
and he died the I5th of June following. His remains, with
those of his wife, who lived until August, 1891, are buried
in the Capitol grounds at Nashville.
Governor Folk's administration was a period of wild
political excitement in which the immediate affairs of the
state had little or no part. Every one seemed to think
that the state could get along well enough without any
special care, and each political party turned its whole
attention to national affairs and noisy campaigns.
In 1840 the Whigs nominated William Henry Harrison
of Ohio for President, and the Democrats renominated
Martin Van Buren. As Tennessee was the home of
Andrew Jackson, who was ardently for Van Buren, the
Whigs determined that the vote of Tennessee should be
given to Harrison. The Democrats were just as deter-
mined that Van Buren should have it. "
Before that time no such political uproar had ever been
created in America. The men in public life in Tennessee
were, as a body, by far the most able and brilliant in the
United States, and, as expressed by a writer of that day,
" all went into the campaign with their coats off and their
sleeves rolled up." He meant that each one intended to
work long and hard for the election of his candidate.
There were conventions and barbecues and torchlight
processions and big speakings without number. There
was a Whig convention at Nashville where Henry Clay is
said to have spoken to ten acres of people. The Whigs
called Van Buren a Dutch aristocrat and a political
huckster, and Jackson's " heir apparent to the government,"
and many other names not at all complimentary. The
Democrats said Harrison was a frontier soldier who was
ignorant of civil affairs ; that he was an old Hoosier fit
only to live in a log cabin in the backwoods of Ohio, drink
CANNON'S AND FOLK'S ADMINISTRATIONS, 1835-1841 157
hard cider, and skin coons. In fact, there is no telling
how many rough and dirty things were said. If any one
believed half of the ugly stories that were told, he would
think that both candidates and most of their friends ought
to have been put into the state's prison or the lunatic
asylum.
The newspapers went into the fight with all of the
humor and sarcasm and bitterness that Jeremiah Harris
and William G. Brownlow could command, — and that was
far from being a little. What one party said would be
twisted around to the use of the other. Log cabins, coons,
and cider became Whig emblems, while the Democrats
used roosters and spread-eagles. Nearly everybody seemed
to have gone mad, and only a few men kept their senses
and made grand speeches on public questions.
As the election day approached, the excitement grew
worse. All over the state there was a grand campaign-
closing, with drums, fifes, brass horns, guns, firecrackers,
banners, .roosters, eagles, coons, cabins, hard cider, drunken
men, fist fights, aching heads, and bloody noses. Harrison
was elected, and the Whigs were jubilant. They imme-
diately began making preparations to defeat Polk for
governor in 1841.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Influence of Tennessee from 1830 to 1850. Why?
2. Sketch of Andrew Jackson.
3. The presidential election of 1824.
4. Jackson's charge against Adams and Clay.
5. Political parties after 1824.
6. Jackson's term as President and conduct in office.
7. Attempt to have Martin Van Buren succeed him.
8. Sketch of Hugh Lawson White.
158 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
9. Distinguished men opposed to White.
10. Those who wished him to be a candidate.
11. The newspapers.
12. Whig and Democratic candidates for governor in 1835,
13. Result of election and reasons for this result.
14. Sketch of Newton Cannon.
15. Conditions under Cannon's administration.
1 6. River pirates.
17. John A. Murrel.
1 8. Overthrow of the outlaws.
19. Sketch of James Knox Polk.
20. Conditions under Governor Folk's administration.
21. Candidates for President in 1840.
22. Reasons for a very active campaign in Tennessee.
23. Party abuse of rival candidates.
24. Newspapers and party emblems.
25. Close of the campaign, and the election.
CHAPTER XXIII
JAMES C. JONES'S ADMINISTRATIONS, 1841-1845
IN 1839 Newton Cannon and James K. Polk had can-
vassed the state in joint debate. This means that the two
candidates for governor made appointments to speak on
certain days at the principal towns in the state. At one
town Cannon would speak first, and Polk would answer
him. At the next place Polk would speak first and Can-
non would answer him, and so they went over the state.
Cannon was a good lawyer and a strong man in debate,
but was a slow, dignified speaker and was somewhat dull
and tiresome to the crowds
that attended the speakings.
Polk was a bright, ready man
who made jokes at Cannon's
expense, and told stories that
made the people laugh, and
kept Cannon worried and
irritated all the time. Polk
could also debate the ques-
tions thoroughly when he
chose to do so, as he was a
very able and well-informed
man. As you already know,
Polk was elected.
James Chamberlain Jones
In 1841 the Whigs put up against Polk a candidate who
was very different from Cannon. This was James Cham-
berlain Jones, usually called "Lean Jimmy" because he
160 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
was six feet two inches high, and weighed only one hundred
and twenty-five pounds. He was born in Davidson County
in 1809, and was a farmer in Wilson County when he was
elected to the legislature in 1837 and again in 1839. He
was Governor of Tennessee from 1841 to 1845, and was the
first native of the state to hold that office. He moved to
Memphis in 1850 to become president of the Memphis and
Charleston Railroad. He was elected to the United States
Senate in 1852, and died in 1859.
Polk knew he was superior to Jones in serious debate/
and therefore wished to conduct the canvass in a serious
manner, but Jones was too shrewd a politician to allow
that.
Polk found himself in 1841 in much the same plight
that Cannon had been in 1839. Jones was a natural
mimic and actor. He paid no attention to Folk's argu-
ments except to turn them into ridicule, and to make a
laughingstock of their author. He burlesqued Folk's
speeches with the most outrageous and ridiculous anecdotes,
that brought roars of laughter from the crowds. Polk
lost his temper; Jones kept perfectly cool and, while
looking as serious as a judge on the bench, told more jokes
and made them spicier than before. Polk was mortified
and disgusted ; Jones looked as solemn as the Sphinx ; the
people shouted themselves hoarse and laughed until their
sides ached.
All of the Whigs and a few of the Democrats said it
was good enough for Polk ; that Jones was making him
"take some of his own medicine"; that he was being
"paid back in his own coin" for the way he had treated
Cannon in 1839. Jones was elected, and again defeated
Polk in 1843, chiefly, but not entirely, by the same
methods as in 1841. These two men have generally
•t / ~V» '•* £
JAMES C. JONES'S ADMINISTRATIONS, 1841-1845 l6l
been regarded as the authors or originators of what h&^L
been called "the art of stump speaking." It is a great
pity that any such "art" as these campaigns exhibit was
ever practiced. In a free government the merits of all
public questions should be freely discussed, without politi-
cal trickery or campaign stage acting, and the people
ought to vote according to their best judgment.
For several years before Governor Jones came into
office the state had been giving large sums of money for
internal improvements. The Whigs accused the Demo-
crats of giving the contracts for work in such manner as
to influence elections, and of using the state bank for the
same purpose. The Democrats denied this, and said
that the Whigs wished to get into office so that they might
do the very things which they had accused the Democrats
of doing. Of course the honest men of both parties wished
no such unfair things to be done by any one.
In the legislature of 1841 the Whigs had a very small
majority in the House of Representatives. In the Senate
there were twelve Democrats, twelve Whigs, and one inde-
pendent member. There were two United States senators
to be elected. The independent, Samuel Turney, was
elected speaker of the Senate, and he and the twelve Demo-
crats voted for H. L. Turney, Samuel's brother, for United
States senator. The Whigs of the House would not
accept this, but invited the Senate to meet them in joint
session. This the Democrats refused to do, and Ten-
nessee had no senators in Congress from 1841 to 1843.
Samuel Turney and the twelve Democrats have ever
since been called " the immortal thirteen." Andrew John-
son was one of them.
Governor Jones nominated a new board of directors for
the state bank, but " the immortal thirteen " voted against
162 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
them and left the old Democratic directors in office. The
governor also recommended an investigation of the affairs
of the bank, but the "immortal thirteen" defeated this also.
People began to think that there might be some truth in the
charges made against the Democrats, and Polk, though an
able and upright man, was badly defeated in 1843.
During Jones's administrations the " state debt " began
to appear as a political question. I shall not try to ex-
plain this to my young readers now. The banks, internal
improvements, land grants, and the state debt are very
closely interwoven in state affairs, and together they form
a very complicated problem. Only our best lawyers,
ablest statesmen, and wisest historians understand this
very confused and intricate part of the history of the
state. The state debt will be mentioned under the admin-
istrations of the governors who had most trouble with it.
The Legislature of Tennessee held its sessions at Knox-
ville until 1812. Three sessions were then held at Nash-
ville, and then one at Knoxville in 1817. From 1819 to
1825 all sessions were held at Murfreesboro. After 1825
they were held at Nashville. In 1843 the legislature
made Nashville the permanent capital of the state, and
the corner stone of the Capitol was laid on the 4th of July,
1845. The legislature used the building in 1853, but it
was not finished until 1856. Before 1853 the legislature
had held its meetings in courthouses.
Governor Jones and the legislators of 1843 made two
appropriations that are a lasting credit to them and an
honor to the state. They gave the first money ever given
for that purpose from the treasury, to establish at Nash-
ville a school for the blind, and at Knoxville a school for
deaf mutes. Before that time the Tennessee girls and
boys who were blind or deaf had to grow up without edu-
JAMES C. JONES'S ADMINISTRATIONS, 1841-1845 163
cation, unless their parents were able to send them away to
the schools in Europe or in some of the northeastern states.
The founding of these schools shows that the people were
not thinking entirely of political hubbub, but were growing
more refined in feeling, and more wise and practical in
their methods of helping the needy and unfortunate.
The Capitol, Nashville
In 1844 James K. Polk was nominated by the Demo-
crats for President of the United States. The Whigs
nominated Henry Clay of Kentucky. Both parties knew
that the fight would be desperate, and both believed that
Tennessee would be the center of the political battle.
There was still almost the same grand array of able
statesmen and brilliant orators in both parties that had
conducted the former campaign. All over the state the
scenes of 1840 were repeated. The Democrats had a
1 64 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
better candidate than then and fought harder for him.
The Whigs won in Tennessee, but Polk was elected Presi-
dent. This was the first time that a candidate had ever
lost his own state and still been elected. The defeat of
Clay was a great disappointment to the Whigs, as they
considered him the greatest man of the United States.
In 1845 Governor Jones's second term of office expired,
and he declined to be a candidate again. The Whigs1
nominated Ephraim H. Foster, and the Democrats Aaron
V. Brown. Brown was elected and served only one term.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. A canvass in joint debate.
2. Canvass of Polk and Cannon. Result.
3. Whig candidate for governor in 1841.
4. Sketch of James C. Jones.
5. Canvass of Jones and Polk.
6. How the people regarded Folk's humiliation.
7. " The art of stump speaking."
8. Best method of maintaining good government.
9. Charges of the Whigs against the Democrats.
10. Democratic denial.
n. The two parties in the legislature of 1841.
12. Tennessee without United States senators.
13. "The immortal thirteen."
14. New board of directors and investigation of the state bank.
15. Conclusions of many people. Result.
16. The "state debt" as a part of our history.
17. The three capitals of the state.
1 8. Permanent capital, and the building of the Capitol.
19. Famous appropriations of 1843.
20. What these appropriations show.
21. Presidential campaign of 1844.
22. Peculiar condition of Folk's election.
23. Candidates for governor in 1845.
24. Result of the election.
CHAPTER XXIV
FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS, 1845-1853
1. AARON V. BROWN, DEMOCRAT.
2. NEILL S. BROWN, Wiiu;.
3. "WILLIAM TROUSDAI.E, DEMOCRAT.
4. WILLIAM B. CAMI-BELL, WHIG.
FROM 1840 to 1860 questions of purely state policy
had little or nothing to do with the choice of governors.
Every state election was fiercely contested on some issue
of national or sectional politics. So nearly equal were
the parties in Tennessee that, from the election of Polk in
1839 to the election of Andrew Johnson in 1853, the gov-
ernors were alternately
Democrats and Whigs,
and none except James C.
Jones held the office more
than one term.
Aaron Vail Brown was
born in Virginia in I/95-
His parents moved to Giles
County, Tennessee, in
1813, and had him edu-
cated at the University of
North Carolina. He stud-
ied law at Nashville and
after commencing practice
formed a partnership with James K. Polk. He was a
member of the state Senate from 1821 to 1827, and rep-
resentative from Giles County in 1831. He was a member
165
Aaron Vail Brown
1 66 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
of Congress from 1839 to 1845, when he was elected Gov-
ernor of Tennessee. In 1857 ne was appointed Postmaster
General by President Buchanan, and died at Washington
city in 1859. He was a fine lawyer, a fluent speaker, and
a sagacious politician. He was a sturdy Democrat of the
Jackson school.
The Whig candidate for governor in 1845 was Ephraim
H. Foster. He was a native of Kentucky, but came to
Davidson County, Tennessee, in 1797, when only three
years old. He was educated at the University of Nash-
ville, and became a lawyer. He was General Jackson's
private secretary in the Creek War, and began public life
as a member of the legislature, where he served in 1827,
1829, and 1835. In 1837 ne was elected to the United
States Senate, but resigned in November, 1839, because
he had been instructed by the legislature to vote for some
of Van Buren's measures. He was one of the candidates
for the United States Senate defeated by "the immortal
thirteen" in 1841. In 1843 he was elected United States
senator and served until 1845, when he became a candidate
for governor and was defeated by Aaron V. Brown. He
died in 1854. He was a talented man, a brilliant orator,
and was personally very popular, though he was considered
inconsistent in his political course.
In Chapter XX. the war between Texas and Mexico
was mentioned in connection with Sam Houston's life.
After Texas became an independent state it desired to be
admitted to the American Union. Some of the people of
the United States were in favor of this, and some were
opposed to it. Some said that it would bring on a war
between the United States and Mexico, and that they
wanted no war. The abolitionists, in the North, said that
it would add more slave territory to the country, and that
FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS, 1845-1853 l6/
they did not want any more. Those in favor of annexa-
tion said they would risk all of these things to help the
Texans, as nearly all of them were people from the United
States.
When Polk was a candidate for President he boldly
advocated annexing Texas, and in 1845 Texas became one
of the United States. The danger of war grew out of a
dispute between Texas and Mexico about a boundary line.
Texas claimed that the Rio Grande River was the dividing
line. Mexico claimed that the Nueces River was the line.
Between these rivers was a strip of disputed territory.
In the spring of 1846 President Polk ordered General
Zachary Taylor to take his army into the disputed terri-
tory and hold it for Texas. The Mexicans resisted this,
and thus began the Mexican War, which closed with the
surrender of the city of Mexico to a United States army
in September, 1847.
Governor Aaron V. Brown called for twenty-six hun-
dred soldiers for the Mexican War. In answer to this call
thirty thousand volunteered. Tennessee was the " Volun-
teer State." Among the famous men of Tennessee who
took part in this war were Gideon J. Pillow, W. T. Has-
kell, William Trousdale, William B. Campbell, B. F. Cheat-
ham, and William B. Bate. The last two were very young
at the time of the Mexican War, and afterward became
famous in the Civil War.
The readiness with which Tennesseeans volunteered for
this war was caused in part by the treatment the Mexicans
had given men from their own state in the Texan War of
1836. In a fort called the Alamo, at San Antonio, Texas,
4000 Mexicans besieged 140 men under Colonel William
Travis. After killing about ten times their own number
of Mexicans, the Texans surrendered under positive prom-
1 68
THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
ise to be treated as prisoners of war. Instead of keeping
his promise, the Mexican general, Santa Anna, had these
men murdered. Among them was David Crockett from
Tennessee.
David Crockett was born in the wilds of East Tennessee
in 1786. Early in life he removed to Middle Tennessee,
At the Alamo
married, and settled in what is now Giles County. It was
a wilderness then without definite county lines. He made
a good soldier in the Creek War, was elected colonel of
the militia of his county, and afterward a member of the
legislature. In 1822 he removed to Obion County, and
was again sent to the legislature in 1823. In 1825 he
was defeated for Congress, but was elected in 1827. In
1829 he was defeated on account of his violent opposition
to Jackson. In 1833 he was again sent to Congress and
FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS, 1845-1853
169
was one of Jackson's strongest political enemies. In the
election of 1835 he was again defeated, and he then went
to Texas. He was killed in cold blood March 6, 1836,
after the surrender of the Alamo.
Many absurd stories have been told of Colonel Crockett's
fondness for hunting, his whisky drinking, his ignorance,
and his boorishness. Born and reared as he was in the
forests of a new country,
he was very naturally fond
of hunting and adventure,
and killed many bears,
panthers, and other wild
beasts. But hunting was
not his business; it was
only his amusement. He
was never in any sense
a drunkard. Instead of
being ignorant he was
really very shrewd and in-
telligent. His opportuni-
ties at school had been
very poor, but I have
seen letters, written with his own hand, that showed good
sense and great information, as well as good writing and
fine taste in composition. Instead of being a boor he was
a very social and popular man of good manners according
to frontier standards.
The Mexican War not only secured Texas for the
United States, but added what is now California, Nevada,
Utah, most of Arizona and New Mexico, and parts of
Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma. This was
the greatest addition ever made to the territory of the
United States except Jefferson's purchase of Louisiana.
TENN. HIST. — II
David Crockett
I/O
THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
A Tennessee President had given to the United States a
domain nearly equal in area to fifteen states as large as
Tennessee.
The whole of Governor Aaron V. Brown's administra-
tion was a period of political struggle and war excitement,
and the peaceful pursuits of the people are seldom men-
tioned in the newspapers, magazines, and books of that
day.
j The admission of Texas and the gain of the new terri-
tory increased the great strife about negro slavery. The
people charged all of the trouble to the Democratic party.
President Polk was accused of being partial to Democrats
in making appointments in the army, and of treating Gen-
eral Taylor unfairly because he was a Whig. Governor
Aaron V. Brown had to answer these and many other
charges against his party
when he became a candidate
for reelection in 1847. He was
defeated by Neill S. Brown,
the Whig candidate for gov-
ernor.
Neill S. Brown was born in
Giles County, Tennessee, in
1810. He was a soldier in the
Seminole War, a member of
the legislature, a presidential
elector, a candidate for Con-
gress, and from 1847 to J^49>
Governor of Tennessee. He
was the second governor who had been born and reared in
the state. In 1850 he was minister to Russia, in 1855
speaker of the state House of Representatives, and in
1870 a member of the constitutional convention of Ten-
Neill S. Brown
FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS, 1845-1853
171
nessee. He died at Nashville in 1886, loved and honored
as few public men have been.
Probably the most important state feature of Governor
Neill S. Brown's administration was his effort to establish
a system of public schools. He urged the legislature to
pass a law that would allow the counties to levy a school
tax and establish schools of their own. An act was
passed, but not in the form he wished it, and it resulted
in no permanent school system.
In the presidential campaign of 1848, Lewis Cass of
Michigan was the Democratic candidate, and the Whigs
nominated General Zachary Taylor of Mexican War fame.
The speakings and torchlight processions and political
songs and general uproar and tumult of the campaign were
very little inferior to the stormy canvass of 1840. Taylor
was elected, and the Whigs were wild with delight. In
1849 they nominated Neill S. '
Brown for reelection as gov-
ernor, but he was defeated
by the Democratic candidate,
William Trousdale.
General William Trousdale
was born in North Carolina in
1790, and came to Tennessee
when only six years old. He
I left school to become a soldier
in the Creek War, and was
under Jackson at Pensacola
and New Orleans. In 1835
he was a member of the state
Senate, in 1836 a colonel in the Seminole War, in 1847 a
brigadier general in the Mexican War. So many and so
brave had been his services in camp and battle that he
William Trousdale
THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
was called "The War Horse of Sumner County." In
1849 he was elected Governor of Tennessee and he held
office one term. In 1852 President Pierce made him min-
ister to Brazil. He died in 1872.
One of the most important events in the period of Gov-
ernor Trousdale's administration was the meeting of the
"Southern Convention " at Nashville in 1850. This was
an assembly of men from the southern states to consider
the compromise measures then before Congress, and to
give their opinions about what the South had better do
on the subject of negro slavery.
This convention had been called chiefly by the efforts
of Andrew Jackson Donelson, a nephew of Andrew Jack-
son. Nearly all of the members were Democrats, and
they made speeches and passed resolutions that led many
people to think that they were either very rash and foolish,
or very disloyal to the Union. Others said they were wise
and good men, who wished nothing more than what was
plainly written in the Constitution of the United States.
Andrew J. Donelson said the proceedings of the conven-
tion were not what he desired or expected, and that he
would not indorse its action. The Whigs denounced the
meeting as a secession convention of Democrats. Aaron
V. Brown and A. O. P. Nicholson denied this, and claimed
that the Democrats were as loyal to the Union as the
Whigs were. However this may have been, the people
of Tennessee became a little suspicious of the Democratic
party, and in 1851 Governor William Trousdale, renomi-
nated for governor, was defeated by the Whig candidate,
General William B. Campbell.
William B. Campbell was born in Davidson County in
1807. He was a nephew of Governor David Campbell, o'f
Virginia, under whom he studied law. He was state's
FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS, 1845-1853
173
attorney in 1829, member of the legislature in 1835, a
captain in Trousdale's regiment in the Seminole War,
member of Congress from 1837 to J^43> colonel of the
First Tennessee Regiment
in the Mexican War, a
judge of the circuit court,
and Governor of Tennes-
see from 1851 to 1853. In
1865 he was again sent to
Congress, and he died in
1867.
In the Mexican War
Campbell's regiment was
called the " Bloody First."
At the storming of Monte-
rey, instead of ordering his
regiment to charge, Camp-
bell shouted to his soldiers, " Boys, follow me." The Whigs
made this expression their campaign cry in the canvass of
1851. This canvass, however, was conducted by Trous-
dale and Campbell in a manner that was very different
from many others. Both were great men ; they were fel-
low-soldiers and gentlemen. In debate they are said to
have been as courteous to each other as if they had been
speaking in a parlor, with ladies for an audience.
y1 William B. Campbell was the last Whig Governor of
Tennessee, and the third native of the state to hold its
highest office. The presidential campaign of 1852 was
almost as exciting in Tennessee as those that had pre-
ceded it. The Whigs carried the state for their candidate,
General Winfield Scott, but the Democratic candidate,
Franklin Pierce, was elected. This was the last election
the Whigs ever carried in the state.
William B. Campbell
174 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Elections in Tennessee from 1840 to 1860.
2. The strength of the two political parlies.
3. Sketch of Aaron V. Brown.
4. Sketch of Ephraim H. Foster.
5. Objections to the admission of Texas.
6. Position of President Polk and a majority of the people.
7. The disputed territory.
8. How the Mexican War began.
9. Response in Tennessee to the call for soldiers.
10. Famous Tennesseeans in the Mexican War.
1 1 . Sketch of David Crockett.
12. Territory added to the United States.
13. Period of Governor Aaron V. Brown's administration.
14. Charges against the Democratic party in 1847. Result.
15. Sketch of Neill S. Brown.
1 6. Most important state feature of Neill Brown's administration.
17. The presidential campaign of 1848.
1 8. Sketch of William Trousdale.
19. The " Southern Convention."
20. Opinions of Whigs and Democrats.
21. Effect on state election of 1851.
22. Sketch of William B. Campbell.
23. Canvass between Trousdale and Campbell.
24. The last struggle of the Whigs in Tennessee.
CHAPTER XXV
JOHNSON AND HARRIS, 1853-1861
ANDREW JOHNSON was Governor of Tennessee from
1853 to 1857. In 1853 he defeated Gustavus A. Henry, a
native of Kentucky, born in 1804, and educated at Tran-
sylvania University. Henry came to Clarksville, Tennessee,
in 1833. He was once a member of the legislature, and
a presidential elector in every election from 1840 to 1852.
When Tennessee seceded, he was elected to the Confederate
Senate. He died at his home in Clarksville in 1880. He
was a remarkably handsome, graceful, and accomplished
man, and was called the " Eagle Orator." This title was
a distinguished honor for one in the midst of that proud
array of great and brilliant men who thronged the public
arena of that time.
In 1855 Andrew Johnson defeated Meredith P. Gentry.
Gentry was born in North Carolina in 1809, and came to
Williamson County in 1813. From 1835 to 1839 he was a
member of the legislature. He was a Whig member of
Congress from 1839 to ^53, and his speeches there gave
him a national reputation as an orator and a statesman.
His most famous speeches were one on a bill to prevent
Federal interference in local elections, and one against Gen-
eral Winfield Scott as a candidate for President. He was
winning in manner, strong in debate, a silver-tongued
orator, — great in the midst of great men. He was opposed
to secession, but followed the fortunes of his state and was
THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
a member of the Confederate Congress. He died at
Nashville in 1866.
Andrew Johnson was born in Raleigh, North Carolina,
December 29, 1808. When ten years old he was "bound "
to a tailor to learn his trade.
His apprenticeship lasted seven
years, and, with great labor and
difficulty, he learned to read after
working hours. He never went
to school a day in his life. In
1826 he went to Greeneville,
Tennessee, and began business
as a tailor in his own shop.
Here he married, and his wife
taught him writing, arithmetic,
Andrew Johnson and other simPle elements of an
education. After this his great
learning was acquired by his own efforts.
His first office was that of alderman of Greeneville, then
he was made mayor, and then elected to the legislature,
where he was one of "the immortal thirteen." In 1843 he
was sent to Congress, where he remained, by reelections,
until 1853, when he was elected governor. After being
governor four years he was elected to the United States
Senate, where he remained until the Civil War. He took
the strongest possible ground against secession, or any form
of disunion. In 1862 he was appointed Military Governor
of Tennessee. In* 1864 he was elected Vice President by
the Republicans, and in 1865, by the death of President
Lincoln, he became the seventeenth President of the United
States.
As Johnson was a Democrat, he and the Republican
Congress could not agree about the " Reconstruction Policy."
JOHNSON AND HARRIS, 1853-1861 1/7
Congress impeached him and tried to turn him out of office,
but failed. His long trial is one of the most dramatic
chapters in the history of the United States.
On March 4, 1875, he again entered the United States
Senate, but died at Carters Station, Tennessee, on the
last day of the following July. His body was wrapped
in the American flag and buried at Greeneville. In the
same cemetery are buried his wife, three sons, and two
daughters.
Andrew Johnson was one of the greatest men of the
state, or of the nation. He would have been great in any
age or any land, in spite of many characteristics that
were anything but great. Having risen from poverty and
obscurity, he hated aristocracy and oppression ; but when
in power himself he was one of the most arbitrary and
masterful of men. He possessed the great mind and broad
views of a sagacious statesman, and a patriotism that would
have dared the stake or the gibbet; but some of his acts
seem to have been influenced by petty spites and bitter
prejudices. While one of the most courageous, indepen-
dent, and original of men in declaring his convictions and
policy on public questions, he sometimes descended to the
tricks of a politician.
Some of his public utterances contain the strong, dig-
nified, far-sighted views of a sage and patriot, and are
among the valuable state papers of the nation; others are
filled with violent personalities unbecoming the dignity of a
public station.
Perhaps we are too near him in time to do the memory
of this great man justice. As we are able to see his career
to-day, it looms up a giant pillar of cloud and fire that
towers in splendor through obscuring mists of partisan
bitterness.
THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
Before the administration of Governor Johnson the State
Library was composed almost entirely of court reports,
Congressional documents, and a few other books of a purely
public nature. In 1854 the legislature gave $5000 to buy
books for the library, and appointed R. J. Meigs to attend
to the purchase. Mr. Meigs was soon after this made libra-
rian and given a regular salary. Additions have been
made, from time to time, until there is now in the Capitol
a large library containing thousands of valuable books,
papers, and pictures. This collection belongs to the people
of Tennessee. If you go to the State Library, you will
find there a polite librarian who will get for you almost any
book you may call for, and you may read it in the room,
but no one is allowed to carry the books away from the
library.
The 'Tennessee Historical Society was permanently
organized at Nashville in 1857, though it had been in
existence a number of years before this date. This is a
voluntary association of people for the purpose of collect-
ing and preserving whatever is rare and valuable in his-
tory. They have books made hundreds of years ago,
Indian relics of many strange kinds, letters written by
James Robertson and other famous men, the sword of John
Sevier, the sash worn by Colonel Ferguson when he was
killed at Kings Mountain, mummies from Egypt, coins
that may have been carried in the purses of Roman
emperors, Confederate money, state banknotes, postage
stamps, old newspapers and magazines, quaint specimens
of furniture , and tableware, and hundreds of other rare
and curious things. If you visit this institution, the custo-
dian will politely show you all of these curiosities, but you
must keep your hands off everything.
In 1853 the legislature appropriated $30,000 to establish
JOHNSON AND HARRIS, 1853-1861 179
agricultural and mechanical fairs. At these fairs the
farmers showed their fine horses, sheep, and cattle ; their
huge pumpkins, turnips, and ears of corn ; their fat
chickens, turkeys, and geese; and ever so many more
things, to let the world know what fine farm products
Tennessee could furnish for market. The mechanics
showed their nice buggies, wagons, and plows ; their
barrels, jugs, and churns ; their furniture, shoes, and cloth-
ing ; and many other articles, to show the world what fine
work Tennessee mechanics could do.
For a time these fairs were very popular, and the State
Fair at Nashville was once attended by thirty thousand
people. In a few years the interest in them became so
small that the legislature abolished the State Fair and
stopped helping the county fairs. In their stead was
established the " Bureau of Agriculture, Statistics, and
Mines," which is in charge of a commissioner who gathers
and distributes information on industrial subjects.
Now let us review a little. In the administrations of
Governor Carroll we find imprisonment for debt, the
stocks, and the whipping post abolished. This shows that
the people were becoming more humane. In the admin-
istrations of Governor Jones we find schools established
for the blind and the deaf. This shows that the people
were becoming more kind and charitable in feeling. In
the administrations of Governor Johnson and Governor
Harris we see the rise and growth of the State Library,
the Historical Society, colleges and schools of many
grades, and a state department of industries. This shows
the advance in learning and intellectual life. The days of
struggle for the necessities of physical life had passed
away, and the administrations of Johnson and Harris may
be called the era of wealth and culture, and of the develop-
180 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
ment of a distinctly southern spirit among the people of
Tennessee.
The period of Johnson and Harris was a time of great
political excitement and change. The Whig party was
dying, the abolition party was growing rapidly in the
North, and in the South the Democrats were sweeping
everything before them. In 1856 Tennessee gave her
electoral votes to James Buchanan for President. This
was the first time that the state had voted for a Democratic
candidate for President since the election of Andrew Jack-
son in 1832.
In 1857 I sham G. Harris was elected governor, defeat-
ing Robert Hatton. In 1859 ne was again elected, defeat-
ing John Netherland. In 1861 he was reflected, having
practically no opposition. He was the fourth governor
born and reared in the state, and the first from West
Tennessee.
Robert Hatton was born in Sumner County, Tennessee,
in 1827. He was an educated, accomplished young lawyer
when nominated for governor in 1857. He had been a
member of the legislature and a candidate for presidential
elector. After his defeat for governor he was sent to
Congress, where he served until near the beginning of the
Civil War. He was made a brigadier general in the Con-
federate Army and was killed at the battle of Fair Oaks,
in Virginia, in 1862.
John Netherland was born in Virginia in 1805, and came
to Tennessee in 1814. He became one of the brilliant
orators and popular public men of his day. He was three
times a Whig member of the legislature and twice a presi-
dential elector. He opposed secession, but took no part in
the war that followed. After the Civil War President
Johnson appointed him minister to Brazil, but he declined
JOHNSON AND HARRIS, 1853-1861
181
the appointment. His last service to the state was in the
convention that formed the constitution of 1870. He died
at Rogersville in 1887.
Isham Greene Harris was born at Tullahojpa, Ten-
nessee, February 10, 1818. He moved to Paris in 1838,
studied law, and began prac-
tice in 1841. He was a
member of the legislature in
1847, a candidate for presi-
dential elector in 1848, and
member of Congress from
1849 to 1853. He opened
a law office in Memphis in
1853, and was chosen a presi- r
dential elector in 1856. He
was elected Governor of Ten-
nessee in 1857, 1859, and
1 86 1. After the election of
Lincoln he became a strong
advocate of secession, and in 1861 issued the proclamation
declaring Tennessee out of the American Union. During
the greater part of the Civil War he served as a volunteer
aid to the Confederate commanders. At the close of the
war he went to Mexico, but returned to Memphis in 1867.
In 1876 he was elected United States senator, and was
continued in office until his death, which occurred at
Washington city in "July, 1897.
Among the great men of Tennessee, Governor Harris
takes very high rank. He was firm, fearless, and rigidly
honest in the face of appalling dangers and strong temp-
tations. His public career covers a period of fifty years,
and the greater part of that time was the stormiest in
political tumult and the bloodiest in war that the nation
Isham G. Harris
1 82 THE STATE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
has ever known. Through every conflict, whether in
Congress, in the governor's chair, or on the field of battle,
Governor Harris bore himself as a leader of men, and a
public servant worthy of confidence and respect. He had
faults, and in his long public career made some bitter
enemies ; but none ever questioned the sincerity of his
professions or the integrity of his conduct.
The most prominent feature of the administrations of
Governor Harris was the intense political excitement that
centered in the presidential contest of 1860, which resulted
in the electkm .of Abraham Lincoln and the secession of
the southern states. Harris's last election as governor
occurred when secession was an accomplished fact, and
when, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, the
blast of the bugle and the roll of the drum was marshaling
nearly three millions of men to the fiercest struggle, the
bloodiest war of the nineteenth century.
•
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Subject and date of Chapter XXV.
2. Gustavus A. Henry.
3. Meredith P. Gentry.
4. The youth of Andrew Johnson.
5. His education.
6. His public life before he became President.
7. Troubles with Congress.
8. His last public service and death. .
9. His character as a great man.
10. The State Library.
11. The Tennessee Historical Society.
12. State and county fairs.
13. Department of Agriculture.
14. Evidences of progress in the time of Governor Carroll.
15. In the time of Governor Jones.
16. In the time of Governors Johnson and Harris.
JOHNSON AND HARRIS, 1853-1861 183
17. Political changes occurring in the Johnson-Harris time.
18. Presidential vote of Tennessee in 1856.
19. Governor of Tennessee from 1857 to 1861.
20. Robert Hatton.
21. John Netherland.
22. Isham G. Harris before he became governor.
23. His term as governor, and most important official act.
24. His career after the Civil War.
25. His character as a public man.
26. Presidential election of 1860 and result.
27. Conditions when Harris was last elected governor.
PERIOD IV. 1861-1865
THE CIVIL WAR
CHAPTER XXVI
NULLIFICATION AND SECESSION
You have already been told that when the American
Union of States was formed there sprang up two political
parties, the Federalists or centralizing party, and the Anti-
Federalists (Democratic Republicans) or state's rights party.
The Federalists thought that the general or federal gov-
ernment should be supreme in all things. The Anti-Fed-
eralist thought that a state should be supreme, within its
own limits, on all affairs that did not involve the rights of
other states or nations.
This definition does not mark any details, but gives broad
or general principles that have guided one or another of
all the variously named political parties of our country.
These two principles came into conflict on a number of
public questions, but chiefly on the question of the tariff,
or taxes on foreign goods imported into this country, and
on the question of negro slavery. The result was to bring
up the doctrines of "nullification " and "secession."
Nullification means to set aside or to make void. As
used in United States government affairs it means about
this : the Congress might pass a law and the President
approve it; but if any state thought this law unjust or a
184
NULLIFICATION AND SECESSION
I85
violation of its rights under the Federal Constitution, that
state might by act of its own legislature suspend or
abolish, within its own limits, the execution of the United
States law. The
"Virginia Resolu-
tions," written by
Madison, and the
"Kentucky Reso-
lutions" by Jeffer-
son, declared this
right in 1799.
In 1832 South
Carolina passed
her celebrated
" Nullification Or-
dinance" with
reference to the
tariff, and in 1833
Pe n n sy Ivania
passed her famous
" Personal Liberty
Bill " in defiance
of the decision of
the Supreme
Court of the
United States about runaway slaves. Andrew Jackson
was President when these things occurred. He appealed
to the people to observe the laws of their country, and
threatened to hang those who refused to do so. Compro-
mises were made in Congress, in regard to the tariff, and
the difficulties were settled for a time.
There was no more nullification in any state of the
South, but after Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law
TENN. HIST. — 12
Abraham Lincoln
1 86
THE CIVIL WAR
in 1850, several states of the North enacted laws very simi-
lar to the Pennsylvania Personal Liberty Bill. That is, they
practically nullified the act of Congress, though not avow-
ing nullification as did South Carolina. The nullifiers did
not advocate secession. They claimed to be Union men, but
said that every state had the right, under the Constitution
of the United States, to
protect its own interests
in the Union.
The secessionists
claimed that whenever
the Federal government
did anything in viola-
tion of the provisions of
the Constitution of the
United States, or of one
of the states, any state
had the right to secede
or withdraw from the
Union. They declared
that the American Un-
ion had no powers ex-
cept those given by the
states, that its constitution was a compact or agreement of
sovereign and independent states, and that whenever the
Federal government violated the agreement, or acted in
such way as to make the Union oppressive or injurious
to any of its members, the states were no longer bound by
the agreement.
I know that this is a difficult subject for my young
friends to understand, but I have tried to make plain for
you the difference between "nullification," or the setting
aside of the laws of Congress by a state in the Union, and
Jefferson
NULLIFICATION AND SECESSION l8/
" secession," or a state's going entirely out of tJie Union.
I have given you the two doctrines as stated by their advo-
cates, and have told you enough of the history of nullifica-
tion. It is necessary for us next to look into the history
of secession, as the use of this assumed right was the
direct cause of the war between the states.
Before we begin this, however, I wish to remind the
girls and boys of Tennessee that the truth in history, as in
all other matters, is the only thing that is worth knowing.
No difference whether it is for Tennessee or against Ten-
nessee, whether it suits our taste or does not suit it, we
should seek to know the exact truth. There are many
books, especially story books and school histories of the
United States, that do not give us correct ideas about nulli-
fication, negro slavery, secession, and the Civil War.
The books referred to do not state direct falsehoods, but
they omit so much and cover up so much of the truth, and
give the truth that they tell in such an unfair way, that
they make false impressions or deceive people. Tennessee
is a southern state and is not willing to be falsely accused.
Most of the school histories give us the idea that slavery,
nullification, secession, rebellion, and all other bad things
of a social and political nature belong almost exclusively
to the South. This is not the truth.
The three southern states of Virginia, Kentucky, and
South Carolina have passed "nullification ordinances," or
laws that amounted to the same thing. The eleven north-
ern states of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wis-
consin, and Kansas passed state laws to punish, with severe
penalties, any one who obeyed the laws of Congress with
reference to fugitive slaves.
There was a time when all of the states then in exist-
1 88 THE CIVIL WAR
ence, both north and south, allowed negro slavery, and no
one seemed to think it was wrong. The first American
slave ship was built at Marblehead, Massachusetts, with
northern money, manned by northern seamen, and run for
northern profit. The South owned slaves, and so did the
North. The North brought negroes from their native
home in Africa to sell them into slavery in America ; the
South did not, but both North and South bought them
from these northern kidnappers.
In 1796 Thomas Jefferson was a candidate for Presi-
dent. In speaking of his probable election, Governor
Wolcott of Connecticut said : " I sincerely declare that I
wish the northern states would separate from the southern
the moment that event shall take place." That is, a Con-
necticut governor wished his state to do, in 1796, precisely
what South Carolina did in 1 860, — secede from the Union
because it was not pleased with the President elected.
Governor Plumer of New Hampshire says that the
avowed purpose of many New England leaders in 1805
was to dissolve the Union, because they did not like the
probable results of the purchase of Louisiana. In 1811
a bill was before Congress for the admission of the State
of Louisiana into the Union. Josiah Quincy, member of
Congress from Massachusetts, said : " I declare it as my
deliberate opinion that, if this bill passes, the bonds of the
Union are virtually dissolved ; and that as it will be the
right of all the states, so it will be the duty of some, to
prepare definitely for a separation, amicably if they can,
violently if they must." This was the first open threat of
disunion that was ever made in Congress.
In 1814, while the second war with England was going
on, the famous Hartford Convention met at Hartford,
Connecticut. Governor Plumer says that James Hillhouse
NULLIFICATION AND SECESSION 189
and Roger Griswohl, both members of the convention, told
him that they were decidedly in favor of dissolving the
Union and establishing a " Northern Confederacy."
In 1845 J°nn Quincy Adams and a number of other
northern congressmen declared that the annexation of
Texas would be sufficient cause for the dissolution of the
Union, and would lead to that result. The Legislature of
Massachusetts approved these declarations, and passed
resolutions that avowed the right of secession as a remedy
for grievances.
What I have told you on these subjects, and much more
of similar kind, may be found in Cooper's American Poli-
tics, Jameson's Dictionary of American History, Henry's
Voice of The People, Fiske's Critical Period of American
History, Hildreth's History of the United States, and other
books of like character. I have told you these things,
not because you like them or I like them, but because they
are facts of history.
The people of Tennessee were neither secessionists nor
nullifiers. Before 1860 it is very doubtful if there were
as many as one thousand secessionists in the state, though
the population at that time was more than one million.
Tennessee had ever been conservative, loyal, and patriotic.
She never favored any nullification or disunion schemes of
either North or South. When the Civil War was forced
upon the state, the people were divided in their opinions
about their duty. The greater part of them followed the
fortunes of the Confederacy, the smaller part adhered to
the Union. Each followed his own convictions of duty.
Tennessee never wished the war or helped to bring it on.
Warlike as her sons had ever been, she tried to maintain
peace, and took no part in the disturbances until war had
actually begun.
190 THE CIVIL WAR
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ?
1. Difference between Federalists and Anti-federalists.
2. Chief questions upon which conflicts arose.
3. Explain " nullification."
4. South Carolina and Pennsylvania acts.
5. President Jackson's course.
6. Claims of the nullifiers respecting the Union.
7. Explain the doctrine of secession.
8. Valuable part of history.
9. Books that give false ideas.
10. Representations of the South.
11. Southern states and northern states that have nullified.
12. Early African slavery.
13. Part taken by the North and the South in slave trade.
14. Proposed Connecticut secession in 1796.
15. Proposed New England secession in 1805.
1 6. Josiah Quincy's secession threat.
17. The Hartford Convention.
18. John Q. Adams and Massachusetts on secession.
19. Tennessee on nullification and secession.
20. Division of the people of the state in Civil War.
CHAPTER XXVII
CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR
IT is best for us now to take a brief view of the history
of African slavery. This is necessary because slavery was
the cause of the secession of the southern states, and
secession was the direct cause of the Civil War.
When the Spaniards began colonizing the West Indies
they made slaves of many of the Indians. The Indians
soon died out, and then negroes were brought from Africa
to .fill their places. It was quickly learned that the negroes
were much easier civilized and made better servants than
the Indians. The West Indies were soon stocked with
African slaves.
The Dutch took up the slave trade, or business of tak-
ing negroes from Africa to other countries to sell them
into slavery. A slave ship would land on the coast of
Africa, and the captain would show some negro chief a
tempting display of red, yellow, and green cloth, some
butcher knives, hatchets, and brass jewelry. The chief
was a brutal savage who knew very little of the difference
between right and wrong, and cared less than he knew.
He wanted the gaudy things that were before his eyes,
and would give fifty or a hundred of the people of his
tribe for fifty dollars' worth of the slave trader's goods.
Sometimes two African tribes would go to war. The
victorious tribe would sell their prisoners to the traders,
who would carry them away to other lands to be sold into
191
THE CIVIL WAR
slavery. Not only the Spaniards and Dutch, but nearly
all the civilized nations of Europe engaged in this inhuman
traffic. Many of the traders declared that it was right to
take the negroes from their heathen homes to civilized
Negroes Dancing
countries where they would be taught morality and religion.
The negro did get the teaching from humane masters, and
if this had been the trader's purpose, his business would
have been all right; but his real purpose was not to bene-
fit the negro, but to make money for himself.
In 1619 a Dutch trader brought some Africans to
Jamestown, Virginia, and sold them to the planters there.
CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR
193
This was the beginning of negro slavery in our country.
It was soon established in all the English colonies in
North America, and at that time was not considered
wrong. About seventy
years later the Jlerman,
Mennonites, a religious
body then living in Penn-
sylvania, began to declare
that they thought it wrong
to buy and sell slaves.
This was the first protest
against slavery in Amer-
ica, and these people
seemed to think it no
wrong for persons to
keep slaves they already
owned.
Within the next hun-
dred years many people,
both North and South,
decided that slavery it-
self was wrong. But
that generation of people
was not responsible for
the beginning of slavery,
and they were in some
doubt as to what they
ought to do. Slave labor whuney at work on the Cotton Gin
was never as profitable
in the North as in the South, therefore more people
in the North were willing to free their negroes. The
work of liberation went on in both sections without a halt
until Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1 792. The people
194 THE CIVIL WAR
of the North had freed nearly all of their negroes or sold
them in the South, and, after the gin was invented, they
established factories to spin and weave cotton. The peo-
ple of the South saw fortunes in cotton raising. They
freed fewer negroes, and raised more cotton for the north-
ern factories. The gin and the spinning frame are prob-
ably the real explanation of why slavery existed longer in
the South than in the North.
The Northwest Territory was given to the Federal gov-
ernment chiefly by Virginia. The "Ordinance of 1787,"
adopted by the Continental Congress for the government
of that territory, was copied chiefly from a report which
Thomas Jefferson had made a few years before. Jeffer-
. son's report had proposed that slavery in all the western
territory of the United States should be prohibited after
the year 1800. The Ordinance of 1787 provided that
slavery should never exist in the Northwest Territory.
This ordinance, based as we have seen on the work of a
southern statesman and slave owner, was adopted in Con-
gress by the vote of eight states, of which four, including
Virginia, were southern.
The Constitution of the United States, which went into
effect in 1789, forbade Congress to stop the slave trade
before 1808 (when it was stopped by act of Congress) and
distinctly recognized the right of each state to act as it
chose about slavery within its own limits. When Ten-
nessee became a state in 1796 many people wished slavery
prohibited after a certain number of years, but this was
not put into the state constitution, and Tennessee became
a slaveholding state in a union of partly free and partly
slaveholding states.
The old records of the Tennessee legislature, and of the
county courts, show that from the organization of the
CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR 195
state until 1832, the work of freeing slaves and giving
them legal privileges was continually going on. Early in
the history of the state these affairs occupied so much of
the time of the legislature that an act was passed, in 1801,
transferring nearly all such business to the county courts.
There was so much of it that the legislature could not
attend to it.
In 1819 or 1820 Elihu Embree began the publication of a
newspaper, at Jonesboro, Tennessee, called The Emancipa-
tor. This was the first abolition paper ever published in
the United States. The books that claim Benjamin Lundy
of Ohio as the first abolition editor are wrong. Lundy did
not begin his paper until 1821, and Embree died in 1820.
Thus we learn that the people of Tennessee were freeing
their own negroes and were advising others to do as they
did. Tennessee, however, never proposed to interfere in
the affairs of other states, or to attempt forcibly to free
other people's negroes.
Now it may be asked why freeing the slaves was almost
stopped after 1840. This was caused by a set of people
who insisted that their ideas and ways were exactly right
and that those of every one else were wrong. One set of
these extremists, who lived in the North and owned no
slaves, said that Congress and the President ought to free
all the negroes right off, without any consideration of time,
condition, circumstances, or consequences. Congress and
the president pointed out the fact that they were all under
oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and
that the plan of liberation would be in violation of the
Constitution they had been sworn to support and defend.
These northern people then began denouncing Congress,
the President, the laws, the Constitution, the Union, the
flag, and everything else that allowed or protected slavery.
196 THE CIVIL WAR
They held conventions, made speeches, published news-
papers, and printed books that declared that slavery was
the sum of all villanies, that hell was too comfortable a
place for a slaveholder, that the Constitution was a league
with hell and a covenant with the devil, that the Union
was an unholy alliance with evil that deserved the ven-
geance of High Heaven, that the laws of Congress were
impious and infernal and that it would be doing God's serv-
ice to violate them, that the President of the United States
was a slave trader and negro driver, that the flag of the
Union was a dirty rag whose stripes represented nothing
but negroes' scars, and a great deal more of very ugly and
very disloyal sentiments. The lovers of the Union tried
very hard to silence these agitators, but could not do so.
Only a few people of the North visited the South and
knew the real condition of affairs. A great many of them
finally accepted as true the statements of the violent aboli-
tionists, and gradually there grew up in the North an
abolition political party. Demagogues and professional
politicians then made use of the popular sentiment to get
into office, and increased the excitement in order that they
might stay in office. The extreme agitators circulated
documents among the free negroes in the South advising
them to kill the white people and free the slaves. This
was begun at Southampton, Virginia, in 1831, and fifty-
five persons — men, women, and children — were killed
by negroes.
The people of the South became alarmed. A slave-
holders' convention met in Annapolis in 1842 and decided
that if free negroes were to be made dangerous by the
abolitionists, freeing negroes must stop, and those already
freed must be deprived of privileges and have legal restric-
tions put upon them. Laws were passed prohibiting
CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR IQ7
owners from freeing their slaves unless they sent them en-
tirely out of the state. Few owners were able to set their
negroes free and then pay their expenses to some other
country, therefore emancipation was practically ended by
the overzealous abolitionists.
While the abolitionists were preaching their doctrines on
every street corner, and advising murder as a remedy for
wrong, there grew up an extreme party in the Soifth.
They declared that they had, or ought to have, the right to
carry their slaves into any state or territory of the Union
whether the people living there wanted them or not ; that
negroes were created to be made slaves ; that the African
slave trade ought to be reopened ; that the Union only pro-
tected abolition fanatics and robbed the South of her rights ;
that any state had a right to secede, and the Union ought
to be dissolved ; that they wished all the abolitionists were
collected in New England, and New England were in hell,
and ever so many more things that nobody ought to have
said.
The extreme men met in Congress and quarreled and
fought over the slavery question, until Union men in every
section of the country became seriously alarmed at the
turn affairs were taking. The whole question was thought
to have been settled by the Missouri Compromise in 1820,
but the agitators paid no attention to this. There were
furious debates and threats of secession over the admis-
sion of Texas in 1845, the admission of California in 1850,
the Kansas-Nebraska Bill in 1854. Then came the Dred
Scott Decision in 1857 and John Brown's Raid in 1859.
By this time the people of the United States were excited
to a dangerous degree on the slavery question.
In 1860 there were four candidates for President:
Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and John C. Brecken-
198 THE CIVIL WAR
ridge of Kentucky, both Democrats ; Abraham Lincoln
of Illinois, Republican ; John Bell of Tennessee, Constitu-
tional Union candidate. Tennessee voted for Bell, but
Lincoln was elected. Some of the southern states decided
that they would not be safe in the Union with a sectional
President. South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas seceded, and organized the
Confederate States government at Montgomery, Alabama,
February 4, 1861. This was exactly one month before
President Lincoln went into office.
Fort Sumter
Governor Harris called an extra session of the Tennes-
see Legislature to meet January 7, 1861. This legislature
passed a resolution asking the people to vote, on the 9th
of February, for or against a convention to consider the
secession of Tennessee from the Union. The people
voted against the proposition, the majority being nearly
four to one. When President Lincoln went into office,
March 4, 1861, he declared that he had no right to inter-
fere with slavery in the states, and no desire to do so.
This made the people better pleased with their union
vote in February.
April 12, 1861, the South Carolina soldiers attacked
Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, and forced the
United States garrison to surrender the fort. Three days
CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR
later President Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand
soldiers to force the seceded states back under the author-
ity of the Union. This action meant war, and in anger
and sorrow the people of Tennessee saw that they would
be forced to take part in it.
President Lincoln called for soldiers from Tennessee.
Governor Harris refused to send them, and said that if
Tennessee must fight she would fight with the South.
The legislature was called together April 25, passed an
ordinance of secession May i, and submitted it to a vote
of the people June 8. So great had been the change of
opinion that at this election the majority in favor of seces-
sion was more than two to one. This settled the question,
and July 2, Tennessee joined the Confederacy. She was
the last state to secede, and had clung to the Union as
long as there was any hope of peace. A majority of the
people of East Tennessee adhered to the Union to the
last, and petitioned the legislature to allow them to form
a separate state. The request was refused.
For the Civil War the Federals enlisted 2,778,304 men ;
the Confederates enlisted about 600,000 men. Tennessee
furnished 30,000 soldiers for the Federal Army, and 100,000
for the Confederate Army. This was nearly one ninth of
the whole population of the state. True to the heroic
traditions of their ancestors, the Tennesseeans bore them-
selves throughout the war as among the best and bravest
in that long and bloody struggle.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1 . Direct cause of the Civil War.
2. Slavery in the West India Islands.
3. Dutch slave traders.
4. Two ways of obtaining negroes in Africa.
200 THE CIVIL WAR
5. Nations engaged in the slave trade.
6. Moral benefits in the slave trade.
7. What makes the difference between moral good and evil in an action ?
8. Introduction of slavery into the English colonies of America.
9. First protest against slavery in America.
10. Opinions on slavery about 1760.
11. More freeing of slaves in the North than in the South.
12. Effect of the cotton gin and spinning frame.
13. The Ordinance of 1787.
14. Provisions about slavery in the Constitution of the United States.
15. Tennessee's position in the American Union.
1 6. The old records of the legislature and the county courts.
17. The act of 1801.
18. The first abolition paper in the United States.
19. Principles and actions of the people in Tennessee about slavery.
20. What caused the suspension of freeing the negroes ?
21. Demands on the President and Congress. Reply.
22. Abuse from the extreme abolitionists.
23. Efforts of the lovers of the Union.
24. Growth of abolition political party.
25. The Southampton affair.
26. The slaveholders1 convention.
27. Laws passed in some states of the South.
28. The extreme agitators in the South.
29. The sectional quarrel in Congress.
30. On Missouri Compromise, Annexation of Texas, &c., consult a his-
tory of the United States, and get explanations from your teacher.
31. The election of President in 1860.
32. Action of certain southern states.
33. Extra session of the Tennessee Legislature, January 7, 1861.
34. What did the vote of February 9 show ?
35. President Lincoln's declaration about slavery.
36. The attack on Fort Sumter and its result.
37. Governor Harris's reply to President Lincoln's call for troops.
38. Extra session of the Tennessee Legislature, April 25, 1861.
39. What did the vote of June 8 show ?
40. Action of East Tennessee.
41. Federal and Confederate armies.
42. Tennessee's troops in each army.
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE BATTLE GROUND
FROM May, 1861, to May, 1865, little was donef4alked
of, or thought of in Tennessee except war. Early in 1861
every county seat
became a mili-
tary camp. The
lawyers and doc-
tors left their
offices, the mer-
chants and me-
chanics left their
stores and shops,
the farmers and
laborers left the
fields, the young
men left the col-
leges, — all that
were fit for mili-
tary service
joined the army.
Guns, pistols, and
swords of all kinds were brought out and furbished up for
use. Lead mines and saltpeter mines were opened and
worked. Mechanics who had enlisted in the army were
detailed to make more weapons. Everywhere resounded
the preparations for a fierce and bloody war.
TENN. HIST. — 13 201
Federal Soldier
Confederate Soldier
2O2 THE CIVIL WAR
Major General Gideon J. Pillow was appointed com-
mander of the army of the state, with headquarters at
Memphis. Brigadier General B. F. Cheatham was put in
command of the Department of West Tennessee, with
headquarters at Union City ; Major General S. R. Ander-
son in command of the Department of Middle Tennessee,
with headquarters at Nashville ; Brigadier General W. R.
Caswell in command of the Department of East Tennes-
see, with headquarters at Knoxville. This arrangement
continued until the troops were organized and transferred
to the Confederate service. President Davis of the Con-
federacy then appointed General Leonidas Polk to command
in Tennessee, and General Pillow was given command of
a division in the Confederate Army.
About the middle of September, 1861, General Albert
Sidney Johnston was placed in command of the Western
Department. He arranged a line of defenses to keep the
Federal troops out of Tennessee.
1. General Felix K. Zollicoffer was sent to Cumberland
Gap and fortified a camp on Fishing Creek.
2. General William J. Hardee occupied Bowling Green,
Kentucky, where General Johnston made his head-
quarters.
3. General Simon B. Buckner was sent from Bowling
Green to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, near
Dover, and a strong fort was built there.
4. Fort Henry was hurriedly and imperfectly con-
structed on the Tennessee, about eleven or twelve miles
from Fort Donelson, and placed under command of Gen-
eral Lloyd Tilghman.
5. Columbus, Kentucky, was seized and strongly forti-
fied by General Polk to guard the Mississippi River.
6. As an additional protection for the Mississippi, Fort
THE BATTLE GROUND 203
Pillow was built at Randolph, and Island No. 10 was
fortified and garrisoned by General Mackall. The islands
in the Mississippi River are numbered from the mouth of
the Ohio southward, and Number 10 is near the town of
New Madrid, Missouri.
There were some changes of commanders at these
places, but very early in the war this was the arrangement.
These forts and camps formed a long
line extending from Cumberland Gap
to the Mississippi River at Columbus,
and down that river nearly to Mem-
phis. There were not men enough
nor cannon enough at any of these
places to hold them against a strong \ V
force. Many of the soldiers were
, . . . Confederate Flag
very poorly armed, and the posts, ex-
cept Fort Donelson and Fort Henry, were too far apart to
help one another.
The Federal forces were gathered at Cairo, Illinois, and
at Louisville, Kentucky, and prepared to break through
the Confederate line. November 7, 1861, General Grant
of the Federal Army tried to capture a part of General
Folk's forces, which had crossed the river from Columbus to
Belmont. Grant was defeated and went back to Cairo,
January 19, 1862, General Thomas of the Federal Army
defeated General Zollicoffer's army at Mill Springs, near
Cumberland Gap. Zollicoffer was killed, and Cumberland
Gap was lost. February 6, Fort Henry was easily taken.
February 16, after five days' hard fighting, Fort Donelson
was surrendered to General Grant with fifteen thousand
Confederate soldiers.
General Johnston withdrew his forces from Bowling
Green and Columbus to Corinth, Mississippi, and collected
2O4 THE CIVIL WAR
some small commands from other places. Nearly all of
Tennessee was at once occupied by Federal soldiers.
General Grant moved his forces up the Tennessee River
to Pittsburg Landing, on the west side of the river, a short
distance above Savannah, and waited for General Buel's
force from Nashville to join him. April 6, 1862, Johnston
attacked him in his camp and roilted his army. Johnston
was killed in the afternoon, and his successor, Beauregard,
stopped the battle. That night Buel arrived, and next day
Beauregard's army was driven back to Corinth.
This was one of the great battles fought on Tennessee
soil, and is called the battle of Shiloh because it was fought
around Shiloh church. Island No. 10 was captured April
8, Fort Pillow was abandoned June i, and a week later the
Confederate gunboats at Memphis were destroyed by the
Federal fleet, and the city surrendered. The whole of
the original line of Confederate defenses had been wiped
out, and the Federal Army was in possession of all of
Tennessee except the southeastern part.
After March 5, 1862, Andrew Johnson was no longer a
United States senator. President Lincoln appointed him
Military Governor of Tennessee. He came to Nashville
and tried to get the people of the state to come back under
the authority of the Union. Very few of them would have
anything to do with his plans, and about all that he accom-
plished had to be done by force. This really served no
good purpose at all.
In the summer of 1862 General Beauregard was removed
from the command of the Western Confederate Army, and
General Braxton Bragg took command. He moved the
army from Mississippi to Chattanooga and marched into
Kentucky. He captured Cumberland Gap, defeated the
Federal Army at Richmond, Kentucky, loaded a train of
THE BATTLE GROUND
205
wagons nearly thirty miles long with provisions and army
supplies captured from the Federals, and fought a battle
at Perryville, Kentucky, in which he was worsted, but
which saved his wagon train. He then retreated into
Tennessee and established winter quarters at Murfreesboro.
Here, December 31, 1862, and January 2, 1863, another
great battle was fought. The Confederates won the first
day, the Federals the second. Neither seemed to have
gained anything. The Confederates went leisurely to
Shelbyville ; the Federals remained where they were.
Lookout Mountain (as seen from Chattanooga)
In June the Federals moved out to attack Bragg. He
slowly retreated to Chattanooga. September 19 and 20,
1863, a desperate battle was fought along Chickamauga
Creek. The Federals were defeated and driven back into
Chattanooga. Bragg occupied Missionary Ridge and
Lookout Mountain, and was about to starve the Feder-
als into surrender when Grant came to their relief with
reinforcements.
206 THE CIVIL WAR
October 25, General Grant drove Bragg from the Moun-
tain and the Ridge after two bloody battles. The Con-
federate Army retreated to Dalton, Georgia ; the Federals
remained "at Chattanooga until the next spring. The
armies of Burnside and Longstreet fought two hard battles
at Knoxville, November 28 and 29, 1863, in which the
Federals were successful in holding the city against the
Confederate attack.
*
After many battles and skirmishes in Georgia, during
the spring and summer of 1864, General Hood was put in
command of the Confederate Army. He marched the
army back into Tennessee, and November 30 fought the
desperate battle of Franklin. The Federals were defeated
and retreated to Nashville, but the victory had been won
at terrible cost. In proportion to the number engaged,
more men were killed in this battle than in any other
fought in the state.
Hood followed the Federals to Nashville, and December
15 and 1 6, 1864, the battle of Nashville was fought. The
first day the Confederates held their own, the next day
they were totally defeated. This was the last great battle
fought in the state.
The thirteen battles that have been mentioned were only
the great contests in which large armies were engaged;
there were other smaller battles fought within or near the
borders of our state, and many of them were of great im-
portance in prolonging or deciding the war. The State of
Tennessee was really a battle ground from 1861 to 1865.
On April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered in Virginia,
and the long Civil War was ended. The Confederate
Army had been literally worn out by the superior power
of the Union in men, money, and war supplies of every
kind.
THE BATTLE GROUND 2O;
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Forming an army in Tennessee in 1861.
2. Arming the soldiers.
3. State commanders.
4. Transfer to Confederate service.
5. The line of defenses.
6. The islands in the Mississippi.
7. Weakness of the line of defenses.
8. Battle of Belmont.
9. Mill Springs, and results.
10. Capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. Result.
11. Next move of General Johnston and of General Grant.
12. Battle of Shiloh.
13. Island No. 10, Fort Pillow, and Memphis.
14. Andrew Johnson as military governor.
15. Bragg's expedition into Kentucky.
16. Battle of Murfreesboro.
17. Battle of Chickamauga.
18. Condition and rescue of the Federal army.
19. Battles of Missionary Ridge and of Lookout Mountain.
20. Campaign in Georgia and new Confederate commander.
21 . The battle of Franklin.
22. The last great battle in the state.
23. The minor engagements.
24. The end of the fighting.
CHAPTER XXIX
FAMOUS TENNESSEEANS
IN this chapter will be given brief sketches of persons
who became famous in adventure, war, politics, or any other
walk of life, but whose names do not appear in the official
list of the state's distinguished people.
" Filibusters " is a name applied to citizens of a country
who try to interfere by force of arms in the affairs of
another country that is on
friendly terms with their
own government. The
name is Spanish, and in the
sixteenth century meant
the pirates or sea robbers
of the Gulf of Mexico and
the Caribbean Sea.
The most famous filibus-
ter of the United States
was a Tennesseean, -
William Walker. He was
born in Nashville in 1824.
William Walker TT ,. , ,
He studied law, then medi-
cine, then edited a newspaper in New Orleans and after-
ward in San Francisco. He then practiced law for a while
in California, but it was too quiet and tame a business to
suit his taste. In 1853 he organized an expedition against
Sonora, Mexico, but failed and surrendered to the United
States officers at San Diego. Nothing could be proved
208
FAMOUS- TENNESSEEANS
2O9
against him, and he was released. Two years later he in-
vaded Nicaragua, conquered the country, and had himself
elected president. In a short time he was driven out by
an insurrection and returned to the United States. In 1857
and in 1858 he tried to go back to Nicaragua, but was pre-
vented by United States officials. In 1860 he went with
an armed expedition against Honduras, but was captured
and, by order of the president of that state, was shot.
As lawyer, doctor, editor, soldier, diplomat, and adven-
turer William Walker was one of the most remarkable
men the state has produced. His career is not worthy of
imitation, but it shows wonderful courage and great versa-
tility of talent.
Gideon Johnson Pillow was born in Williamson County,
Tennessee, in 1806. He was educated at the University
of Nashville, studied law, and
began practice at Columbia.
He was one of the delegates
to the Democratic convention
that nominated James K. Polk
for President in 1844. In
1846 he was appointed briga-
dier general of volunteers to
serve in the Mexican War.
For gallant service he was
promoted to the rank of ma-
jor general in 1847, and was
severely wounded at Chapul-
tepec. At the close of the
Mexican War he resumed the practice of law at Columbia.
In 1852 he received twenty-five votes in the Democratic
convention for the nomination to the office of Vice Presi-
dent. When the Civil War began he entered the Confed-
Gideon Johnson Pillow
210
THE CIVIL WAR
erate Army and was made a brigadier general and served
in the Western Department. After the close of the war he
practiced law in Memphis and managed an extensive cot-
ton plantation in Arkansas. He died in 1878.
Leonidas Polk was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in
1804. He was educated at the United States Military
Academy at West Point, graduating in 1827. He re-
signed his commission in the
army, studied for holy orders,
and was ordained a minister in
the Episcopal Church in 1831.
After a short period of service
in Richmond, Virginia, he trav-
eled abroad and then moved
to Columbia, Tennessee. In
1838 he was made a bishop.
Three years later he moved to
Louisiana, and in 1856 began
the greatest work of his life by
giving his active aid in found-
ing the University of the South
at Sewanee, Tennessee. His name will be associated with
this great school when all his other services are forgotten.
When the Civil War began, Bishop Polk was made a
major general in the Confederate Army. In 1862 he was
promoted to be lieutenant general. He is said to have
disobeyed orders at the battle of Chickamauga and was
therefore relieved from command and transferred to an-
other department. After some distinguished services in
his new field he was restored to his old command, and
took part in the campaign between Chattanooga and
Atlanta. In June, 1864, he was killed by a cannon shot
while inspecting a fort near Marietta, Georgia.
Leonidas Polk
FAMOUS TENNESSEEANS
211
Benjamin Franklin Cheatham was born at Nashville in
1820. At twenty-six years of age he entered the army for
service in the Mexican War. As captain and colonel he
won fame in this war and at its close was appointed major
general of Tennessee volunteers. In 1849 he went with
the great throng of fortune
hunters to the gold fields
of California, but soon re-
turned to Tennessee. At
the beginning of the Civil
War he was made a briga-
dier general in the Con-
federate Army and served
with distinguished honor
throughout the war, rising
to the rank of major gen-
eral. He was a stern, hard
fighter, but a kind man,
much beloved by his sol-
diers, who affectionately called him " Old Frank." Of
course they never used this title in speaking to their gen-
eral, but around their camp fires they rarely gave him any
other. It is a custom among soldiers to nickname the
commanders they love.
After the Civil War General Cheatham returned to
Nashville. When General Grant became President he
offered General Cheatham an appointment in the civil
service of the United States, but Cheatham did not accept
it. The two men were warm personal friends, though
they had taken opposite sides in the war. In 1872 Gen-
eral Cheatham, Andrew Johnson, and Horace Maynard
were candidates for congressman at large. That is, Ten-
nessee was entitled to one more representative in Congress
Benjamin Franklin Cheatham
212
THE CIVIL WAR
than there were districts in the state, so one representative
had to be elected by the votes of all the people of the
state. Maynard was elected. In 1875 Cheatham was
made Superintendent of State Prisons, and held the posi-
tion for four years. In 1885 he was appointed postmas-
ter at Nashville, but died in September, 1886.
Nathan Bedford Forrest was born in Bedford County,
Tennessee, in 1821. Of his youth we know very little..
In 1842 he moved to Her-
nando, Mississippi, and be-
came a cotton planter. Ten
years afterward he was liv-
ing in Memphis. In 1861
he joined the Confederate
Army, and served through-
out the war, rising steadily
in rank until he became a
lieutenant general. He was
a military genius, and per-
haps the greatest soldier
that Tennessee has ever pro-
d u c e d. Without military
education pr training he be-
came one of the greatest commanders of the war. He
never lost a battle that he had planned himself, and never
allowed his army to be surprised and forced to fight at
disadvantage. He failed a few times under orders of
other commanders. The story of all his daring and bril-
liant feats would be as thrilling as the wildest tales of the
Scottish border.
After the Civil War General Forrest devoted himself to
business in Memphis, and became president of the Mem-
phis and Selma Railroad. He died in October, 1877.
Nathan Bedford Forrest
FAMOUS TENNESSEEANS
213
Matthew Fontaine Maury was born in Virginia in 1806,
but was reared and educated in Tennessee. In 1825 he
entered the United States navy. While other young offi-
cers were frolicking, Maury
would be drawing chalk
figures on cannon balls to
help him in learning the
problems of navigation.
In 1827 he made a cruise
around the world, and gained
a personal knowledge of
countries and people that
afterward made his geogra-
phies such charming books.
In 1831 he was made com-
mander of the ship Fal-
mouth, and ordered to the
Pacific Ocean. In 1834 he published his book on navi-
gation, which was made the text for study at the Naval
Academy. In 1837 ne nad a fall which broke his right
leg at the knee, and made him a cripple for life. After
this accident he .was assigned to shore duty at Washington.
Maury made important reforms in the navy, established
the National Observatory, directed the soundings of the
sea that resulted in the laying of ocean cables, or subma-
rine telegraph lines, started the signal service and weather
bureau, wrote a physical geography of the sea, and a series
of geographies for use in schools. He has added more
to our scientific knowledge of the sea and the winds than
any other man that has ever lived. When the Civil War be-
gan he took part with the Confederacy. He died in 1877.
David Glascoe Farragut was born in Knox County, Ten-
nessee, in 1 80 1. When nine years old he was put into the
Matthew Fontaine Maury
214
THE CIVIL WAR
United States Navy to be trained for a naval officer. Like
Maury, he attended to his business, — studied and worked
well. As a boy he took part in the war with England in
1812, and afterward, as he rose in rank, saw much service
at many naval stations at
home and abroad. In
1861 he adhered to the
Union, and was sent to
the Gulf of Mexico to as-
sist in the blockade of the
southern ports. He soon
showed himself to be the
ablest officer in the navy.
In April, 1862, he went
up the Mississippi River
and captured New Or-
leans, though it was well
defended by forts, gun-
boats, and floating bat-
teries. In 1864 he fought
the fiercest naval battle of the war except one, and cap-
tured the city of Mobile. In recognition of distinguished
services Congress created for him the special rank of
vice admiral. Only the most prominent of his actions
have been mentioned. He is considered the greatest of
all the American commanders of his time on the ocean.
He died in 1870.
Alexander P. Stewart was born in Rogersville, Tennessee,
October 2, 1821. In his early boyhood his parents moved
to Winchester, Tennessee, whence he was sent in 1838 to
be educated in the United States Military Academy at
West Point. From this school he graduated in 1842, in
the same class with General W. S. Rosecrans, General
David Glascoe Farragut
FAMOUS TENNESSEEANS
215
John Pope, and General John Newton of the Federal Army,
and General Gustavus W. Smith and General James Long-
street of the Confederate Army. After graduating he
served one year in the artillery, and was then sent to West
Point as a teacher of mathematics. After teaching two
years in the Military Academy he resigned from the army
and accepted a professorship in Cumberland University.
Later he became a member
of the faculty of the Uni-
versity of Nashville, and
occupied this position until
the beginning of the Civil
War. He entered the Con-
federate Army as Major of
Artillery and rose steadily
to the rank of Lieutenant
General, the highest except
one in the service.
At the close of the war
General Stewart returned to
Lebanon and again became
a professor in Cumberland
University. In 1874 he was
elected President of the University of Mississippi at Ox-
ford, where he remained for twelve years. In 1890 the
United States Congress passed an act to make a National
Military Park of the battle fields around Chattanooga and
at Chickamauga. General Stewart was appointed one of
the commissioners to take charge of this work and held
that position until his death in 1908.
From the battle of Belmont, Missouri, in November,
1 86 1, to the battle at Coe's Farm, North Carolina, April,
1865, General Stewart took part in all the campaigns of
General Alex. P. Stewart
2l6 THE CIVIL WAR
the Army of Tennessee. He never failed to distinguish
himself as a brave, prudent, trustworthy officer. He was
the highest in rank of Confederate generals at the time of
his death. In civil affairs he was an able and capable
man, and in every walk of life a gentleman.
Edward Ward Carmack was born near Castalian Springs
in Sumner County, Tennessee, November 5, 1858. He
was educated at the Webb
School, then located at Cul-
leoka, now at Bellbuckle,
Tennessee. He studied law
and began practice in Colum-
bia, and in 1884 was elected
representative of Maury and
Williamson Counties in the
General Assembly of Ten-
nessee. In 1886 he became
one of the editorial staff of
the Nashville American, and
in 1888 editor-in-chief of the
Nashville Democrat. When
this paper was united with the
American Mr. Carmack was
Edward Ward Carmack , , • /• •,.. r , ,
made chief editor of the com-
bined papers. In April, 1890, he married Miss Elizabeth
Dunnington, of Columbia. In 1892 he moved to Memphis
to become editor of the Memphis Commercial, which was
afterward combined with the Appeal, Mr. Carmack becom-
ing editor-in-chief of the Commercial AppeaL
In 1896 he was elected representative in Congress from
the loth Congressional District and served two terms. In
1900 he was sent to the United States Senate and served
one term, being defeated for reelection by Hon. Robert
FAMOUS TENNESSEEANS 2l6a
L. Taylor. In 1908 he canvassed the state with Governor
Patterson for the Democratic nomination for governor, but
was defeated. He then became editor-in-chief of the Nash-
ville Tennesseean. •
He was an honest, fearless man with characteristics that
made for him many devoted friends and many bitter
enemies. He made himself famous in the editorial chair
and in the halls of Congress, and was considered one of the
most brilliant and versatile men the state has ever pro-
duced. . He was killed on Seventh Avenue in Nashville by
Duncan B. Cooper and his son, Robin Cooper, November
9, 1908. The Coopers were tried for murder and sen-
tenced to serve twenty years each in the penitentiary.* The
cause given at the trial for the origin of the difficulty was
offensive editorials that had been published in the Nash-
ville Tennesseean.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
Make a list of the nine Tennesseeans described in this chapter.
Study each carefully, and see what you can learn of these famous
men from other sources as well as from these short sketches.
* The Coopers appealed to the Supreme Court. Robin Cooper's trial was
decided to have been technically wrong and was sent back to the lower court
for retrial. Duncan B. Cooper's sentence was decided to be right, but he
was pardoned by Governor Patterson as soon as notice was received of the
decree of the Supreme Court.
TENN. HIST. — 14
PERIOD V. 1865-1909
THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
CHAPTER XXX
DOMESTIC RECONSTRUCTION
THE years that immediately followed the close of the
Civil War were years of strife and gloom. The Union
men thought that they had been badly treated by the Con-
, federates, and the Confederates thought they had been
shamefully wronged by the Union men. Each party was
angry and defiant.
The battles and raids and marches, to and fro, of both
armies had destroyed millions of dollars' worth of prop-
erty. The horses and mules had been taken by the sol-
diers for use in the army, hogs and cattle had been killed
for meat, grain and hay had been wasted and hauled away,
stores and residences had been robbed and burned, wagons
and farming tools had been destroyed, the people had very
little money to buy anything and were almost without
clothing and food.
The negroes had been told that they were going to be
set free and, in their childish way of thinking, they con-
sidered that freedom meant freedom from work. So most
of them, especially the young and thoughtless, quit work
and started out in quest of pleasure.
217
2l8 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
The four years of war had broken up the courts and
almost destroyed the whole force of civil law. Worthless
and vicious men had discovered that they could do almost
as they pleased if they kept themselves out of the hands
of army officers, and they were very careful to do that.
They roamed over the country, insulting, abusing, and rob-
bing people, until no one felt safe even in his own house.
Thousands of the bravest and best men of the state had
been killed in battle, and thousands more were maimed for
life. Widows, orphans, and desolate homes were seen all
over the land. Churches and schoolhouses had been con-
verted into hospitals and many of them burned, when
abandoned, sometimes to prevent the spreading of dis-
eases, sometimes out of genuine meanness. Everywhere
were ashes, desolation, and grief.
This is a dark picture of the conditions in Tennessee
in the spring of 1865, but it is a correct one for most of
the state. The people, however, were not of a stock to
sit down and give themselves up to despair. They went
to work as best they could to " reconstruct " their fortunes.
Men with one arm or one leg hitched a little ox to the
plow, if they could not get a horse or a mule, and made a
crop. Everybody went to work, cotton was at a very high
price, and in the fall the people had some money ; mer-
chants began to bring in goods, mechanics opened shops,
and all branches of business began to revive. The negroes
soon learned that they could not live on freedom and the
talk of demagogues and carpetbaggers, and they went to
work. Their labor aided materially in the return of
prosperity.
These results were obtained slowly and in the midst of
difficulties. The war left few people in the state with any
property except their land. The social and industrial
DOMESTIC RECONSTRUCTION 2IQ
organization of the country had to be "reconstructed."
In other words, the people had to begin life anew, very
much as their pioneer ancestors had done when they
entered the state, but under very different conditions.
Between 1865 and 1870, in spite of financial ruin, ill-
judged national legislation, and the most perplexing and
complicated domestic problems, the men and women of
Tennessee succeeded in starting the revival of the fallen
fortunes of their state. This was done, too, under politi-
cal conditions that were a strange compound of civil law,
anarchy, and military despotism.
It is very hard for people who did not live in that period
to understand the conditions. We must remember that
part of the people of Tennessee had been for the Union
and part for the Confederacy. Where all, or very nearly
all, of the people had been for the Union, law and order
were soon restored. The same was true where all had
been for the Confederacy. In sections where the people
were divided in opinion the bitterness and rancor of party
feeling caused trouble. Lawless characters took advan-
tage of this, and stirred up strife for their own selfish ends.
There were some sections of this kind where only military
force could have kept the peace. The military force, how-
ever, was not always wisely used, and in some instances
its presence produced only anger and defiance of law.
Thus we see that in some parts of the state there was
quiet civil law ; in some, military authority ; and in some,
very little government of any kind.
The pioneers of Tennessee were a brave, patient, hardy
race of whom their descendants are justly proud. The
present generation of boys and girls in Tennessee have as
just cause for pride in their parents and grandparents of
the war and the " Reconstruction Period." They faced
220 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
dangers that were as great and difficulties as serious as
any that ever tried the souls of the pioneers. They met
every trial with a courage and fortitude worthy of their
heroic ancestors, and have left to their children an inheri-
tance of immortal fame.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. When did the Civil War begin and when did it end ?
2. Views of Confederates and Unionists.
3. Destruction of property by the war.
4. The negroes and freedom.
5. Effects of the war on civil government.
6. The killed and maimed.
7. Churches and schoolhouses.
8. The dark picture.
9. Spirit of the people.
10. Effects of the first crop.
1 1 . Change in the negroes' opinions.
12. Property after the war.
13. Domestic "reconstruction."
14. Conditions between 1865 and 1870.
15. Division of the people in Tennessee.
1 6. Quiet sections of the country.
17. Disturbed sections.
1 8. The people of 1860 to 1870 compared with the pioneers.
CHAPTER XXXI
POLITICAL RECONSTRUCTION
FROM 1862 to March 4, 1865, Andrew Johnson was
Military Governor of Tennessee. In January, 1864, he
tried to, restore civil government in the state under Federal
authority. He ordered an election of county officers in all
of the. counties that were under control of the Federal
Army, but the people refused to vote or to take any part in
this scheme, and the election was a total failure.
In November, 1864, a President and a Vice President of
the United States were to be elected. Lincoln and John-
son were the candidates of the Republican party, and
McClellan and Pendleton of the Democratic party. In
September, 1864, a Union convention met at Nashville
and nominated Lincoln and Johnson electors for the state.
They prescribed an oath to be taken by all voters, and
called a mass meeting of the Union men of the state for
January 9, 1865, to select delegates to a convention to
revise the constitution of Tennessee.
The Democratic electors objected to the oath prescribed
by the Nashville Convention and withdrew their names
from the contest. The Republican electors received all
the votes that were cast, but the vote of Tennessee was not
counted in the Presidential election of 1864, though a
Tennesseean was elected Vice President.
The revision convention met as provided, and adopted
a number of amendments to the constitution of the state,
221
222
THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
among them one forever abolishing slavery. These
amendments were submitted to a vote of the people and
ratified February 22, 1865. The thirteenth amendment to
the Constitution of the United States, abolishing slavery,
was not adopted until December 18, 1865, and President
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, of January I, 1863,
did not include Tennessee. Tennessee freed her own
negroes. Neither Lincoln's proclamation nor the thir-
teenth amendment had any part in it, and the real emanci-
pation day in Tennessee is the anniversary of Washington's
birthday.
An election for state officers under the amended consti-
tution was provided for by the convention, and members
of the legislature were elected March 4, 1865, and William
G. Brownlow was elected
governor.
William Ga'nnaway
Brownlow was born in Vir-
ginia in 1805. He learned
the trade of a house car-
penter, but abandoned it
early in life and became a
Methodist minister. In
1828 he came to Tennes-
see, and in 1839 became a
local preacher at Jonesboro
and editor of The Whig.
He moved to Knoxville,
transferred The Whig to
that city, and continued its publication until the begin-
ning of the war. This paper had a very large circulation
and was one of the most independent, sarcastic, and abusive
newspapers ever published in the state. Mr. Brownlow
William Gannaway Brownlow
POLITICAL RECONSTRUCTION 223
preached many sermons, defended the institution of slavery
in debate, ran for Congress against Andrew Johnson in 1843
and was defeated, wrote several books, the most famous of
which is called Parson Brownlow's Book. In this he gives
his unpleasant experiences with the Confederates and his
views on secession and the war. He was in every fiber a
southern Union man, and regarded secession as both fool-
ish and wicked. He was a member of the convention that
revised the constitution of the state, was elected Governor
of Tennessee in 1865, and again in 1867. In 1869 he was
sent to the United States Senate, where he remained until
1875. He died at Knoxville in April, 1877.
The four years from 1865 to 1869 have generally been
called the " Brownlow Period." It was the time of " Re-
construction," and exhibited in its details almost every
phase of the stormiest revolutionary tendencies, and the
vilest political and personal animosities. All persons who
had either directly or indirectly taken any part in the war
against the Union, or who had in any way given aid or
sympathy to the Confederacy, were not allowed to vote at
any election. This placed the control of the state in the
hands of a minority of the people.
In East Tennessee the voters were usually good and
respectable citizens. In the other divisions of the state
this was true to a limited extent, but a majority of those
allowed to vote in Middle and West Tennessee constituted
an "unsavory lot." The legislature passed "franchise
acts " which gave the governor almost unlimited control
of elections, and authorized him to use the military power
of the state to enforce these acts. Those who were not
allowed to vote became indignant and defiant, and opposed
and embarrassed the state government in every possible
way.
224
THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
A part of the Union men advocated a more liberal policy
and were called Conservatives; the others were called
Radicals. In 1867 the Radicals nominated Governor
Brownlow for reelection ; the Conservatives nominated
Emerson Etheridge. The Conservative nomination was
useless. The legislature had given the governor all
power over elections, and he issued a proclamation which
plainly showed that he intended to use it for the purpose
of having himself reflected. After a short canvass, in
which there was more personal abuse, fighting, lynching,
and violence of every kind than was ever before known
in the state, Etheridge withdrew and Governor Brownlow
was elected.
Emerson Etheridge was born in North Carolina in 1819,
and came to Tennessee when a boy. He began'the prac-
tice of law in 1840. In
1845 he was elected mem-
ber of the legislature from
Weakley County. He
was a Whig member of
Congress from 1853 to
1857. In l%57 ne was
defeated by the Demo-
cratic candidate, J. D. C.
Atkins, but in 1859 de-
feated Atkins. When
the troubles arose be-
tween the states he was
a decided Union man and
did all in his power to
keep Tennessee from seceding. From 1861 to 1863 he
was clerk of the House of Representatives at Washington.
In 1867 he was a candidate for governor, but withdrew
Emerson Etheridge
POLITICAL RECONSTRUCTION 22$
before the election. In 1869 he was sent from Weakley
County to the state Senate. In 1878 he was offered the
Republican nomination for the governorship, but declined
it. He died on his farm near Dresden in 1902.
In February, 1869, Governor Brownlow was chosen
United States senator. D. W. C. Senter, speaker of the
state Senate, became governor by succession until the
election in August of that year. In May, 1869, the Re-
publican convention disagreed, just as they had done in
1867.
The Conservatives nominated Senter for governor, and
the Radicals William B. Stokes. Senter now had the
same power that Brownlow had in 1867, and he used it
to have himself elected.
He ordered the election commissioners to issue certifi-
cates, or permits to vote, to all actual citizens of the state.
All the Democrats united with the Conservatives, and
Senter was easily elected. A Democratic and Conservative
legislature was also chosen, and the state government was
again in the hands of officers elected by a majority of all
the people.
De Witt Clinton Senter was born in Me Minn County,
Tennessee, in 1834. He received only a common school
education. From 1857 to 1861 he represented Grainger
County in the legislature. When the war began he took
such strong ground for the Union that he was for a time
imprisoned by the Confederate authorities. From 1865
to 1869 he was a member of the state Senate, and was
chosen speaker of the Senate in the year 1867. When
Brownlow was made United States Senator in February,
1869, Senter became governor by succession, and was
elected governor in August of the same year. He died
in 1897.
226 THE STATE SINCE. THE CIVIL WAR
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Civil and military governors.
2. Johnson's effort to restore civil government.
3. Presidential candidates in 1864.
4. The Union Convention at Nashville.
5. The Democratic electors and presidential vote of Tennessee.
6. Revising the state constitution.
7. Emancipation in Tennessee.
8. State elections in 1865.
9. Sketch of Governor Brownlow.
10. Character of the " Brownlow Period." Date.
11. The state in the hands of a minority.
12. Voters in the three divisions of the state.
13. The " Franchise Acts."
14. Radicals and Conservatives.
15. Nominations for governor in 1867.
1 6. Character of canvass and result.
17. Sketch of Emerson Etheridge.
18. Governor by succession in 1869.
19. Convention of 1869, and nominations.
20. Result of elections in August.
21. Sketch of Governor Senter.
CHAPTER XXXII
SENTER'S ADMINISTRATION, 1869-1871
BEFORE we take up Governor Senter's administration you
must have some explanation of a few things that affected
other southern states more than they did Tennessee, but
still had much influence in
our own state.
At the close of the Civil
War all of the seceding
states were placed under
military government. Con-
gress then began to discuss
plans of government for -
these states in the future.
President Johnson had his
plans, and Congress had
quite different ones. The
plans of Congress were
adopted. What were called
"provisional governments"
were organized under Federal authority in all of these
states except Tennessee. This scheme was called " Re-
construction."
These " provisional governments " had the form of reg-
ular state governments, but were really under control of
the Federal army. In the states undergoing " Recon-
struction " the actual citizens who had been in any way
227
De Witt Clinton Senter
228 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
connected with the Confederacy were not allowed to take
any part in the government. The negroes and a great
number of worthless men from the North, called carpet-
baggers, did almost all the voting, and the carpetbaggers
held nearly all of the offices. These men were called
carpetbaggers because they did not have any interest in
the state, and owned no more property in it than could be
carried in a carpetbag. They never intended to remain in
the state and become good citizens, but were a set of adven-
turers who meant to plunder the people and then leave the
country.
These carpetbaggers wished to keep the negroes under
their own control so that they might be sure of their votes
at every election. To do this they organized a secret polit-
ical society called the " Loyal League " and persuaded all
the negroes to join it; promising them great things if they
did so, and threatening disgrace and danger if they did not.
This Loyal League did some deeds of violence and crime.
Bad men who never belonged to it, as well as those who
did, used its name as a cloak for villainies of every charac-
ter, and the League became a nuisance and a terror. The
courts afforded no protection, as the judges of the courts
were usually members of the League. *
Carpetbaggers never held power in Tennessee, as there,
were plenty of genuine Union citizens in the state to keep
them out, and the people of the state did their own " recon-
structing." The Loyal League, however, was organized
in Tennessee, and in some places showed many of its worst
features. It either encouraged idleness and crime or was
made an excuse for these things.
In opposition to the League there grew up another
secret organization called the " Ku Klux Klan." There is
no authentic history of the " Klan." Its members would
SENTER'S ADMINISTRATION, 1869-1871
229
never say much about it, and would write nothing at alL
No one else could give correct information. A committee
of Congress made extensive investigations, but their pub-
lished report reveals only the fact that they learned in
reality very little about it.
As good authority as we have says the order was organ-
ized first at Pulaski, Tennessee, in the fall of 1866, by
some young men whose object
was amusement. They
adopted grotesque and
outlandish disguises,
and went about fright-
ening superstitious ne-
groes. A member of
this Klan would con-
ceal a large rubber
bag under his black
robe, with a tube ex-
tending from the
bag up under his
disguise to about the
position of his mouth.
The whole party, in their
hideous uniforms, would
then go to some negro's house
and ask for water. When the
water was brought the leader
would take the bucket, appar-
ently drink the whole pailful, and then ask for more.
After seeming to drink two or three pails of water he
would thank the amazed negro, and tell him that it was
the first drink of water he had taken since the battle of
Shiloh. This usually brought on the climax, — the negro
Ku KIux Kian
230 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
dropped the bucket and took to his heels, supposing the
man to be the ghost of some soldier who had been killed
in battle.
The young men soon learned that they could scare the
wits out of a Loyal League meeting, and turned their order
into a band of regulators for the protection of society. It
grew and spread rapidly until it extended over the whole
South, and almost entirely suppressed the Loyal League.
After the organization became powerful, bad men used it
for improper purposes. Just as in the case of the Loyal
League, many outrages were committed in its name by
men who were never members of the Ku Klux Klan.
These bad. acts caused the hostility of the state govern-
ment, and the congressional investigation.
As law and order became more firmly established in the
hands of all the people, the Ku Klux Klan died out. In
the early part of Governor Senter's administration there
were serious Ku Klux outrages, but public sentiment
against them was constantly growing stronger, and at the
close of his term they had almost passed away. A new
order of affairs was beginning in the state, and new ques-
tions, that had little to do with the old grudges of the war,
were claiming public attention.
In the legislature which met in October, 1869, the Dem-
ocrats had a majority in both the House and the Senate.
The business before the new legislature was about this : —
1. To provide for maintaining the public credit.
2. To limit or restrain the power of the governor.
3. To restore to all respectable citizens the right to vote.
4. To suppress the lawless acts of those supposed to
belong to the Ku Klux Klan or the Loyal League.
5. To provide for a new constitution suited to the
changed conditions of the state.
SENTER'S ADMINISTRATION, 1869-1871 231
They passed a resolution to sustain the credit of the
state, and appointed a committee to investigate the state
debt and the railroads to which bonds had been issued.
The laws which gave extraordinary powers to the governor
were repealed, and a bill was passed restoring the right to
vote to all male citizens who had been living six months in
the state. There was a severe Federal law against the Ku
Klux, and under it some of them had been sent to the peni-
tentiary. The part of Governor Senter's message relating
to the Ku.Klux was therefore passed over^ without action.
The most important work of this legislature was an act
providing for a constitutional convention to be held at
Nashville in January, 1870. This act ;was submitted to a
vote of the people on the third Saturday in December,
1869, and was approved by a very, large majority. The
convention met at the time appointed, made many changes
in the old constitution of the state, and added some new
features. They submitted their work to a vote of the
people in May, 1870, and it was ratified. This constitu-
tion is the one under which we now live, — the one printed
in this book.
The close of Governor Senter's administration marks the
end of Republican rule in Tennessee for ten years. The
Democratic convention of 1870 nominated John C. Brown
for governor. The Republicans nominated W. H. Wise-
ner. Brown was elected, receiving nearly twice as many
votes as his opponent.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Condition of the seceding states at the close of the war.
2. President Johnson and Congress.
3. Reconstruction.
4. Provisional governments.
TENN. HIST. — 15
232 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
5. Carpetbaggers.
6. The Loyal League.
7. Abuses of the organization.
8. Carpetbaggers in Tennessee.
9. The Loyal League in Tennessee.
10. The Ku Klux Klan.
1 1 . Difficulty of getting information about it.
12. Probable origin of Ku Klux. (The name is said to have been de-
rived from the Greek word, kuklos, which means a circle.)
13. Amusing pranks of the early Ku Klux.
14. Change in the order.
15. Abuses of its power.
16. Dying out of the Klan.
17. New public issues.
18. Items of business before Governor Senter's legislature.
19. Forming the Constitution of 1870.
20. The end of Republican rule in Tennessee.
21. Nominees for governor in 1870, and result of election.
CHAPTER XXXIII
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHN C. BROWN, 1871-1875
JOHN C. BROWN was born in Giles County, Tennessee,
in 1827. When only twenty-one years old he began the
practice of law at Pulaski. When the war began, in 1861,
he was a successful lawyer
and prominent citizen of
his county. He joined the
Confederate Army as a
captain of infantry, served
gallantly through the
whole war, and rose by
successive steps to the
rank of major general. At
the close of the war he re-
sumed his law practice at
Pulaski. He was president
of the constitutional con-
- _ John C. Brown
vention of 1870, and per-
formed his delicate and difficult duties as presiding officer
with rare tact and ability. He was Governor of Tennessee
from 1871 to 1875, defeating W. H. Wisener in 1870, and
Alfred A. Freeman in 1872. He was the third governor
who bore the name of Brown, and was a brother of Gov-
ernor Neill S. Brown. After the expiration of his second
term as governor he became an official of the Texan Pacific
Railroad, and soon afterward its president. He died in
1889.
TENN. HlbT. — 15 233
234 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
Many of the exciting and vexing questions that had
been prominent in the state since 1861 had practically
passed away when General Brown was made governor.
There were two very important subjects to be considered
in the period of his administrations.
1. The settlement of the state debt.
2. The organization of a public school system.
The state debt is a difficult subject to understand. The
best short history of it is to be found in Governor Bate's
message to the legislature of 1883. It is not best to at-
tempt to give my young readers anything more than an
outline of what it is and how it was created.
From 1796 to 1833 there was no such thing as a state
debt in Tennessee. Enough of taxes to pay the necessary
expenses of the state government was levied, collected,
and paid out each year, and there was usually a little
money left in the treasury. In 1833 the state, very un-
wisely, issued $500,000 in interest-bearing bonds and used
the money received for these bonds to establish a bank.
After this more bonds were issued to buy the Hermitage,
to build the Capitol, and for several other purposes, until
the state's own debt was more than $3,000,000 in 1861.
This is what has been called " the state debt proper."
The " internal improvement " mania caused another
immense debt. The state lent its credit to turnpike com-
panies, plank-road companies, and railroads, until, they
created a debt of nearly $14,000,000 by the time the war
began in 1861. It was never intended or expected that
the state would be called upon to pay these bonds. The
state was only a surety ; the companies were expected to
earn the money necessary to pay the interest and to take
up the bonds. The war came, stopped the business of the
companies, destroyed their property, and broke them up.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHN C. BROWN, 1871-1875 235
The debt fell upon the state. This has been called the
"state aid debt."
At the close of the war the turnpikes, railroads, etc.,
were in such ruin that more "state aid" was given to
repair them and to put new ones into operation. Thus
another debt of nearly $14,000,000 was created. There
had been no interest paid on any of the bonds from 1861
to 1865, and more bonds were issued to pay off the interest
that had accumulated during the war. These issues of
bonds made between 1865 and 1869 have been called the
" Brown low debt.'r All taken together, — good, doubtful,
and fraudulent, — the state debt amounted to more than
$35,000,000 when Governor Brown went into office in
1871.
The governor's message to the legislature of 1871 and
1872 called special attention to this enormous debt, and
urged some settlement of it. The members of the legisla-
ture in discussing the subject declared the "state debt
proper " to be just, and that all of it ought to be paid ; the
"state aid debt" to be a hardship, and that the bond-
holders ought to bear part of the losses on that ; the
" Brownlow debt" to have been created by doubtful and
perhaps illegal methods of a legislature that did not repre-
sent the taxpayers of the state, and that none of it ought
to be paid. They did a great deal of talking and speech-
1 making and political wrangling, and very little of any-
thing else on the subject before them.
The elections of 1872 were especially exciting in Ten-
nessee. Governor Brown was a candidate for reelection,
and the Republicans were putting forth every effort to
defeat him. Andrew Johnson, Horace Maynard, and B.
F. Cheatham were candidates for congressman in the state
at large. General Grant was a candidate for reelection to
236 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
the Presidency and was opposed by Horace Greeley, an
able and distinguished Liberal Republican of New York.
In the great political excitement and turmoil the state debt
received little consideration, and almost nothing was done
for it in Governor Brown's administrations.
The public school question fared better. The legislators
knew that the people needed schools whether the state
debt was paid or not. That could wait, but the children
were growing up, and they could not wait. The negroes
had been made citizens and had no education. It was
considered both wise and humane to give them education
to fit them as quickly as possible for their new duties.
In 1873 a school law was passed which provided for
a State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a county
superintendent in each county, city superintendents where-
ever necessary, and a board of three school directors in
each school district. Schools for white children and those
for colored children were to be organized and conducted
separately.
The legislature levied a state tax to pay the expenses of
these schools, and authorized counties and cities to levy
additional taxes for the same purpose. The tax was small,
but the people had lost most of their property by the
ravages of war, and a heavy debt was hanging over them.
A less heroic race would never have undertaken such a
task under the conditions that then existed.
John M. Fleming, a scholarly and accomplished gentle-
man of Knoxville, was appointed state superintendent, and
the school law of 1 873 went into operation. It was amended
and considerably changed from time to time, but in its
important features it was the school law of Tennessee for
many years. (For the present school law, which is very
different, see Chapter XLV.)
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHN C. BROWN, 1871-1875 237
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Sketch of Governor John C. Brown.
2. Troublesome questions from 1861 to 1869.
3. The two important subjects in Governor Brown's administrations.
4. State finances before 1833.
5. The " state debt proper."
6. The "state aid debt."
7. The " Brownlow debt."
8. The entire debt in 1871.
9. The legislature of 1871 and 1872, and the state debt.
10. The three exciting political contests in 1872.
1 1 . Importance of public schools.
12. School officials according to the law of 1873.
13. How are our public schools supported ?
14. Condition of the people when the school law was passed.
15. First state superintendent under the new law.
16. The school law of 1873 an^ that of the present time.
CHAPTER XXXIV
ADMINISTRATIONS OF PORTER AND MARKS, 1875-1881
IN the Democratic convention of 1874 there were not
less than a dozen men who wished to be nominated for
governor, and in the Republican convention there were
nearly as many. The Democrats nominated James D.
Porter, and the Republicans Horace Maynard. Porter was
elected by a majority of more than forty-seven thousand
votes. The next year Maynard was sent by President
Grant as United States min-
ister to Turkey.
James D. Porter was born
at Paris, Tennessee, in 1828.
He was educated at the Uni-
versity of Nashville, and be-
gan the practice of law at
Paris in 1851. He was a
member of the legislature
from 1859 to 1 86 1, and took
an active part in the exciting
events attending secession.
He was General Pillow's ad-
}Ut^ %™Q™1 aild assisted
in organizing the troops.
Afterward he became General Cheatham's chief of staff
and served in that position through the war. In 1865
he resumed the practice of law at Paris. He was a
238
James D. Porter
PORTER AND MARKS, 1875-1881 239
member of the constitutional convention of 1870, and
judge of the circuit court of his district from 1870 until he
was nominated for governor in 1874. He was Governor
of Tennessee from 1875 to 1879. After the close of his
last term as governor he became president of the Nashville,
Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railroad and resigned after
four years' service. In 1885 President Cleveland appointed
him Assistant Secretary of State. In 1887 he resigned this
office and withdrew from political life. He became one of
the trustees of the Peabody Educational Fund, and a mem-
ber of the Board of Trustees of the University of Nash-
ville, at which he was educated, and chancellor of that
institution. He died in Paris, May 18, 1912.
In 1875 Andrew Johnson was elected United States
senator from Tennessee, but died in July of the same year.
Governor Porter appointed David M. Key of Chattanooga
to fill the unexpired term of Senator Johnson. In 1877
President Hayes appointed Mr. Key Postmaster General.
This was a notable appointment, as Mr. Key was a Demo-
crat, had been a Confederate soldier, and was with one
exception the first Cabinet officer appointed from a seced-
ing state after the war.
This appointment showed clearly that the President of
the United States wished the people to understand that the
old war grudges ought to be forgotten. Mr. Key resigned
his Cabinet office in 1880 to accept the office of judge
of the federal court for the district of East Tennessee.
Horace Maynard was recalled from Turkey to be made
Postmaster General. Thus two distinguished Tennesseeans
held this office during one presidential term.
In 1878 the Democratic convention nominated Albert
S. Marks for governor ; the Republicans nominated Emer-
son Etheridge. Marks was elected.
240
THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
Albert S. Marks
Albert S. Marks was born in Kentucky in 1836. He
came to Tennessee when a youth, and in 1858 began the
practice of law at Winches-
ter. When secession was
first proposed he was a
Union man, but when the
war began he joined the
Confederate Army and be-
came colonel of a regiment.
In the battle of Murfrees-
boro he made a record for
gallantry that placed his
name on the Confederate
roll of honor, but received
a wound that caused the
loss of one leg. After the
war he resumed the practice of law. In 1870 he was
elected judge of the chancery court and remained in this
position until nominated for governor in 1878. He was
Governor of Tennessee from 1879 to 1881. He died at
Nashville in 1891.
The administrations of Porter and Marks were noted for
the wonderful advances made by the people of the state in
building up what the war had destroyed. New churches,
new school houses, new residences, new stores, new factories,
new industries of every kind, were springing up all over
the state. It was a time of peace and growth. The towns
especially moved forward in prosperity, and increased very
rapidly in wealth and population.
In state politics the " debt of Tennessee " was the all-
absorbing question, and it seemed as if almost every man
in the state had an idea of his own as to how it ought to
be settled. Some wished to pay it all, some wished to pay
PORTER AND MARKS, 1875-1881 241
a part of it, and some wished to pay none. You must
understand that a state cannot be sued in court and forced
to pay its debts as an individual can. The payment of a
state debt is a matter of honor with the people of that state.
If they refuse to pay it, the creditors have no way to help
themselves.
In the winter of 1876 the state's creditors proposed to
Governor Porter to take three fifths, or sixty cents on the
dollar, with six per cent interest, as payment in full of all
their claims. The governor called the legislature together
and submitted the proposition to them, strongly recom-
rAnjding that it be accepted. After carefully considering
the* question, seemingly with a view to getting the greatest
number of votes for themselves at the next election, the
legislature adjourned and went home without having done
anything. This was the end of what was called the " sixty
and six" compromise.
Governor Marks was as anxious for a settlement of the
state debt as Governor Porter had been, and urged the
legislature of 1879 to do something with the vexed ques-
tion. An act was passed settling the debt at fifty cents on
the dollar with four per cent interest. Most of the credi-
tors were willing to accept this, but when the act was sub-
mitter to a vote of the people it was rejected. This was the
end of what was known as the " fifty and four " proposition.
Between 1875 and 1880 there had grown up in the
United States a new political party called the Greenback
party. One of their doctrines was that the government
should issue more treasury notes so as to make money
more plentiful. The backs of these notes were printed
with green ink, and the notes were therefore called green-
backs. The party took its name from the money it advo-
cated.
242 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
In 1880 the Democrats were divided on the state debt
question, and Governor Marks refused to be a candidate
for reelection. The " fifty and four " or state-credit Dem-
ocrats nominated John V. Wright for governor. The low-
tax Democrats nominated S. F. Wilson. The Greenback
party nominated R. M. Edwards. The Republicans
declared themselves in favor of settling the state debt
according to the wish or consent of the creditors, and
nominated Alvin Hawkins, who was easily elected on
account of the strife and divisions among the Democrats.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? ^^
1. Nominations for governor, and election in 1874.
2. Sketch of Governor Porter.
3. The United States senator elected in 1875.
4. President Hayes's first Postmaster General.
5. Why this appointment was remarkable.
6. Hayes's second Postmaster General.
7. Nominations for governor and election in 1878.
8. Sketch of Governor Marks.
9. Progress of the state during Porter's and Marks's administrations.
10. The main issue in state politics.
n. Different ideas on the settlement of the state debt.
12. How could a state be brought into a court for trial ?
13. Proposition of the bond owners to Governor Porter.
14. Action of the legislature on the proposition.
15. What is meant by the " sixty and six" compromise ?
1 6. Governor Marks's feeling about the state debt.
17. Action of the legislature of 1879.
18. Vote of the people on the act.
19. What is meant by the "fifty and four" proposition ?
20. The Greenback party.
21. Governor Marks's refusal to be nominated for reelection.
22. Nominations of governor, and election of 1880.
CHAPTER XXXV
HAWKINS'S AND BATE'S ADMINISTRATIONS, 1881-1887
ALVIN HAWKINS was born in Kentucky in 1821, but
came to Tennessee when only five years old. He received
a good education and in his early manhood was a teacher.
In 1843 he began the practice
c^4J£.w at Huntingdon. In
1853 he was elected from Car-
roll County to a seat in the leg-
islature. When the troubles
of 1 86 1 began he was an
uncompromising Union man
and put forth all his energy
to prevent the secession of
Tennessee. In 1862 he was
elected to Congress, under
the proclamation of Andrew
Johnson as military governor,
but was not allowed to serve.
In 1864 he was appointed Federal attorney for the western
district of Tennessee. In 1865 he resigned this position
and was afterward appointed a judge of the supreme court
of the state. He held this position three years, resigning
in 1868, but in 1869 was elected to the same office.
The constitution of 1870 displaced him, and he resumed
his law practice. He was Governor of Tennessee from
1881 to 1883. He died at his old home in Huntingdon,
April, 1905. Governor Hawkins's public career was a
243
Alvin Hawkins
244 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
long one, and much of it in the midst of events and asso-
ciations that besmirched many men. Through all of this
he passed with a clean record, and is a striking example
of the fact that public life does not corrupt a patriot.
Governor Hawkins's message to the legislature of 1881,
like those of preceding governors, urged the importance of
settling the state debt. This was really the only important
question for consideration. An act was passed in April,
1 88 1, settling the state debt at dollar for dollar in full,
with three per cent interest. This settlement was not sub-
mitted to a vote of the people, as the " fifty and four " prop-
osition had been. Henry J. Lynn, as representative ^p^a
number of taxpayers, brought a suit in court to prevent
the issue of the bonds. The Supreme Court of Tennessee
decided the case in Lynn's favor and the " hundred and
three" settlement was as dead as the " fifty and four."
Nevertheless the "state debt" was still very much alive,
and would not " down " at the bidding of either Democrats
or Republicans.
In 1882 Governor Hawkins called an extra session of the
legislature and told the members that they must try again
to settle this debt. They tried again by adopting what
has been called the "graded interest settlement." They
passed an act to settle the debt at sixty cents on the dollar
with three per cent interest for the first two years, four
per cent for the next two years, five per cent for the next
two, and six per cent after that time. The creditors re-
fused this and the " graded interest settlement " went the
way of all previous attempts^to down this mighty ghost of
past extravagance, war, and rascality.
In 1882 the Democratic convention declared in favor of
paying the " state debt proper " in full, and the remainder
of the debt at fifty cents on the dollar with three per cent
HAWKINS AND BATE, 1881-1887
245
interest, and nominated William B. Bate for governor. A
part of the Democrats, nicknamed " Sky-Blues," objected
to this plan of settlement and nominated J. H. Fussell.
The Republicans nominated Governor Hawkins for reelec-
tion. The Greenback party nominated John R. Beasley.
Bate was elected.
William B. Bate was born in Sumner County, Ten-
nessee, in 1826. By the time he was twenty-two years
old he had finished his aca-
demic education, had been a
clerk on a steamboat, and had
served as a soldier through
the Mexican War. In 1849
he was elected a 'member of
the Tennessee Legislature.
In 1852 he began the prac-
tice of law at Gallatin, having
graduated from the law school
of Cumberland University.
In 1854 he was elected at-
torney general for his dis-
trict, and while holding this
office declined a n.omination for Congress. In 1861 he
joined the Confederate Army and served with high honor
through the war. He was severely wounded three times
and rose through successive grades to the rank of a major
general. At the close of the war he began the practice
of law at Nashville. He was Governor of Tennessee
from 1883 to 1887. At the close of his last term he was
elected to the United States Senate and, by reelection,
held that position until his death in 1905. He was a care-
ful student of politics, a methodical, safe man, and his pub-
lic services to the state were of the greatest value.
William B. Bate
246 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
Governor Bate's message to the legislature gave a brief
history and detailed statement of the debt of Tennessee,
and advised a prompt settlement on the terms announced
by the Democratic convention. The legislature followed
his advice, and March 15, 1883, passed a bill that pro-
vided for taking up all of the old bonded debt and issuing
new bonds that should be due in thirty years, but that
might be called in and paid off at any time after 1888.
All of the new bonds that were issued to take up the
" state debt proper " were to bear the 'same interest as
before the war, and this part of the debt was to be paid
in full. In addition to the "state debt proper," that has
already been explained, a few other bonds were settled at
full value. Among these were some bonds belonging to
schools, and some belonging to Mrs. Polk, the widow of
President James K. Polk.
The remainder of the debt was to be cut down to fifty
cents on the dollar and the new bonds were to bear three
per cent interest
This is called the " fifty and three " settlement, and it
removed from the politics of the state a question that for
fourteen years had been a sore subject for the people, and
a rallying cry for demagogues of all political parties, or of
no party at all.
The remainder of Governor Bate's administrations was
a time of rapid growth in wealth and prosperity. With
the state debt laid to rest, the people turned their atten-
tion to the development of the resources of the state and
the improvement of their schools, which made remarkable
advances under the supervision of Hon. Thomas H. Paine,
who held the office of state superintendent from 1883
to 1887. But we shall learn of the schools in another
chapter.
HAWKINS AND BATE, 1881-1887 247
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Sketch of Governor Hawkins.
2. Act of 1881 to settle the state debt.
3. Lynn's lawsuit.
4. Effort to settle the debt in 1882.
5. Democratic platform of 1882.
6. Candidates for governor in 1882, and result of the election.
7. Sketch of William B. Bate.
8. Governor Bate's first message to the legislature.
9. Date of the " fifty and three " settlement.
10. Terms of the settlement.
11. Benefit to the people.
12. Remainder of Governor Bate's administrations.
TENN. HIST. — 1 6
CHAPTER XXXVI
ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND BUCHANAN, 1887-1893
IN 1886 there was a political contest for the governor-
ship of Tennessee that differed from all others that had
ever occurred in the state. Robert L. Taylor was nomi-
nated by the Democrats, and his brother, Alfred A. Taylor,
by the Republicans. The two candidates were natives of
East Tennessee, sons of a distinguished father who had
been a Whig member of Congress before the war. They
were as affectionate brothers as if they had not differed in
politics, and every one knew there would be only good
humor in the party strife between them.
Some one said that a contest of kinsmen reminded him
of the "Wars of the Roses." At once the Democrats
adopted the white rose of York as their emblem, and the
Republicans took the red rose of Lancaster. Republican
ladies exchanged roses with Democratic ones so that each
might have suitable colors to make into bouquets for their
respective favorites. You could have told a man's politics
by noticing the color of the rose in his buttonhole as easily
as by noticing which candidate he cheered. Never since
1861 had such crowds assembled to hear political speeches,
and never were crowds better entertained or more jolly
and good-humored.
The brothers , discussed the tariff and the navy and
national aid to education, and several other subjects per-
taining to United States affairs, far more than they did
248
ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND BUCHANAN 249
any purely state questions. About the only state question
was the penitentiary lease system. They were young men
who had been boys while the war was in progress, and
none of its old rancor and grudges affected them. They
spoke with grave 'dignity of important matters when they
chose to do so, and told anecdotes to make people laugh
when it suited them. The campaign of " Bob " and "Alf,"
as they were familiarly called, attracted more attention
than^ that of any other two state candidates in America,
and ended in the triumph of the Democrats.
Robert L. Taylor was born July 31, 1850, in Carter
County, Tennessee. He was educated at Pennington, New
Jersey, and at Athens, Ten-
nessee. He began the prac-
tice of law in 1878, but went
into politics the same year
and was elected to Congress
as a Democrat from a Re^-
publican district. He was a
Democratic elector in the
Presidential contest of 1884,
and won fame as an orator
throughout the state. He
received a Federal appoint-
ment from President Cleve-
T T i . i ^i • rr Robert L. Taylor
land, but resigned this office
in 1886 to become a candidate for governor. He was
Governor of Tennessee from 1887 to 1891 and again held
the same office from 1897 to 1899. He is the only man
since William Carroll who has been the undisputed Gov-
ernor of Tennessee for six years, though Governor Harris
was elected three times. After his retirement from office
Governor Taylor traveled and lectured extensively. He
250 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
was one of the most genial and lovable of men, and one of
the most popular of orators. He was elected United States
Senator in 1907 and died in Washington, March 31, 1912.
Governor Taylor's administrations present an era of
peace and prosperity and, with one exception, have no
special or marked features. The time of greatest content-
ment and happiness for the whole people of a country is
usually the most barren period for the historian.
The exception referred to in the preceding paragraph
was one of the most exciting elections ever held in the
state, though it had no political significance. This was
the election in 1887 on the prohibition amendment to the
state constitution. A strange fact about the people of the
United States is that they spend more money for intoxi-
cating liquors than they do for bread. In May, 1884, a
convention of people who were opposed to the liquor trade
met at Nashville and asked to have the constitution of
Tennessee so amended as to abolish the manufacture and
sale of liquor in the state.
To amend the state constitution it is necessary for one
legislature to pass the amendment, for the next legislature
to approve it, and then for it to be adopted by a majority
of the votes of the people. The legislature of 1885 passed
the prohibition amendment, the legislature of 1887 ap-
proved it, and ordered an election to be held the following
fall. Lawyers, doctors, preachers, teachers, politicians,
and private citizens of both political parties began mak-
ing speeches for the amendment. The women of the state
worked earnestly for it, but some men worked more earn-
estly against it, and the prohibition amendment was lost.
It received a large number of the votes cast, but not the
requisite majority.
Throughout the administrations of Governor Bate and
ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND BUCHANAN 251
Governor Taylor there had existed associations of farmers
sometimes called Grangers, sometimes Wheels, and finally
the Farmers' Alliance. Near the close of Taylor's last
term the Alliance men expressed the belief that about all
of the affairs of government were conducted very much
in the interest of professional and commercial business,
and very little to the advantage of agricultural industries.
They took an active part in the politics of 1890, and the
result was the nomination of John P. Buchanan for gov-
ernor by the Democratic convention. The Republicans
nominated Lewis T. Baxter of Nashville. Buchanan
was elected.
John P. Buchanan was born in Williamson County,
Tennessee, October 24, 1847. He belongs to a family
famous in the history of the
state. His paternal great-
grandfather was Major John
Buchanan, the pioneer com-
panion of James Robertson in
the settlement of Nashville in
1779, and the founder of the
celebrated Buchanan's Station
in 1782.
John P. Buchanan received
a good common school educa-
tion and became a prosperous
farmer. He was elected a
member of the Legislature of
Tennessee in 1886 and again in 1888. In 1890 he was
elected Governor of the State of Tennessee and served
one term. He now lives in Rutherford County, and is
engaged in his favorite pursuit of farming and stock
raising.
John P. Buchanan
252 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
Governor Buchanan was a farmer, had been a leading
spirit in the "Alliance," and the farmers of the state had
high hopes that his administration would somehow bring
great gain to them. In fact, they expected of him un-
reasonable and impossible changes in the management of
state affairs. Of course they were disappointed.
The most serious event in Governor Buchanan's admin-
istration was an insurrection among the coal miners, which
grew out of the penitentiary lease system.
In 1866 the prison inspectors reported to the legislature
that the penitentiary had been costing the state an average
of $15,000 a year for the preceding thirty years, and that
something should be done to relieve the taxpayers of this
expense. The legislature passed an act appointing a
board of directors with authority to lease the prison or hire
out the convicts to the best bidder for their labor. That
is, the scamps who had gotten into prison by violating the
laws were to be hired out and forced to earn their own
living instead of being supported at the public expense.
The first lease was made in 1867 to Ward & Briggs at
40 cents per day for each convict. They established large
shops in the prison and set the convicts to hard work.
The prisoners did not like the arrangement, and in June,
1867, succeeded in burning the east shops with all their
contents. Ward & Briggs then refused to pay for the
labor, and claimed damages from the state for the machin-
ery and material destroyed. The state paid the damages
and canceled the contract.
December i, 1871, Cherry, O'Connor & Co. leased the
penitentiary and continued their contract until January I,
1884, when the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company
became lessees. They left about one third of the convicts
in the prison at Nashville and subleased them to Cherry,
ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND BUCHANAN 253
Morrow & Co., a firm of wagon makers. About one third
were transferred to the mines at Tracy City, where a strong
prison had been built. The remainder of the prisoners
were sent to the Inman mines in Marion County, the Coal
Creek mines in Anderson County, and the marble quarries
in Knox County. The whole number of convicts at that
time was about thirteen hundred.
Under the lease system, instead of being an expense,
the penitentiary brought to the state a revenue of more
than $100,000 a year. But it created great discontent
among the miners. Proprietors would not hire free men
to work their mines when they could get convict labor
much cheaper. This left many men without work, and
threatened their families with want. Besides this, the
people who lived in the mining districts objected to having
large bodies of convicts so near their homes. At least,
they claimed that they did, though their conduct afterward
did not at all sustain this claim.
The miners objected, protested, and threatened without
effect. In July, 1891, trouble began and continued at in-
tervals until late in the fall of 1892. The miners attacked
the prisons and released the convicts. Governor Buchanan
sent some state troops to maintain order. Part of these
were poorly trained or not trained at all, badly armed, and
supplied with very few cartridges. The miners openly
defied the state authorities, overpowered the soldiers,
released the prisoners, and burned the prisons at Tracy,
Briceville, Coal Creek, Oliver Springs, and Inman.
Many people were in active sympathy with the miners,
and the authorities of the state did not seem to understand
the serious nature of the trouble until many blunders had
been committed that involved great expense and some loss
of life. August 17, 1892, General S. T. Carnes, whose
254 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
advice had not been followed in the beginning of the
troubles, was sent a second time with part of the National
State Guard to suppress the disturbance. His force was
composed of the First Regiment, Colonel J. L. Fox ; Second
Regiment, Colonel A. R. Taylor ; Third Regiment, Colonel
Cator Woolford, and an armed posse of one hundred and
fifty men. General Carnes and his forces did their work
quickly and thoroughly. The two thousand rioters were
dispersed, many of them leaving the state. One hundred
and seventy-five were arrested and some of the leaders tried
and convicted. This ended the riot.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. The candidates for governor in 1886.
2. Expected nature of the campaign.
3. The white and the red roses.
4. The crowds and the questions discussed at the speakings.
5. Unusual attention given to. the canvass.
6. Sketch of Robert L. Taylor.
7. Character of Governor Taylor's administrations.
8. The prohibition amendment.
9. How the constitution may be amended.
10. Result of the election. Political significance.
1 1 . The Farmers' Alliance in politics. r
12. Nominations for governor in 1890, and result of the election.
13. Sketch of John P. Buchanan.
14.0 What was expected of Governor Buchanan.
15. Report of the prison inspectors in 1866.
1 6. Action of the legislature'.
17. First lease of the penitentiary, and results.
1 8. Second lease.
19. Third lease, and distribution of the convicts.
20. Advantage to the state of the lease system.
21. Discontent among the miners and what they did.
22. Condition of the state guard.
23. How the trouble was ended.
CHAPTER XXXVII
ADMINISTRATIONS OF TURNEY AND TAYLOR, 1893-1899
IN 1892 the Democrats nominated Judge Peter Turney
for governor ; the Republicans nominated George W.
Winstead of Knoxville. Governor Buchanan was urged
to declare himself an independent candidate for the in-
dorsement of the people, and made the canvass as an
Independent Democrat. Turney was elected.
Peter Turney was born in Marion County, Tennessee,
in 1827. He is a son of Hopkins L. Turney, who was
selected' for United States
senator by " the immortal
thirteen," and who years
afterward actually became a
senator in defiance of a Dem-
ocratic caucus against him.
Governor Turney was edu-
cated at Winchester and at
Nashville. He studied law
under the tuition of his
father, and began practice at
Winchester in 1848. He was
one of the first and most out-
spoken secessionists in the
state. In 1861 he joined the Confederate Army and became
colonel of "Turney's First Tennessee Regiment." He
served gallantly throughout the war, was severely wounded
255
Peter Turney
256 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
at Fredericksburg, declined promotion because he did not
wish to leave his regiment, and came back with " his
boys " to Winchester after tfae surrender. He was elected
a judge of the supreme court of the state in 1870, 1878,
and 1886. From 1886 until he was made governor he
was the chief justice of the state. His period of service,
twenty-three years, was longer than that of any other
justice who has been on the supreme bench. He was
Governor of Tennessee from 1893 to 1897. At the close
of his last term of office he resumed his law practice, but
his feeble health prevented frequent attendance at court
away from his home. He died at Winchester in 1903.
Three prominent incidents in the history of the state
deserve record as belonging to the administrations of
Governor Turney.
1. Abolition of the penitentiary lease system.
2. The contested election of 1894.
3. Preparation for the Tennessee Centennial.
After the troubles of 1891 and 1892 had subsided, it
was thought best to find some profitable way of employing
convicts without bringing them into competition with free
laborers.
Some people advocated the purchase by the state of a
large tract of land containing coal or iron or building stone,
and working it entirely by convicts. Labor on the public
roads in all parts of the state was proposed by some, but
this required too much expense for guards. A number of
other solutions of the problem were proposed, but it was
soon discovered that any profitable labor must come into
competition with all other labor of the same kind.
The legislature abolished the lease system, purchased a
large tract of land near the Cumberland River, about eight
miles northwest of the Capitol, and built a new and very
ADMINISTRATIONS OF TURNEY AND TAYLOR 257
large, fine prison. The convicts are employed in various
manufactures and handicrafts in the prison, and in raising
on the farm field and garden crops for their own use. A
large tract of coal-producing land was also bought, and
convicts mine all the coal used in the Capitol, the asylums,
and other public buildings.
In 1894 Governor Turney was a candidate for reelec-
tion. The Republicans nominated H. Clay Evans of
Chattanooga. At the close of the election both candidates
claimed to have been elected. Mr. Evans took the oath
of office while the matter was in dispute, claiming that the
election returns showed that he had received more votes
than Governor Turney. The matter was carried before
the legislature for investigation and settlement.
There is a law in Tennessee that requires every citizen
between twenty-one and fifty years of age to pay his poll
tax every year. If he fails or refuses to do this, he forfeits
his right to vote. The legislative investigation of the
Turney and Evans contest showed that many men had
voted who had not paid their poll taxes, and that other
violations of the election laws had occurred. It was
claimed that most of the fraudulent votes were cast in
counties where Evans received his largest majorities, and
that he was therefore not legally elected. Governor Tur-
ney was declared the lawful governor of the state, was
inaugurated, and served the full term.
In 1893 many enterprising and patriotic people began
to talk of celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of
Tennessee's admission into the American Union. The
date would be June I, 1896. In 1894 an association was
organized for the purpose of preparing a grand exhibit of
the arts, sciences, inventions, resources, industries, and
products of the state.
258 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
.
The committees worked with all their might, secured a
beautiful piece of ground on the western border of Nash-
ville, raised immense sums of money to prepare the
grounds and buildings, and enlisted the interest of people
not only in Tennessee, but all over the United States, and
in some foreign lands. With all of their effort and indus-
try, however, they could not get ready by June i, 1896,
and the "Tennessee Centennial " had to be deferred until
1897.
In the fall of 1896 Robert L. Taylor was elected gov-
ernor and began his third term in January, 1897. The
first day of May, 1897, the Tennessee Centennial Exposi-
tion was formally opened. Guns were fired, flags were
raised, bands of musicians led long processions of people,
Governor Taylor and other distinguished orators made
speeches, and everybody congratulated everybody else on
the great exhibition that was opened for the instruction
and entertainment of all the people who chose to visit
Nashville in 'the gala days between May i and November
i, 1897.
Within the exposition grounds were long, winding,
graveled roads bordered by beds of beautiful flowers.
Here and there were artistic fountains that emptied their
waters into a clear lake on which pleasure boats were sail-
ing all day and late into the night. The buildings were
of wood, but so finished with plaster as to represent very
light gray stone. They were of almost all sizes and de-
signs ; some of them very large and very beautiful.
In these buildings was exhibited a marvelous array of
almost everything to be found in a civilized country.
There were specimens of timber, iron, coal, stone, minerals
of many other kinds, and all of the tools and machinery
with which these things are worked into useful products.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF TURNEY AND TAYLOR 259
There were vehicles of every kind from wooden-wheeled
ox carts to the most elegant and elaborate palace cars.
Ehere were textile fabrics from the coarsest heavy
blankets to the most delicate and costly laces ; work of
pupils .Jn schools from all over the state and from many
other states ; jewelry and toys of every conceivable design ;
arms and ammunition ; battleships and lighthouses ; old
relics and curiosities; statues and pictures that cost
thousands of dollars ; and many, very many, more things
that were parts of that grand exhibit of Tennessee's one
hundred years in the march of progress.
There was one part of the exposition grounds called
" Vanity Fair." This was filled with the booths and tents
of the side-show men, who clamored all day for people
to come in and see "the grandest show on earth." Those
who went saw about what is usually seen in the trick
shows of jugglers and mountebanks in most of our large
cities. Nevertheless "Vanity Fair" was a favorite place
with most of the children.
Two nights in each week there were scenes of rare
beauty on the exposition grounds. Cunningly contrived
figures of elephants, swans, and many other beasts and
birds, resplendent with the blaze of pyrotechnic light,
marched through the grounds or glided over the lake.
Rockets rose high in the air and exploded in starry
showers of crimson and purple and gold. Jets of clear
water rose from fountains illuminated by electric lights
and glowed with every hue and tint of the rainbow, and
sparkled and gleamed with every changeable grace of the
aurora, until all seemed the work of enchantment, and
the place a veritable fairyland.
When the first blasts of November winds were scatter-
ing the fallen leaves the grand exposition closed. It had
260 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
been one of the most successful and creditable ever under-
taken and carried out by a single state. Every depart-
ment had shown the wonderful progress of the state since
her pioneer days, and the creation and management of
the great exhibit had shown the genius and energy of
the men and women who had charge of its fortunes.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Candidates for governor in 1892, and result of the election.
2. Sketch of Governor Turney.
3. Three prominent features of Governor Turney's administrations.
4. Different ideas about employing the convicts.
5. Competition in labor.
6. Present employment of convicts.
7. The election of 1894.
8. Appeal to the legislature.
9. Election laws.
10. Into what fund does the poll tax go?
11. What are fraudulent votes?
12. Decision of the legislature in the Turney and Evans case.
13. Preparations for the Tennessee centennial.
14. Objects of the exposition. Correct date.
15. Work of the committees, and result.
1 6. Election of 1890.
17. Formal opening of the Centennial Exposition.
18. The exposition grounds.
19. The buildings.
20. Articles on exhibition.
21. "Vanity Fair.1'
The grounds at night.
Valuable lessons of the centennial exhibit.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
McMILLIN'S ADMINISTRATION, 1899-1903
IN 1898 the Democratic convention nominated Benton
McMillin for governor. The Republicans nominated
James A. Fowler. McMillin was easily elected, his long
and successful public service
having given him an influ-
ence in the state that few
men possessed.
Benton McMillin was
born in Monroe County,
Kentucky, September u,
1845. He was educated at
Kentucky University, and
after preparing for the
practice of law came to
Tennessee in 1869. In 1875
he represented the counties
of Macon, Clay, and Jackson
in the Tennessee Legislature. In 1876 he was a Presi-
dential elector on the Tilden and Hendricks ticket, and
the same year was elected from Smith County to the
legislature. In 1878 he was elected to Congress, and
served, by repeated reelections, until 1898, when he
declined further service in that position. He was a mem-
ber of the Committee on Ways and Means for fourteen
years, and of the Committee on Rules to the end of his
261
Benton McMillin »
262 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
term of service. He was the author of the famous " Income
Tax Bill," and at the time of his retirement had a longer
record of continuous service than any other Democratic
member of the House of Representatives. He was Gov-
ernor of Tennessee from 1899 to 1903.
Among many features of Governor McMillin's two ad-
ministrations that have contributed to the prosperity of
the state the following are perhaps most prominent : —
i. Settling and marking the boundary line between
Virginia and Tennessee. 2. Economies and reforms that
would enable the state to pay its debts. 3. The Uniform
Text-book Law for the Public Schools.
When Tennessee was the western part of North Caro-
lina there arose a dispute about the dividing line between
Virginia and North Carolina. This was settled by a com-
promise between these two states, and surveyors were sent
to establish and mark the line. Thus was fixed the boun-
dary between Virginia and Tennessee. In 1859 the marks
were so indistinct that Virginia and Tennessee appointed
a joint commission to re-mark the dividing line. Unfortu-
nately the acts of this commission were not confirmed by
the two legislatures. In 1889 Virginia asked the Supreme
Court of the United States to establish the old charter
boundary of 36 degrees and 30 minutes as the true boun-
dary, instead of the compromise line that had been estab-
lished by former agreement. The court refused to do this,
and decided that the compromise boundary, which is north
of 36 degrees 30 minutes, is the true dividing line. But
the court did not provide for establishing this line. In
1901 Governor McMillin asked the Supreme Court to
appoint a commission to locate and permanently to mark
this line. His petition was granted, and thus ended a con-
troversy that had been going on more than a hundred years.
McMlLLIX'S ADMINISTRATION 263
In 1899 the bonded debt of Tennessee was $16,455,200,
and the floating debt, $850,000. The bonds had been in
existence sixteen years, and no provision had been made
for paying them, though Mr. E. B. Craig, the treasurer, had
earnestly recommended a " Sinking Fund."
Governor Taylor had called attention to the condition of
the " State Debt " and the necessity for a sinking fund, but
the legislature took no efficient action. Governor McMillin
promptly took up the matter and recommended, in accord-
ance with Mr. Craig's suggestion, that every year a certain
part of the money paid into the state treasury should be
set aside to pay off the state bonds. This money is called
" The Sinking Fund." The legislature promptly made a
law to create a sinking fund, and provided for several
economic reforms that would bring more money into the
treasury. Coal-oil inspectors were given regular salaries
and all their fees were turned into the treasury. This
gives the state about $25,000 each year.
Reforms were made in the judiciary system which in-
crease the annual revenue about $30,000. A small tax was
levied on all charters issued to corporations, which brings
each year about $40,000. The new penitentiary system,
inaugurated in Governor Turney's administration, furnishes
an annual revenue of about $100,000.
The governor, the treasurer, the secretary of state, and
the board of railroad commissioners adjusted lawsuits and
other difficulties with railroad, telegraph, and telephone
companies, and placed their taxation on a permanent basis.
From these and similar corporations the state receives an
annual income of more than $200,000.
At the close of Governor McMillin's administration the
entire floating debt had been paid, and more than $1,000,000
of the bonds had been retired.
TENN. HIST. — 17
264 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
Governor McMillin's first message to the legislature
advised that some measures be adopted to reduce the cost
of books used in the public schools. The legislature passed
an act requiring that after September I, 1899, the same
kind of books shall be used in all the public schools of the
state. Under this law all books proposed for use in the
public schools are first examined by a " Sub Commission "
of five skilled and experienced teachers appointed by the
governor, who decide on their merits without knowing any-
thing of their prices. The Sub Commission reports the
merits of the books to the "Text-book Commission," which
is composed of the governor, the state superintendent, and
three members of the State Board of Education. The
books are adopted, and contracts are made with publishers
by the Text-book Commission once in five years.
This act is called the " Uniform Text-book Law." It is
now in force, and gives to every child in the state school-
books at moderate and uniform prices, and if he moves
from one school to another it is not necessary to change
his books.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Candidates for governor in 1898.
2. Sketch of Governor McMillin.
3. The boundary line between Virginia and Tennessee.
4. The State Debt in 1899.
5. What is " The Sinking Fund " ?
The increase in revenue : —
6. From coal -oil inspectors.
7. From the Judiciary Department.
8. From charters.
9. From " The New Penitentiary."
10. From corporations.
11. Conditions at close of Governor McMillin's administration.
12. The Uniform Text-book Law.
CHAPTER XXXIX
FRAZIER'S ADMINISTRATION, 1903-05
IN May, 1902, the Democratic party nominated for gov-
ernor of Tennessee James B. Frazier. The Republicans
soon after nominated H. T. Campbell, and the Prohibition-
ists, R. S. Cheves. In November, Frazier was elected by a
large majority, and was inaugurated, January 20, 1903. In
November, 1904, he was re-
elected to the same high
office.
James B. Frazier was born
at Pikeville, Bledsoe County,
Tennessee, in 1857. He was
educated at Nashville and
Knoxville, graduating from
the University of Tennessee.
He studied law in the office
of his father, Judge Thomas
N. Frazier, who was for many
years Judge of the Criminal
Court of Davidson County.
In 1 88 1, Governor Frazier
began the practice of law in Chattanooga, where he has
lived continuously since that time. In 1900 he was made
presidential elector for the state-at-large on the Demo-
cratic ticket. His campaign speeches were noted for their
vigor, their eloquence, and their fairness. By them Mr.
265
James B. Frazier
266
THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
Frazier did much to win the confidence and esteem of the
people who afterwards made him governor.
Governor Frazier's administration was one of wise man-
agement and great prosperity for the state.
The following deserve especial notice : —
1. "The Romine Bill."
2. "The Adams Law."
3. The Coal Creek Troubles of February, 1904.
4. The Second Text-book Commission.
Governor Frazier in his speeches to the public and in his
message to the legislature declared his purpose to improve
the public schools of the state, and earnestly recommended
legislation for this purpose. The legislators aided him
greatly by the enactment of
a law known as the " Romine
Bill." This law requires that
all unappropriated money
in the treasury, on the first
day of January of each year,
shall be added to the public
school fund. January 1, 1904,
the schools received $271,600
from this source. This addi-
tion to the school fund and
the active and efficient work
of State Superintendent S.
A. Mynders greatly pro-
moted the public school
interests of the state and give promise of still better results
in the future.
The Adams Law prohibited the sale of intoxicating
liquors in towns of five thousand inhabitants or less. Its
passage was largely due to the efforts of the Anti-Saloon
Seymour A. Mynders
FRAZIER'S ADMINISTRATION, 1903-1905 . 267
League. It met the governor's hearty approval, as he
considered drunkenness a discredit and a danger to the
JNstate.
In February, 1904, a strike of miners at Coal Creek
threatened troubles similar to those mentioned in Chapter
XXXVI. Governor Frazier went at once to the men, and
by his firm stand for right and his eloquent appeals to the
patriotism and good sense of these people promptly ad-
justed all the troubles.
The first contract for text-books, under the Uniform
Text-book Law, expired in the summer of 1904. The
governor, May 9, 1904, appointed a new Text-book Com-
mission, which is treated in another chapter.
Brief as was the period covered by this chapter, it was
one of great activity and great prosperity in every depart-
ment of the state. All current expenses were promptly
paid, the school fund was increased and schools improved,
agricultural, manufacturing, and commercial interests ad-
vanced at a rapid rate ; there was no floating debt, and in
1903 $316,700 of the bonded debt was paid, and in 1904,
up to December 19, $298,800 more had been paid off.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
Let the boys and girls investigate for themselves : —
1 . Character of Governor Frazier.
2. What he did for the business affairs of the state.
3. What he did to improve the morals of the state.
4. What he did for the schools of the state.
5. The work of Superintendent Mynders in the schools.
6. The influence of strong and honest character in high office.
CHAPTER XL
COX'S ADMINISTRATION, 1905-7
As stated in Chapter XXXIX, Hon. James B. Frazier
was reflected governor in November, 1904. He was in-
augurated for his second term in January, 1905. On
March 9, 1905, William B. Bate, United States senator
from Tennessee, died in Washington, where he was attend-
ing the Fifty-eighth Congress. The legislature of Ten-
nessee was then in session, and at once elected Governor
Frazier to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator
Bate. Mr. Frazier resigned the office of governor and
accepted that of United States senator. For the third time
in the history of the state the governor's office was made
vacant by resignation. Who were the other two governors
that resigned ?
Now turn to Article III, Section 12, of the Constitution
of Tennessee, and you will find that the Speaker, or presid-
ing officer, of the state Senate becomes governor in case
of the death, disability, or resignation of the governor who
has been elected by the people. Senator Cox of Bristol
was at this time Speaker of the state Senate, and was in-
augurated governor of Tennessee, March 27, 1905.
John Isaac Cox was born in Sullivan County, Tennessee,
November 23, 1857. His father was a Confederate soldier
who was killed in the army when the boy John was about
five years old. The boy who was to become governor of
Tennessee grew to manhood in poverty, with only such
opportunities for advancement as he could make for him-
268
COX'S ADMINISTRATION
269
self. He worked on the farm, carried a country mail, went
to the district school when he could, finally worked his
own way through Blountville Academy, and studied law
with Judge W. V. Deaderick,
whose daughter he afterward
married. He began the prac-
tice of law in Blountville, be-
came county j udge of Sullivan
County, and afterward county
attorney. In 1889 ne moved
to Bristol, and has since been
almost continuously in public
life. He was city attorney,
representative in the legisla-
ture, state revenue agent
under Comptroller James A.
Harris, and filled some other
official positions. In 1900 he
was elected to the state Sen-
ate, and by reelections con-
tinued in this station until 1905, when he became gov-
ernor. He sought the nomination of the Democratic
party for a second term, but was defeated by Malcolm R.
Patterson. At the expiration of his term of office as gov-
ernor he was again elected to the state Senate, and served
in that body in the sessions of 1907, 1909, and 1911.
Governor Cox's administration was in many respects a
continuation of that of Governor Frazier. He made few
changes in official appointments, and discharged his duties
efficiently in a conservative and businesslike manner.
Serious rioting at Tracy City and at Whitwell, growing out
of a strike of coal miners, was promptly suppressed. The
quarantine laws for keeping yellow fever out of the state
2/0 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
were vigorously enforced. Large payments were made on
the bonded debt. The public schools were improved by.,
good legislation, by increased appropriations, and by the
wise and active management of the State Superintendent,
S. A. Mynders. The pension fund for old soldiers who
are unable to make a living for themselves was increased
$50,000, and $25,000 was given to pension widows whose
husbands had been killed in war.
These pensions are given to either Confederate or Fed-
eral soldiers in need who do not draw pensions from any
other state or from the treasury of the United States.
The whole of Governor Cox's administration was a
period of thrifty activity that greatly increased the learn-
ing, the wealth, and the general prosperity of the state.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. Sketch of William B. Bate.
2. The three governors who have resigned.
3. Provisions of the constitution.
4. Sketch of John I. Cox.
5. Principal events of Governor Cox's administration.
6. Who may draw pensions ?
7. Character of the period of Governor Cox's administration.
CHAPTER XLI
PATTERSON'S ADMINISTRATION, 1907-1911
IN the summer of 1906 the Democratic party nominated1
Malcolm R. Patterson of Memphis as a candidate for gov-
ernor of Tennessee. The Re-
publican party nominated H.
Clay Evans of Chattanooga.
In November Mr. Patterson
was elected, and in January,
1907, was inaugurated.
Malcolm R. Patterson was
born in Alabama, June 7, 1 86 1 .
His father was a Confederate
soldier, Colonel Josiah Patter-
son, who commanded the 5th
Regiment of Alabama Cav-
alry, and who, after becoming
a citizen of Tennessee, served
three terms in Congress as
representative of the loth Malcolm R- Patterson
Congressional District. The governor's mother, before her
marriage, was Miss Josephine Rice.
Governor Patterson's parents moved to Tennessee when
he was a child, and he was reared in this state. He re-
ceived his education at Christian Brothers College and in
Vanderbilt University. He studied law in his father's
office and began practice in Memphis. In 1894 he was
made attorney-general of the criminal court of Memphis,
271
2/2 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
and held this position for six years. Beginning in 1900,
he served three terms in Congress as representative of the
loth district, receiving his nomination each time by accla-
mation. In 1907 he became governor, and in the midst of
his term married Miss Mary Russell Gardner of Union
City. He was the second governor of Tennessee to marry
while in office, though the state has had more than thirty
governors.
In 1908 Governor Patterson was a candidate for the
nomination of the Democratic party for a second term as
governor. Hon. E. W. Carmack, a former United States
senator, was also a candidate for this nomination.*
A primary election was ordered for the Democratic votes
of each county in the state, to decide which man should be
the Democratic candidate for governor. A primary elec-
tion does not determine who shall fill an official position,
but is held to select a candidate of the party thatr^jolds the
primary election.
In order that all of the voters might understand the posi-
tion of each candidate on public questions, Governor Pat-
terson and Mr. Carmack agreed to canvass the state in joint
debate. The first paragraph of Chapter XXIII tells what
is meant by a canvass in joint debate.
This canvass was one of the most intensely exciting
political events in the history of the state, and its result
was the choice of Mr. Patterson as the Democratic can-
didate for governor. The Republican party nominated
George N. Tillman of Nashville. In November, Governor
Patterson was reflected, and he began his second term in
January, 1909.
The law-making body of the state is officially called "the
\
* For sketch of Senator Carmack, see Chapter XXIX.
PATTERSON'S ADMINISTRATION
??3
General Assembly of the State of Tennessee." For con-
venience it is usually called by the shorter title, " the
legislature." My young readers must remember that the
governor of a state cannot make laws, but it is a part of
his duty to recommend to the legislature the kind of laws
he thinks will be good for the state. It is also his duty to
approve the acts of the legislature if he thinks they are
right ; or to disapprove, or veto, them if he thinks they
are wrong. A bill passed by the legislature is not a law
until the governor acts on it. If he approves, it becomes
a law. If he fails to approve or to veto within five days
after the bill is sent to him, it becomes a law. If he dis-
approves, the bill is not a law unless the legislature, after
hearing his objections, again passes it; then it becomes a
law. So you see that the governor has a part in the mak-
ing of the laws; therefore the people usually praise or
blame torn for the kind of laws that are made in his
administration.
Governor Patterson's administration is a notable one in
the history of the state for many reasons. Among the
many things that have attracted public attention on account
of their importance, the following are prominent : —
1. Large payments on the state debt.
2. The purchase of a governor's mansion and of a capi-
tol annex.
3. The great increase of pension funds.
4. The " Night Rider " troubles.
5. The temperance or prohibitionjegislation.
6. The County Board Law for the public schools.
7. The General Education Bill.
8. The third Text-book Commission.
From the beginning of Governor Patterson's administra-
tion to May i, 1909, all current expenses of the state had
274 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
been promptly met, and $984,600 of the state debt had been
paid, leaving the total bonded debt of the state at that date
$11,809,400.
Up to 1907 the governors of Tennessee had been obliged
to live while in office in hotels, boarding houses, or rented
houses if they did not own a home in the capital city. It
was considered unworthy the dignity of a great state that
its governor should have no official residence. Therefore
the General Assembly of 1907, with Governor Patterson's
approval, made a suitable appropriation and bought the
house which is now the governor's mansion, as the future
official residence of the governors of Tennessee. Another
house near the Capitol was bought to furnish more office
room for conducting the increasing business of the state.
This is called the Capitol Annex.
The pension fund for soldiers who are no longer able to
provide for themselves was increased $ioo,oooiiand for
soldiers' widows $100,000, so that the state now pays for
soldiers' pensions $300,000 and for widows' pensions
$125,000 each year.
In October, 1908, Mr. R. Z. Taylor and Mr. Quintin
Rankin, two lawyers who lived in Trenton, went on business
to the little village of Walnutlog in Obion County and
stopped at a hotel to spend the night. About midnight
they were taken by a large band of masked men, called
" Night Riders," to the near-by woods on Reelfoot Lake,
and Mr. Rankin was hanged by the neck and shot to death.
Amid the confusion incident to the hanging and shooting
of Mr. Rankin, Mr. Taylor escaped. This occurred while
Governor Patterson was making his canvass against Mr.
Tillman for reelection. He left his canvass to take care of
itself, while he went to Obion County to take care that the
laws of the state were enforced. As the civil officers
PATTERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 2/5
seemed unable do deal with the numerous " Night Riders,"
the governor called out a part of the state guard and had a
number of the "Night Riders" arrested and brought to
trial for murder. Six were condemned to be hanged and
two to serve twenty years each in the penitentiary. Those
condemned were considered the leaders in the murder.*
The causes of this crime were lawsuits about disputed
titles to land lying around Reelfoot Lake and fishing privi-
leges in the lake. The two lawyers were supposed to be
in the employ of a land company that was trying, as the
" Night Riders " thought, to take their homes and their
fishing privileges from them. However this may have been,
the men had no right to commit murder to settle their
grievances. No one has the right to violate the laws of his
state, and the governor's prompt action in bringing lawless
men to trial met the approval of all good citizens.
The General Assembly of 1909 passed a bill prohibiting
the sale of intoxicating liquors anywhere in the state
within four miles of a schoolhouse. Governor Patterson
vetoed the bill, giving the following reasons for his action :
First, that he had announced in his canvass that he would
approve any prohibition measure, provided the people of
the town or city to be affected wished to have such a law;
but that he would not approve such a law when the
people of the community had been given no opportunity
to express their wishes, or had expressed themselves
against it. Second, that the Democratic platform on
which he had been elected announced the same principle ;
therefore he could not in good faith approve the bill.
The majority of the legislators replied that they had been
elected with instructions from the people to pass such a
* The condemned men appealed to the Supreme Court, and because the
trial had been illegally conducted the cases were sent back to the lower court
for a new trial.
2/6 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
bill, and they passed it over the governor's veto, thus
making it a law. Similar action was taken on a bill pro-
hibiting the manufacture of liquor in the state, and on an
election law.
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the
Anti-saloon League were the most active and effective
agents in creating the sentiment that caused the prohibition
legislation.
Though the governor and the General Assembly dif-
fered on prohibition and election laws, they agreed on the
subject of education, and
Governor Patterson's admin-
istration will be credited for
some of the wisest and best
things that have been done
for the public schools. In
the beginning of his first term
Governor Patterson appointed
Hon. R. L. Jones of Chatta-
nooga as State Superintend-
ent of Public Instruction.
He is a scholarly man, had
been a teacher in almost every
grade of school, had been a
successful county superin-
tendent, and an active worker
R. L. Jones . , , ...
in educational associations.
He came to the office well equipped for his duties and has
performed them faithfully and efficiently. Much of the
recent legislation for the benefit of the schools is due to his
good work and to that of his predecessor, S. A. Mynders.
You will learn more fully of the schools in Chapters XLIV
and XLV.
PATTERSON'S ADMINISTRATION
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
This chapter and the one following may be considered as current
history. Most of the subjects mentioned in it have been discussed in
hearing of a majority of the girls and boys in school. Let the teacher
take advantage of this to make the lessons in history present reality in-
stead of romance. To many pupils John Sevier is almost as mythical
a character as Achilles, while Columbus and De Soto are about as real
as Neptune and Jason. One means of correcting this confusion of fact
and fable in children's minds is a direct appeal to their personal knowl-
edge and experience.
CHAPTER XLII
ELECTION OF GOVERNOR HOOPER
THE governor of Tennessee has the power to pardon
people who have been convicted of crime whenever facts
are presented to him that were not known to the court, or
for any other reason that the governor may think sufficient
for granting a pardon.
In the four years of his administration Governor Patter-
son pardoned one thousand four hundred and twelve
criminals who had been sentenced by the courts to the
penitentiary or to county prisons. This was a much larger
number than had ever before been pardoned by any gov-
ernor of the state. Many people thought this was an
abuse of the pardoning power, and said that it was useless
to go to the trouble and expense of catching and convict-
ing outlaws for the governor to pardon as soon as they
were sent to prison. They also said that the governor
showed more interest in " machine politics " than he did in
trying to enforce the laws, especially those passed by the
legislature over his veto. On the other hand, the friends
of Governor Patterson said that he had made a good gov-
ernor ; that he had enforced the laws to the extent of
his authority, and had used the pardoning power only in
cases of justice and humanity.
In the spring of 1910 these conflicting opinions divided
the Democratic party into two hostile factions, the " Inde-
pendents," who opposed Governor Patterson, and the
" Regulars," who supported him. Political excitement be-
came intense and partisan feeling very bitter.
278
ELECTION OF GOVERNOR HOOPER
279
The executive committee of the " Regulars " appointed
a primary election to be held in June to select candidates
for governor, judges of the Supreme Court and the Court
of Civil Appeals, and some other state offices. The " In-
dependents " said that this committee did not properly
represent the Democratic party, therefore they refused to
take any part in the primary election, called a convention
of their own, and nominated candidates for all of the offices
named except for governor.
The Republicans indorsed
these independent candi-
dates, and at the regular
election on the first Thurs-
day in August they were
elected by more than forty
thousand majority.
On the 1 6th of August
the Republican conven-
tion nominated Ben W.
Hooper for governor. The
" Regulars " had already
nominated Governor Pat-
terson for reelection. The
Independent Democrats
met in convention, Sep Ben w- Hooper
tember 14, and indorsed the nomination of Hooper. After
this Governor Patterson withdrew from the race, giving
as his reason that he did not wish to cause division among
the Democrats, as he considered the unity and harmony of
the Democratic party more important than the political
ambition or welfare of any man. The " Independents "
replied that he should have thought of this before the
division had actually occurred. The " Regulars " then
TENN. HIST. l8
280 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
nominated Senator Robert L. Taylor in Patterson's stead,
but he was defeated by Ben W. Hooper at the regular
election in November.
Governor Hooper is the only Republican who has ever
been elected governor of Tennessee by the free choice of
a majority of the voters. of the whole state. Brownlow and
Senter were elected when many of the best citizens were
not allowed to vote. When Governor Hawkins was elected
there were four candidates, and he received more votes
than any other candidate, but not a majority of Jthe votes
cast.
Ben W. Hooper was born at Newport, Tennessee,
October 13, 1870. Being left an orphan at an early age,
he received his childhood training in St. John Orphanage
of the Episcopal Church at Knoxville. The governor con-
siders his early education in the Orphanage the most val-
uable training of his life, and he expresses the greatest
love and respect for the institution and its management.
His later education was received at Carson Newman
College. After graduating there he studied law in the
office of Judge H. N. Cate and began practice at the age
of twenty-one.
He was elected and served as representative in the Ten-
nessee Legislature of 1893 and 1895. In the Spanish-
American war of 1898 he was captain of Co. C, 6th United
States Volunteer Infantry. From 1906 to 1910 he was
Assistant United States District Attorney for the Eastern
District of Tennessee. As you have already learned, he
was nominated for governor by the Republicans in August,
1910, by the Independent Democrats in September, elected
in November, and began his term of office in January,
191 1.
Governor Hooper announced that he intended to give
ELECTION OF GOVERNOR HOOPER
28l
the people of Tennessee a clean, -business-like administra-
tion of the affairs of the state. That having been elected
by both Republicans and Democrats he stood only for
honest and efficient government and impartial enforcement
of the laws.
In the offices that are filled by the governor's appoint-
ment he placed some Democrats and some Republicans.
One of the 'most important of these offices is that of
State Superintendent of
Public Instruction. To this
responsible position Profes-
sor J. W. Brister of Nash-
ville was appointed. He
is a scholarly gentleman
and an efficient teacher.
As a professor in Peabody
Normal College and as an
instructor in state institutes
he has had much experience
in the training of teachers,
and good opportunities for
becoming acquainted with
school conditions and needs
the state. The names
in
J. W. Brister
of other appointed officials
can be found in the tables of the appendix to your
book.
CHAPTER XLIII
HOOPER'S ADMINISTRATION
IN accordance with" his pledges when a candidate, Gov-
ernor Hooper sent to the General Assembly of 1911 a
message setting forth his views of the business that should
be transacted by the legislature for the good of the state.
That legislature was composed of eight Republicans and
twenty-five Democrats in the Senate ; twenty-six Republi-
cans and seventy-three Democrats in the House of Repre-
sentatives. The Democrats were divided, as stated in
Chapter XLII, into " Regulars " and " Independents."
The Republicans and Independents usually acted together
and in harmony with the governor.
The Regulars wished to amend or change the election
and prohibition laws that had been made by the legislature
of 1909. The Independents and Republicans wished these
laws to remain as they were passed by the former legis-
lature. This difference of views was a source of strife
throughout the session. More consideration seems to have
been given to these issues than to the measures recom-
mended by the governor. However, many acts for the
public good were passed.
Pensions were increased for veterans and widow$ of
veterans of the Civil War. Counties were authorized to
issue bonds to buy school property and to establish hospitals
for the treatment of contagious diseases. A law was passed
making working women's wages payable to them only, and
one regulating the labor of children in factories and mines-
282 *r
HOOPER'S ADMINISTRATION 283
A pure food and drugs act was passed. These measures
do not include all of the useful legislation of that restless,
turbulent session, but they are among the important acts
that touch the homes and the daily lives of the people.
In the campaign of 1912, Ex-Governor Benton McMillin
was nominated by the Democrats, in the primary election,
as their candidate for governor. Governor Hooper was
nominated by the Republicans for reelection and was again
nominated by the Independents because of the record he
had made as governor. He was elected and began his
second term of office in January, 1913.
The legislature of 1913 held three sessions, — one regu-
lar and two called by the governor. In the Senate there
were six Republicans, eight Independent Democrats, seven-
teen Regular Democrats, and two Democrats who voted
sometimes with one faction and sometimes with the other.
In the House of Representatives there were twenty-seven
Republicans, nineteen Independent Democrats, fifty Regu-
lar Democrats, and three Democrats who voted on different
sides at different times.
The sessions of this legislature were the wildest and
stormiest seen in Tennessee since the days of the " Immor-
tal Thirteen " in 1841. The disputing over the prohibition
and election laws was worse than in 1911. Some of the meet-
ings had little more semblance of order or dignity than
street riots. Partisans of each faction charged their oppo-
nents with all kinds of bargaining, trickery, and improper
methods of trying to carry out their respective purposes.
Legislation for the public welfare was made secondary
to maneuvering for political advantage, while all parties
claimed that they were only honestly and patriotically
•seeking to maintain great principles for the good of the state.
Article II, Section 11, of the Constitution of Tennessee
284 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
provides that no law shall be passed when less than two
thirds of the number of members belonging to each branch
of the legislature are present to make what is called a
" quorum." In 1909 enough Regular Democrats to break
up a quorum in the Senate left the state to prevent the
passing of laws to which they were opposed. In 1911
enough Republicans and Independent Democrats to break
up a quorum in the House of Representatives left the state
for a similar reason. Republicans and Independents re-
peated this action in 1913. This kind of tactics in legisla-
tive bodies is called " filibustering," which means unusual
or irregular action by the minority to prevent or delay leg-
islation to which they are opposed.
Among the important acts passed by the regular session
of this legislature were the following : One third of the
revenue of the state was given to the schools, instead of
one fourth, as before had been the law. A compulsory
school law was passed requiring all children between the
ages of eight and fourteen years to attend school at least
four school months in each year. County Boards of
Education were authorized to transport pupils to and from
school wherever the distance from their homes to the school
is unreasonably great for them to walk. A banking law
was passed and provision made for official examination of
state banks and banking conditions. A system of prison
paroles was established by which convicts may be allowed
to leave their prison and work for themselves as long as
they behave properly and report regularly to the appointed
authorities.
In addition to these acts an appropriation bill and a bill
amending the election laws were passed. Both of these
measures were vetoed by Governor Hooper because no
quorum was present when they were passed. The legis-
HOOPER'S ADMINISTRATION 285
lature then passed them, or claimed to have passed them,
over the governor's veto. The appropriation bill was re-
enacted at the first called session. The amendments to the
election laws were Carried to the Supreme Court of the
state, which decided that they were improperly passed and
are void.
The prohibition laws enacted in 1909 had been openly
and continuously violated in the larger cities of the state.
Local authorities would not, or at least did not, punish the
violators of these laws, and the governor has not the power
to do so. Governor Hooper recommended legislation that
would give him authority to stop this disregard of law, or
the adoption of some other means that would put an end
to it. The legislature treated the measure as a partisan
question, refused to take any action, and adjourned.
The governor called an extra session which met the
second Monday in September, 1913, and repassed the ap-
propriation bill which had been vetoed at the regular ses-
sion. Some good laws were passed for public sanitation
and for the benefit of farming interests. One was passed
changing the method of executing criminals from hanging
to electrocuting. The extra session adjourned without
doing anything to end the lawless liquor trade. ,
Governor Hooper called a second extra session to meet
on the second Monday in October. He appealed to the
people to hold conventions in their respective counties and
instruct their representatives to do something to enforce
respect for the state's authority. Many conventions were
held and representatives instructed, so that the legislature
of 1913 did finally do something in accord with the gov-
ernor's wishes on this much-disputed liquor question.
The second extra session passed two laws usually called
"The Jug Bill" and " The Nuisance Bill." The first
286 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
named forbids, except in special instances, the shipment of
intoxicating liquor from one place to another place in the
state, and the delivery of more than one gallon of liquor to
one person when the liquor is shipped from a place outside
of the state. The Nuisance Bill provides that ten citizens
of any community, where policemen or other officials will
not act, may go before the courts and have places where
liquor is sold, or other unlawful acts committed, suppressed
as public nuisances.
The regular session had passed an act for refunding the
state debt which became due July I and October I, 1913.
The Supreme Court decided that the parts of that act
exempting the bonds from taxation violated the constitu-
tion of the state, so this extra session passed another act
for settling the debt by new bonds or by short-time notes
as the Funding Board might think best.
Seymour A. Mynders,
former State Superintendent
of Public Instruction, died
September 17, 1913. He
was one of the most efficient
and best loved of the teachers
in the state and was president
of the State Normal School
at Memphis at the time of his
death. State Superintendent
J. W. Brister was elected to
succeedhim aspresidentof the
Normal School. On October
24 the governor appointed S.
H. Thompson to succeed Mr.
Brister as State Superintend-
H. Thompson ent of Public Instruction.
HOOPER'S ADMINISTRATION 287
Besides* his regular academic education Mr. Thompson
has received the degrees of Bachelor and of Doctor of
Pedagogy from Valparaiso University. He has done fif-
teen years of academy and high school teaching and four
years of city supervision, and was a member of the State
Board of Education for two years, beginning in 1911.
He was supervisor of the Federal census of 1910 for the
First District of Tennessee, member of the General Con-
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1912, and has
spent all of his manhood years in civil, religious, and educa-
tional work. Well qualified for his official duties and enjoy-
ing the confidence and esteem of the teachers, his adminis-
tration promises progress and improvement for the schools.
My young readers must remember that in the brief
limits of a school book it is not possible to tell all about
any governor's administration. Many acts of the General
Assembly have been given in telling of the work of the
different regular and special sessions, but perhaps a brief
summary of the important legislation of Governor Hooper's
administration will give us a clearer view of what has been
done.
1. Appropriations for pensions of soldiers of the Civil
War and widows of soldiers have been increased.
2. Appropriations for public schools have been in-
creased, and a compulsory school attendance law passed.
3. The Agricultural Department has been strengthened
and the Immigration Bureau aided.
4. The prison system has been improved by the parole
and indeterminate sentence law, and the purchase of 2312
acres of land adjoining the farm of the main prison, thus
giving more room for out-of-door work for prisoners.
5. A reformatory for bad or unfortunate boys has been
established.
288 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
6. The Health Department has been made more effi-
cient by the vital statistics law and the pure food and
drugs act.
7. Labor laws have been enacted limiting and regulating
the labor of women and children, creating a Department
of Workshop and Factory Inspection and a Workmen's
Compensation Commission, and making various provisions
for the health and safety of laborers.
8. A Banking Department has been established for
the examination and regulation of state banks.
9. The office of State Auditor has been created for the
purpose of having all public accounts of the state and
all expenditures of state funds examined by experts in
accounting.
10. A law has been passed requiring banks that receive
the state's money on deposit to pay interest on that money
as long as they keep it.
These are a few, and only a few, of the acts important
to all of the people. Governor Hooper's official position has
been peculiar and perhaps the most trying and harassing
that has fallen to the lot of any governor since the years
immediately following " reconstruction." He has been firm
and courageous in maintaining his convictions of duty.
This is not the time to decide on the merit of his work,
as it is not yet finished. Besides, people of all parties
are now too much excited and swayed by political views
to render a just judgment. We must wait for the time
when sober reason shall take the place of prejudice and
partisan zeal.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
I. Why does a governor send a message to a legislature? (Con-
stitution, Art. Ill, Sec. 11.)
HOOPER'S ADMINISTRATION 289
2. What part has a governor in the making of laws? (Chapter XLI,
Paragraph 8.)
3. How did the legislature of 1911 spend much of its time?
4. Tell a few of the good things it did.
5. Name the candidates for governor and tell the result of the election
of 1912.
6. Character of the sessions of the legislature of 1913.
7. What is meant by a "quorum''? By "filibustering"?
8. Who did the filibustering in the legislature of 1909? 1911 ? 1913?
9. What were some of the good acts passed by the regular session of
1913?
10. What do you understand to be lawlessness?
11. Is any one excusable for violating an existing law because he
believes the law is. not a good one? (Chapter XVII, Para-
graphs i and 2.)
12. Why were there three sessions of the legislature of 1913?
13. What is " The Jug Bill " ? " The Nuisance Bill "?
14. Do you think that the life of a public official is a quiet and easy
one?
CHAPTER XLIV
SCHOOLS
IN Chapter XVI you have been told of the pioneer schools
and of the first academies and colleges in the state. Since
that time many schools, both great and small, have grown
up in Tennessee. Among the great denominational insti-
tutions are the following : University of the South, at
Sewanee, an Episcopal school ; Vanderbilt University, at
Nashville, a Methodist school ; South Western Presbyterian
University, at Clarksville, a Presbyterian school ; Cumber-
land University, at Lebanon, a Cumberland Presbyterian
school; Union University, at Jackson, a Baptist school;
Christian Brothers' College, at Memphis, a Catholic school.
Besides these there are many special and technical schools
and colleges, and many private institutions of ^very grade.
The great schools for colored people are Fisk Univer-
sity, Central Tennessee College, and Roger Williams Uni-
versity, all at Nashville. These are not all of their schools
for higher education, but are the leading ones in endow-
ment, equipment, and numbers attending them.
The great state institutions are as follows : —
1. School for Deaf Mutes, at Knoxville.
2. School for the Blind, at Nashville.
3. Tennessee Industrial School, at Nashville.
4. University of Tennessee, at Knoxville.
5. Peabody Normal College, at Nashville.
6. The Tennessee public schools, all over the state.
7. The four State Normal Schools.
290
SCHOOLS
291
The School for Deaf Mutes, at Knoxville, and the
School for the Blind, at Nashville, have been mentioned in
Chapter XXIII. Their names show the classes of people
for whose education they are intended. They are among
the greatest and noblest institutions of the state, and open
the way to pleasure and usefulness to boys and girls who
School for the Blind, Nashville
would otherwise become ignorant and dependent men and
women.
The Tennessee Industrial School was founded in 1887,
chiefly by the generosity of Colonel E. W. Cole, who gave
a good farm of about one hundred acres, with good
buildings, and $5000 to establish the school. Mr. W. C.
Kilvington was made superintendent of this institution,
and, from the beginning to the present, it has flourished
under his wise and able management. It is a school for
2Q2 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL VAR
children who have no parents and no homes, though some
others who pay for their tuition are admitted. The state
makes annual appropriations for the support of the school,
and each county is entitled to send a certain number of
pupils. It has a reformatory division distinct from the main
school. The boys and girls are in separate departments.
They spend half days in school, and half days at work on the
farm, in the gardens, in the shops, or at domestic duties.
The founding of Blount College, in 1794, has been men-
tioned in Chapter XVI. There are no written records of
the college until 1804. A little after this date we find
among the pupils' names Barbara Blount, Polly McClung,
Jennie Armstrong, and several others which show that
"girls in college" is no new departure in Tennessee.
In 1806 Congress appropriated large grants of land for a
state college or colleges. In 1807 this appropriation was
combined with the funds of Blount College, forming a state
institution. The school was located at Poplar Spring, near
Knoxville, and the name was changed to East Tennessee
College. In 1826 the college was removed from Poplar
Spring to its present site, "Barbara Hill," a piece of
ground named in honor of Miss Barbara Blount, daughter
of Governor William Blount. In 1840 the name was
changed to East Tennessee University.
The school had varying fortunes, usually not very good
ones, until the Civil War, when the school suspended.
Each army usl^&the buildings at several different times in
the course of the war. After the war the Federal govern-
ment paid the trustees $15,000 for damages done the build-
ings, grounds, etc. In 1869 the fund appropriated by
Congress for establishing an Agricultural and Mechanical
College was given to the University, and the Agricultural
and Mechanical College was organized as one of its depart-
SCHOOLS
293
ments. From small beginnings, after the war, the Univer-
sity has grown to be one of the strongest and best of the
South. In 1879 its name was once more changed, and it
became the University of Tennessee.
University of Tennessee
George Peabody was born in Danvers, Massachusetts,
in 1795. In 1812 he went to Georgetown, Maryland, and
became a clerk in a store. In 1815 he went into business
for himself in Baltimore. In 1829 he went^to London and
engaged in the iron trade. In 1837 ne became a London
banker and soon acquired an immense fortune. In his
youth he had little opportunity for schooling, and he
resolved that the boys and girls who wished to learn should
have better privileges than had fallen to his lot. In 1867
he appointed a board of trustees and gave them $3,500,000,
294 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
with instructions to use the interest on this money for the
education of the children in the southern states. This is
the " Peabody Educational Fund."
Peabody died in 1869, and his body was brought from
London to his native land in a British ship of war escorted
by an American war vessel as if he had been a president
or a king. He deserved this high honor, as he was one
of the greatest and best men that ever lived. He made
millions upon millions of dollars, and gave the money
away to benefit the poor and the needy, and to make peo-
ple wiser and better. The Peabody Educational Fund
was only one of his great gifts. He made many others
both in England and America.
From 1872 to 1875 the demand for competent teachers
was greater than could be supplied. The trustees of the
Peabody Fund had been helping schools all over the state,
but had concluded that the best way to help the schools
would be to establish a normal college for the training of
teachers. In March, 1875, the legislature created the
State Board of Education, but gave them no money to
establish a normal school. The University of Nashville
offered the use of its grounds and buildings, and the Pea-
body Trustees furnished $12,000. December I, 1875,
Peabody Normal College was opened, with Dr. Eben S.
Stearns as its president. At the first session there were
only sixty pupils, but the school has grown steadily in
favor and usefulness, and is to-day one of the great educa-
tional institutions of the South. The first state appropri-
ation was $10,000, made in April, 1881. Since that time
the appropriations have been doubled.
In 1909 this school was made an endowed teachers'
college. An endowed school is one that owns money that
may be loaned or property that may be rented to bring an
SCHOOLS
295
income to the school independent of tuition or other fees.
The University of Nashville gave to Peabody Normal
College the necessary grounds and buildings. The trustees
of Peabody Educational Fund gave $1,000,000. The state
of Tennessee gave $250,000. The city of Nashville gave
$200,000. Davidson County gave $100,000. There are some
other gifts not yet made public, and it is known that the
college has started its new career with more than $2,000,000.
Peabody Normal College, University of Nashville
The public schools of Tennessee really began in 1873,
though there were many "school acts" before that time.
The first school *tax levied in the state was in 1816, and
from that date until 1860 there was almost continuous
legislation upon the school question. The legislatures
devised elaborate school systems that contained many
good features, but always embracing some inefficient or
foolish provisions. In 1848 the president and directors of
the state bank were made the State Board of Common
School Commissioners. At one time the state treasurer
was made, ex officio, state superintendent ; and various
296 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
other acts of like character were passed. The result was
that the census of 1860 showed that about one fifth of the
grown white people of the state had never seen the inside
of a schoolhouse.
After the war the condition was worse, as the many
good private schools in the state had been forced to sus-
pend, and there had been absolutely no schools for four
years. The negroes had been freed, and they were all
illiterate. The condition was alarming to all thoughtful
people. The legislature of 1867 provided a good school
law^, but the people were not prepared to make use of it,
and the plan failed for lack of popular favor.
From 1865 to 1873 the friends of education worked
earnestly for some solution of the difficult problem. Dr.
Sears, agent of the Peabody Fund, aided many schools,
A. S. Barnes & Co. and D. Appleton & Co. and others
gave more than one hundred thousand volumes of school-
books, and the State Teachers' Association, organized in
July, 1865, put forth its best efforts to advance the cause
of popular education.
Slowly the prejudice against negro schools and against
public schools of all kinds gave way ; and slowly the peo-
ple grew able to build schoolhouses and to spare their
children from the fields. In 1872 the State Teachers'
Association prepared a bill and memorial to be submitted
to the next legislature. With slight changes and amend-
ments this bill became the school law by act of the legis-
lature in March, 1873. The principal provisions of this
old, law, under which the public schools began, have been
given in Chapter XXXIII.
The school law, however, did not at once make good
schools. There was an immense amount of work to be
done in laying out school districts, building houses, elect-
SCHOOLS
297
ing capable school officers, and preparing the minds of the
people to receive and adopt a system which was new and
strange to most of them, and against which many people
had very bitter prejudices.
There are still living a few men and women who were
members of the State Teachers' Association in the seventies
and were in the " thick of the fight " for establishing the
public schools. By the younger members of the Associa-
tion, these veterans are usually called the " Old Guard."
You would be much astonished to hear the Old Guard
relate the amusing and provoking incidents of the early
days of the public schools. The ignorance, the prejudice,
the malice and sophistry, then arrayed against them would
now be considered as good evidences of insanity.
The state superintendents held " teachers' institutes "
in all parts of the state. The name of these assemblies was
understood well enough
then, but to the younger
generation it is decid-
edly misleading. They
were not summer schools
for the instruction of
teachers at all. They
were really neighbor-
hood mass meetings at
which lawyers, doctors,
preachers, teachers, and
popular orators of all
callings made speeches
upon educational subjects. They rarely, if ever, continued
longer than two days, and were intended to instruct the
people and arouse interest in education. They accom-
plished their purpose, justified the wisdom of their found-
A Davidson County Schoolhouse in 1 799
298
THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL AVAR
ers, and slowly passed away to be followed by the real
teachers' institute in which systematic instruction is given
in the science and art of teaching.
Opposition to public schools gradually fell under the
telling blows of the institute and the thorough work or the
teachers and
superintendents.
Log shanties and
crude appliances
have been almost
wholly swept
away by the on-
ward march of
progress, and
comfortable, con-
venient school-
h ouses
modern
with
means
A Davidson County Schoolhouse in 1
for instruction
are to be seen
in every town
and most country
places. The
public schools
rest upon the
firm basis of
popular favor, the whole people have better educational
advantages than ever before in the history of the state,
and the " Old Guard " feel that their labor has not been
in vain.
Without in the slightest degree disparaging the services
of other gentlemen who have held the office, there are four
state superintendents that deserve special mention in con-
SCHOOLS
299
Leon Trousdale
Thomas H. Paine
nection with the rise and progress of the public schools.
These are Leon Trousdale, Thomas H. Paine, Frank M.
Smith, and W. R. Garrett. They were so 'thoroughly
identified with the public school movement from the be-
ginning, so entirely familiar with all of its phases, that when
called to the office of state superintendent they were able
to accomplish what others probably could not have done.
They have so impressed themselves upon the school sys-
Frank M. Smith
R. Garrett
3OO THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL AVAR
tern of the state that their influence must be felt to the
end of its history.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? -
1. Schools and colleges in 1796.
2. Church schools now in Tennessee.
3. Other schools in the state.
4. Schools for negroes.
5. State schools.
6. School for the deaf and for the blind.
7. Tennessee Industrial School.
8. Girls in Blount College.
9. How did Blount College become a state school ?
10. Present location and second change of name.
11. Effects of the war on the university.
12. Agricultrual and Mechanical College fund.
13. Present condition of the university.
14. Sketch of George Peabody until he became wealthy.
15. Why was he so highly honored at his funeral ?
1 6. What is the Peabody Educational Fund ?
17. What is a normal school ?
1 8. Founding of Peabody Normal College.
19. Present condition of the College.
20. Real beginning of the public schools of Tennessee.
21. First school tax.
22. School legislation from 1815 to 1860.
23. Educational condition in Tennessee in 1860.
24. Conditions in 1865.
25. The law of 1867.
26. Work done before 1873.
27. The law of 1873. See Chapter XXXIII. for provisions
28. The work to be done after the law was passed.
29. The "Old Guard.1'
30. First teachers1 institutes.
31. Present condition of public schools.
32. Four famous state superintendents.
CHAPTER XLV
SCHOOLS— Continued
THE school law of Tennessee, as adopted in 1873, pro-
vided that each county should be divided into school dis-
tricts, and three school directors chosen in each who should
have control of the schools in their respective districts.
In a few years there were a great number of little districts,
each having its own way about books, teachers, length of
school terms, and nearly everything else. One district
would have a term of six months, another in the same
county would have a term of only three months. Some
would pay good salaries and get good teachers, others
would employ the cheapest teachers to be had. As no
two districts were required to use the same kind of books,
they generally used different kinds. Pupils who moved
from one district to another frequently had to lay aside
every schoolbook they had been using and buy a new set.
This was confusing to children and expensive to parents.
When Governor McMillin went into office in 1899, he
appointed Morgan C. Fitzpatrick as State Superintendent,
and decided that they would make an end to the confusion
and trouble about schoolbooks. The governor sent to the
legislature his recommendation on this subject, and the
result was the " Uniform Text-book Law " mentioned in
Chapter XXXVIII. This was the most important school
legislation in Governor McMillin's administration. Under
the provisions of this law and by the governor's appoint-
301
302 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
ment, the first Text-book Commission was composed as
follows : —
TEXT-BOOK SUB COMMISSION TEXT-BOOK COMMISSION
Wharton S. Jones, Chairman Benton McMillin, President
Charles Mason, Secretary Morgan C. Fitzpatrick, Sec-
W. N. Billingsly retary
F. M. Bowling Charles S. Douglas
J. G. Stinson Thomas H. Paine
A. D. Wharton
This Commission made contracts for books to be used in
all public schools of the state, and to be sold at a fixed
price, for five years, beginning September i, 1899.
Governor Frazier, in the beginning of his term of office
in 1903, appointed Seymour A. Mynders of Jackson as
State Superintendent. Governor Cox continued this ap-
pointment through his administration. Mr. Mynders at
once began an educational campaign of the state. With
the assistance of Professor P. P. Claxton of the University
of Tennessee, and a number of other gentlemen, he held
educational meetings in every part of the state and aroused
the people to the importance of improving the schools.
A law, passed in 1899, authorizing counties to establish
and maintain high schools, was brought prominently to the
attention of all the people, and counties were urged to use
this privilege for the purpose of advancing the standard of
public education.
Some very important acts of the legislature in this ad-
ministration also helped the schools.
The little school districts were abolished and the civil
districts of each county were made the school districts.
Small schools were thus combined to make larger and
better ones. The Montgomery County School Board was
SCHOOLS 303
created, and the control of all of the schools in Montgomery
County was given to this county board. This made the
management of the schools uniform, lengthened the terms,
improved the teaching, and reduced the expenses in that
county. The school fund was increased by a provision that
each year all money remaining in the state treasury, after
setting aside enough to meet all obligations of the state,
should be given to the public schools. Before this money
was divided among all the counties $ 50,000 was to be given
to those counties that could not, with reasonable taxation,
keep their schools open a profitable length of time in each
year.
The contracts for schoolbook^ made by the first Text-
book Commission expired August 31, 1904. The second
Commission, which adopted books and made contracts at
fixed prices for them for five years, was composed of the
following group of state officials, superintendents, and
teachers : —
TEXT-BOOK SUB COMMISSION TEXT-BOOK COMMISSION
A. L. Todd, Chairman James B. Frazier, President
J. A. Gotten, Secretary Seymour A. Mynders, Secretary
J. H. Cook P. L. Harned
W. S. Gass ^ H. D. Huffaker
A. H. Wright J. H. Kirkland
The four years of Governor Patterson's administration
form a period of great progress in school legislation.
The governor and Superintendent Jones devoted their
attention especially to the following: I. Unifying the
county school systems. 2. Improving the opportunities
for teachers to prepare themselves for their work. 3. In-
creasing the school fund.
In 1907 a law was passed abolishing the office of district
TENN. HIST. — 19
304 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL' WAR
school director and creating for each county a board of
education of five members to be elected by the people of
the county. This county board has control of all public
^school property in the county, employs teachers, fixes sala-
ries, equalizes the length of school terms, and has general
supervision of all of the public schools. This unifies the
county school system and is one of the best features in our
school law.
^ To have the best teachers, it is necessary to have normal
schools for their special education and training, and to
offer salaries that will secure the service of the best class of
people. Therefore, the governor in 1909, advised the
passing of the " General ^Education Bill," and it is now
a law.
This bill provides for establishing and maintaining three
normal schools for white teachers and one for colored
teachers. It also provides, as amended in 1913, that each
year one third of all the money received by the state shall
be distributed among the schools. A part is to be given
to the University of Tennessee, a part to the normal
schools, a part to tha county high schools, and the largest
part to the common schools. The law contains many
other provisions that cannot be given here. It repeals
many parts of the former school lawsuit relieves the
legislature of the duty of making special appropriations
at each session for the support of the various schools of
the state, and enables school officers to know at the be-
ginning of the year how much money they will receive
from the state. All together, it is perhaps the greatest
educational act in the laws of Tennessee.
The book contracts made in 1904 expired August 31,
1909. .For the purpose of makin'g new adoptions and con-
tracts, Governor Patterson called the third Text-book
SCHOOLS 305
Commission to meet in Nashville, June 14. It was as
follows : —
TEXT-BOOK SUB COMMJSSION TEXT-BOOK COMMISSION
P. A. Lyon, Chairman Malcolm R. Patterson, President
W. S. Dugger, Secretary R. L. Jones, Secretary
W. F. Albright W. N. Billingsly
J. H. Bayer J. L. Brooks
B. O. Duggan A. L. Todd
The new series of text-books adopted by the Commission
went into use September i, 1909, and were the school
books of Tennessee until September, 1914.
The contracts for public school text-books, made in Gov-
ernor Patterson's administration, expired August 31, 1914.
Governor Hooper called the fourth Text-book Commission
to meet in Nashville, March 3, 1914.
This Commission was composed as follows : —
TEXT-BOOK SUB COMMISSION TEXT-BOOK COMMISSION
F. R. Ogilvie, Chairman Ben W. Hooper, President
M. W. Wilson, Secretary S. H. Thompson, Secretary
W. T. Robinson C. C. Hanspn
William Hughes M. H. Gamble
J. E. Rennold^^ O. L. McMahan
In June, 1914, these gentlemen completed the work of
selecting a series of text-books to be used in the public
schools of Tennessee until August .1/1919.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
1. The bad effects of the old district school system.
2. The action taken by Governor McMillin.
3. Provisions of the Uniform Text-book Law. (Chapter XXXVIII.)
4. Duties of the Sub Commission. Of the Commission.
306 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
5. The Mynders educational campaign.
6. The three chief purposes of Governor Patterson and Superin-
tendent Jones.
7. What is a real normal school ?
8. The County Board Law.
9. Some of the provisions of the General Education Bill.
CHAPTER XLVI
CONCLUSION
A STATE under ordinary or natural conditions will be
what its people make it. The people compose the state,
and it will be %ood or bad, great or ignoble, according to
the conduct of its^jfitizens. The girls and boys who read
this book will become the citizens of Tennessee, and the
fair fame of their Wate will be in their keeping. They will
become not only citizens of Tennessee, but of the great
American Union of States. In this Union Tennessee has
borne a glorious part in the past, and her character in the
future will be whatever her sons and daughters make it.
In order that we may know something of the grand part
that Tennessee has taken in national affairs let us review
some of the facts that have already been stated, and add to
this review a few others not yet presented.
In 1865 there were thirty-five states in the Union. Fif-
teen of them were older than Tennessee, thirteen of them
had much more wealth and greater population, and five
others were nearly her equals in these respects. So we
see that in age, wealth, and population Tennessee was
about an average state.
There had been seventeen Presidents, or an average of
about one President to two states. Tennessee had fur-
nished three of these, Andrew Jackson, 1829 to 1837;
James K. Polk, 1845 to 1849; Andrew Johnson, 1865 to
1869. This was six times the number to which she would
have been entitled in an equal distribution.
307
308 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
Of Cabinet officers Tennessee has had about three times
the average share : George W. Campbell was for a time
Secretary of the Treasury under Madison ; John H. Eaton
was Jackson's first Secretary of War; Felix Grundy was
Attorney General under Van Buren ; John Bell was W. H.
Harrison's Secretary of War ; Cave Johnson was Folk's
Postmaster General ; Aaron V. Brown was Buchanan's
first Postmaster General ; David M. Key was Postmaster
General under Hayes ; and Horace Maynard held the same
office.
Tennessee has sent abroad more tharrtwice the number
of United States ministers to which sh^was entitled, and,
considering her interior position and little connection with
foreign affairs, the number is far in excess of that of other
states. John H. Eaton was minister to Spain in 1831,
William H. Polk to Italy in 1845, Andrew J. Donelson to
Germany in 1848, Neill S. Brown to Russia in 1850, Wil-
liam Trousdale to Brazil in 1852, John L. Marling to Ven-
ezuela in 1853, James Williams to Turkey in 1858, Allen A.
Hall to Bolivia in 1863, Horace Maynard to Turkey in
1875. Besides these she has sent a great number of con-
suls to foreign ports.
John Bell and James K. Polk were speakers of the
national House of Representatives. Hugh L. White and
Isham G. Harris were presidents pro tern, of the United
States Senate. John Catron and Howell E. Jackson were
judges of the Supreme Court of the United States.
A Tennessee Postmaster General revolutionized the
mailing system of the United States by the introduc-
tion of postage stamps during President Polk's admin-
istration, and the first telegraphic news message ever
sent in America announced the nomination of President
Polk.
CONCLUSION 309
In war Tennessee has been no less famed than in peace.
Sevier and his soldiers turned the tide of the Revolution at
Kings Mountain and helped to secure American indepen-
dence. The Creek War was fought and won by Tennes-
seeans with almost no aid from other states. In the southern
department of the United States, Tennessee furnished
most of the soldiers for the War of 1812, and the only gen-
eral who won national fame. For the Mexican War Ten-
nessee offered ten times her quota of soldiers. In the
Civil War there were no better or more earnest and patri-
otic soldiers in the Federal Army than those from Tennes-
see. There was never on earth a better assembly of
soldiers than the Confederate Army. Tennessee furnished
one hundred thousand of these ; General Cheatham was
called " the bravest of the brave," and General Forrest
" the Marshal Ney " of the Confederacy. In the war
with Spain Tennesseeans cheerfully volunteered from every
section of the state for service under the old flag, and in
the West Indies and the far-off Philippine Islands gave
proof of their courage and patriotism.
In every department of the Federal government and in
every phase of our country's history Tennessee's service
has been remarkably great, and her influence out of all
proportion to her population, wealth, or local advantages.
Only Virginia and Massachusetts have exercised more
influence in national affairs.
What have been the causes of this ? The long lines of
brilliant orators, of sagacious statesmen, of brave soldiers,
of wise jurists, of able officers for the army and the navy,
of scholarly men and noble women, have not made our
state great by accident. They did it by their intellectual
force and sterling honesty. They could be trusted because
they studied their duties well, and had the courage and
310 THE STATE SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
s
honesty to perform them faithfully. The conduct of her
good citizens has made the state famous.
All of this renown is no cause for vainglory or boasting
on the part of young Tennesseeans. The fame of the past
can do you no good unless you set its noble examples
before you as the ideals of your lives. As you close this
brief history of a glorious commonwealth, do so with the
resolution to be worthy of your grand inheritance of honors
bravely won and nobly kept.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
It is suggested that each pupil be encouraged to get out of this chap-
ter all that he can without the aid of topics made by author or teacher.
Let him make his own topics. After this let the teacher point out what-
ever has escaped the pupil's observation.
The bare facts of any story may be taught by systematic drill. This
method, however, would have little value in the teaching of patriotism
honor, courage, good manners, or personal and civic virtue.
APPENDIX
CONSTITUTION OF TENNESSEE, 1870
This constitution was framed by a convention which assembled at Nashville,
January 10, 1870, and adjourned February 23, 1870 ; was adopted by a vote
of the people of 98,128 for to 33,872 against, on the twenty-sixth day of
March, 1870.
PREAMBLE AND DECLARATION.
Whereas, The people of the territory of the United States south of the
River Ohio, having the right of admission into the General Government as a
member State thereof, consistent with the Constitution of the United States,
and the act of cession of the State of North Carolina, recognizing the ordi-
nance for the government of the territory of the United States north-west of
the Ohio River, by their delegates and representatives in convention assem-
bled, did, on the sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and ninety-six, ordain and establish a Constitution or form of
government, and mutually agreed with each other to form themselves into a
free and independent State, by the name of the State of Tennessee ; and,
Whereas, The General Assembly of the said State of Tennessee (pursuant
to the third section of the tenth article of the Constitution), by an act passed
on the twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and thirty-three, entitled " An act to provide for the calling of
a convention," passed in obedience to the declared will of the voters of this
State, as expressed at the general election of August, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, did authorize and provide for
the election, by the people, of delegates and representatives, to meet at Nash-
ville, in Davidson County, on the third Monday in May, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, for the purpose of revising
and amending or changing the Constitution ; and said convention did accord-
ingly meet and form a Constitution, which was submitted to the people, and
was ratified by them, on the first Friday in March, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and thirty-five; and,
Whereas, The General Assembly of said State of Tennessee, under and in
virtue of the first section of the first article of the Declaration of Rights, con-
ii APPENDIX
tained in and forming a part of the existing Constitution of the State, by an
act passed on the fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, did provide for the calling of a con-
vention by the people of the State, to meet at Nashville on the second Mon-
day in January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
seventy, and for the election of delegates for the purpose of amending or
revising the present Constitution, or forming and making a new Constitution;
and,
Whereas, the people of the State, in the mode provided by said act, have
called said convention and elected delegates to represent them therein; now,
therefore,
We, the delegates and representatives of the people of the State of Tennes-
see, duly elected, and in convention assembled, in pursuance of said act of
Assembly, have ordained and established the following Constitution and form
of government for this State, which we recommend to the people of Tennessee
for their ratification; that is to say :
ARTICLE I.
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.
SECTION I. That all power is inherent in the people, and all free govern-
ments are founded on their authority and instituted for their peace, safety, and
happiness; for the advancement of those ends they have, at all times, an
inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish the government
in such manner as they may think proper.
SEC. 2. That government being instituted for common benefit, the doctrine
of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish,
and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.
SEC. 3. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship
Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience; that no
man can of right be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of wor-
ship, or to maintain any minister against his consent; that no human authority
can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience;
and that no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establish-
ment or mode of worship.
SEC. 4. That no political or religious test, other than an oath to support
the Constitution of the United States and of this State, shall ever be required
as a qualification to any office or public trust under this State.
SEC. 5. That elections shall be free and equal; and the right of suffrage,
as hereinafter declared, shall never be denied to any person entitled thereto,
except upon a conviction by a iury of some infamous crime, previously ascer-
tained and declared by law, and judgment thereon by a court of competent
jurisdiction.
APPENDIX iii
SEC. 6. That the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, and no reli-
gious or political test shall ever be required as a qualification for jurors.
SEC. 7. That the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures; and that general
warrants, whereby an officer may be commanded to search suspected places,
without evidence of the fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not
named, whose offenses are not particularly described and supported by evi-
dence, are dangerous to liberty, and ought not to be granted.
SEC. 8. That no man shall be taken or imprisoned or disseized of his
freehold, liberties, or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner
destroyed or deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the judgment of
his peers or the law of the land.
SEC. 9. That in all criminal prosecutions the accused hath the right to be
heard by himself and his counsel; to demand the nature and cause of the
accusation against him, and to have a copy thereof; to meet the witnesses
face to face; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor;
and in prosecutions by indictment or presentment, a speedy public trial by an
impartial jury of the county in which the crime shall have been committed,
and shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself.
SEC. 10. That no person shall, for the same offense, be twice put in
jeopardy of life or limb.
SEC. n. That laws made for the punishment of acts committed previous to
the existence of such laws, and by them only declared criminal, are contrary
to the principles of a free government ; wherefore no ex post facto law shall be
made.
SEC. 12. That no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture
of estate. The estate of such persons as shall destroy their own lives shall
descend or vest as in case of natural death. If any person be killed by casualty,
there shall be no forfeiture in consequence thereof.
SEC. 13. That no person arrested and confined in jail shall be treated with
unnecessary rigor.
SEC. 14. That no person shall be put to answer any criminal charge but
by presentment, indictment, or impeachment.
SEC. 15. That all prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless
for capital offenses, when the proof is evident or the presumption great ; and
the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when,
in case of rebellion or invasion, the General Assembly shall declare the public
safety requires it.
SEC. 1 6. That excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.
SEC. 17. That all courts shall be open, and every man, for an injury done
him in his lands, goods, person, or reputation, shall have remedy by due
course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial, or delay.
Suits may be brought against the State in such manner and in such courts as
the Legislature may by law direct.
IV APPENDIX
SEC. 1 8. The Legislature shall pass no law authorizing imprisonment for
debt in civil cases.
SEC. 19. That the printing presses shall be free to every person to examine
the proceedings of the Legislature, or of any branch or officer of the Govern-
ment ; and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The free
communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of
man, and every citizen may freely speak, write, and print on any subject,
being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. But in prosecutions for the
publication of papers investigating the official conduct of officers or men in
public capacity, the truth thereof may be given in evidence; and in all indict-
ments for libel the jury shall have a right to determine the law and the facts,
under the direction of the court, as in other criminal cases.
SEC. 20. That no retrospective law, or law impairing the obligations of
contracts, shall be made.
SEC. 21. That no man's particular services shall be demanded, or property
taken or applied to public use, without the consent of his representatives, or
without just compensation being made therefor.
SEC. 22. That perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of
a free State, and shall not be allowed.
SEC. 23. That the citizens have a right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble
together for their common good, to instruct their representatives, and apply
to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances, or
other proper purposes, by address or remonstrance.
SEC. 24. That the sure and certain defense of a free people is a well-regu-
lated militia; and, as standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to
freedom, they ought to be avoided as far as the circumstances and safety of
the community will admit; and that in all cases the military shall be kept in
strict subordination to the civil authority.
SEC. 25. That no citizen of this State, except such as are employed in the
army of the United States or militia in actual service, shall be subjected to
punishment under the martial or military law. That martial law, in the sense
of the unrestricted power of military officers or others to dispose of the
persons, liberties, or property of the citizen, is inconsistent with the principles
of free government, and is not confided to any department of the government
of this State.
SEC. 26. That the citizens of this State have a right to keep and to bear
arms for their common defense ; but the Legislature shall have power, by law,
to regulate the wearing 'of arms with a view to prevent crime.
SEC. 27. That no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner pre-
scribed by law.
SEC. 28. That no citizen of this State shall be compelled to bear arms, pro-
vided he will pay an equivalent, to be ascertained by law.
SEC. 29. That an equal participation in the free navigation of the Mississippi
is one of the inherent rights of the citizens of this State; it cannot, there-
APPENDIX V
fore, be conceded to any prince, potentate, power, person or persons
whatever.
SEC. 30. That no hereditary emoluments, privileges, or honors, shall be
granted or conferred in this State.
SEC. 31. That the limits and boundaries of this State being ascertained, it
is declared they are as hereafter mentioned — that is to say : Beginning on
the extreme height of the Stone Mountain, at the place where the line of
Virginia intersects it, in latitude thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north;
running thence along the extreme height of the said mountain to the place
where the Watauga River breaks through it; thence a direct course to the
top of the Yellow Mountain, where Bright's road crosses the same; thence
along the ridge of said mountain, between the waters of Doe River and the
waters of Rock Creek, to the place where the road crosses the Iron Mountain;
from thence along the extreme height of said mountain to the place where
Nolichucky River runs through the same; thence to the top of the Bald
Mountain; thence along the extreme height of said mountain to the Painted
Rock, on French Broad River; thence along the highest ridge of said moun-
tain to the place where it is called the Great Iron or Smoky Mountain; thence
along the extreme height of said mountain to the place where it is called the
Unicoi or Unaka Mountain, between the Indian towns of Cowee and Old
Chota; thence along the main ridge of the said mountain to the southern
boundary of this State, as described in the act of cession of North Carolina
to the United States of America; and that all the 'territory, lands, and waters
lying west of the said line, as before mentioned, and contained within the
chartered limits of the State of North Carolina, are within the boundaries and
limits of this State, over which the people have the right of exercising sov-
ereignty, and the right of soil, so far as is consistent with the Constitution of
the United States, recognizing the Articles of Confederation, the Bill of
Rights, and Constitution of North Carolina, the cession act of the said State,
and the ordinance of Congress for the government of the territory north-west
of the Ohio; Provided, Nothing herein contained shall extend to affect the
claim or claims of individuals to any part of the soil which is recognized to
them by the aforesaid cession act; And provided also, That the limits and
jurisdiction of this State shall extend to any other land and territory now
acquired, or that may hereafter be acquired, by compact or agreement with
other States or otherwise, although such land and territory are not included
within the boundaries hereinbefore designated.
SEC. 32. That the erection of safe and comfortable prisons, and inspec-
tion of prisons, and the humane treatment of prisoners shall be provided
for.
SEC. 33. That slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for
crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, are forever prohibited
in this State.
SEC. 34. The General Assembly shall make no law recognizing the right of
property in man.
VI APPENDIX
ARTICLE II.
DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.
SECTION i. The powers of the Government shall be divided into three
distinct departments: the legislative, executive, and judicial.
SEC. 2. No person or persons belonging to one of these departments shall
exercise any of the powers properly belonging to either of the others, except
in the cases herein directed or permitted.
THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
SEC. 3. The legislative authority of this State shall be vested in a General
Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives, both
dependent on the people, who shall hold their offices for two years from the
day of the general election.
SEC. 4. An enumeration of the qualified voters and an apportionment of
the Representatives in the General Assembly shall be made in the year one
thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, and within every subsequent term of
ten years.
SEC. 5. The number of Representatives shall, at the several periods of mak-
ing the enumeration, be apportioned among the several counties or districts,
according to the number 6f qualified voters in each, and shall not exceed
seventy-five until the population of the State shall be one million and a half,
and shall never exceed ninety-nine; Provided, That any county having two-
thirds of the ratio shall be entitled to one member.
SEC. 6. The number of Senators shall, at the several periods of making the
enumeration, be apportioned among the several counties or districts, accord-
ing to the number of qualified electors in each, and shall not exceed one-third
the number of Representatives. In apportioning the Senators among the
different counties the fraction that may be lost by any county or counties in
apportionment of members to the House of Representatives shall be made up
to such county or counties in the Senate as near as may be practicable.
When a district is composed of two or more counties they shall be adjoining,
and no counties shall be divided in forming a district.
SEC. 7. The first election for Senators and Representatives shall be held on
the second Tuesday in November, one thousand eight hundred and seventy;
and forever thereafter elections for members of the General Assembly shall be
held once in two years, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in Novem-
ber. Said elections shall terminate the same day.
SEC. 8. The first session of the General Assembly shall commence on the
first Monday in October, 1871, at which time the term of service of the mem-
bers shall commence, and expire on the first Tuesday of November, 1872, at
which session the Governor elected on the second Tuesday in November,
1870, shall be inaugurated; and forever thereafter the General Assembly shall
APPENDIX vii
meet on the first Monday in January next ensuing the election, at which
session thereof the Governor shall be inaugurated.
SEC. 9. No person shall be a Representative unless he shall be a citizen of
the United States, of the age of twenty-one years, and shall have been a citizen
of this State for three years and a resident in the county he represents one
year immediately preceding the election.
SEC. 10. No person shall be a Senator unless he shall be a citizen of the
United States, of the age of thirty years, and shall have resided three years
in this State and one year in the county or district immediately preceding the
election. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he
was elected, be eligible to any office or place of trust, the appointment to
which is vested in the Executive or General Assembly, except to the office of
trustee of a literary institution.
SEC. u. The Senate and House of Representatives, when assembled, shall
each choose a Speaker and its other officers; be judges of the qualifications
and election of its members, and sit upon its own adjournments from day to
day. Not less than two-thirds of all the members to which each House shall
be entitled shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number
may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized by law to compel the
attendance of absent members.
SEC. 12. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds,
expel a member, but not a second time for the same offense; and shall have
all other powers necessary for a branch of the Legislature of a free State.
SEC. 13. Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases except treason,
felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session
of the General Assembly, and in going to and returning from the same; and
for any speech or debate in either House they shall not be questioned in any
other place.
SEC. 14. Each House may punish by imprisonment, during its session, any
person not a member, who shall be guilty of disrespect to the House by any
disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its presence.
SEC. 15. When vacancies happen in either House the Governor for the
time being shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
SEC. 1 6. Neither House shall, during its session, adjourn without the con-
sent of the other for more than three days, nor to any other place than that
in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
SEC. 17. Bills may originate in either House, but may be amended, altered,
or rejected by the other. No bill shall become a law which embraces more
than one subject, that subject to be expressed in the title. All acts which
repeal, revive, or amend former laws, shall recite in their caption, or other-
wise, the title or substance of the law repealed, revived, or amended.
SEC. 1 8. Every bill shall be read once on three different days, and be
passed each time in the House where it originated before transmission to
the other. No bill shall become a law until it shall have been read and
viii APPENDIX
passed, on three different days, in each House, and shall have received on its
final passage, in each House, the assent of a majority of all the members to
which that House shall be entitled under the Constitution; and shall have
been signed by the respective Speakers in open session — the fact of such
signing to be noted on the journal; and shall have received the approval of
the Governor, or shall have been otherwise passed under the provisions of this
Constitution.
SEC. 19. After a bill has been rejected, no bill containing the same sub-
stance shall be passed into a law during the same session.
SEC. 20. The style of the laws of the State shall be : "Be it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of Tennessee" No law of a general nature shall
take effect until forty days after its passage, unless the same or the caption there-
of shall state that the public welfare requires that it should take effect sooner.
SEC. 21. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish
it, except such parts as the welfare of the State may require to be kept secret;
the ayes and noes shall be taken in each House upon the final passage of
every bill of a general character, and bills making appropriations of public
moneys; and the ayes and noes of the members on any question shall, at the
request of five of them, be entered on the journal.
SEC. 22. The doors of each House and of committees of the whole shall be
kept open, unless when the business shall be such as ought to be kept secret.
SEC. 23. The sum of four dollars per day, and four dollars for every twenty-
five miles traveling to and from the seat of government, shall be allowed to
each member of the General Assembly elected after the ratification of this
Constitution, as a compensation for their services. But no member shall be
paid for more than seventy-five days of a regular session, or for more than
twenty days of an extra or called session ; or for any day when absent fr6m
his seat in his Legislature, unless physically unable to attend. The Senators,
when sitting as a court of impeachment, shall each receive four dollars per
day of actual attendance.
SEC. 24. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence
of appropriations made by law ; and an accurate statement of the receipts
and expenditures of the public money shall be attached to and published with
the laws at the rise of each stated session of the General Assembly.
SEC. 25. No person who heretofore hath been, or may hereafter be, a col-
lector or holder of public moneys, shall have a seat in either House of the
General Assembly, or hold any other office under the State government, until
such person shall have accounted for and paid into the treasury all sums for
which he may be accountable or liable.
SEC. 26. No Judge of any court of law or equity, Secretary of State,
Attorney-general, Register, Clerk of any court of record, or person holding
any office under the authority of the United States, shall have a seat in the
General Assembly, nor shall any person in this State hold more than one
lucrative office at the same time ; Provided, that no appointment in the
militia, or to the office of Justice of the Peace, shall be considered a lucrative
APPENDIX IX
office, or operative as a disqualification to a seat in either House of the
General Assembly.
SEC. 27. Any member of either House of the General Assembly shall have
liberty to dissent from and protest against any act or resolve which he may
think injurious to the public or to any individual, and to have the reason for
his dissent entered on the journals.
SEC. 28. All property, real, personal, or mixed, shall be taxed, but the
Legislature may except such as may be held by the State, by counties, cities,
or towns, and used exclusively for public or corporation purposes, and such as
may be held and used for purposes purely religious, charitable, scientific,
literary, or educational, and shall except one thousand dollars' worth of per-
sonal property in the hands of each tax-payer, and the direct product of the
soil in the hands of the producer and his immediate vendee. All property
shall be taxed according to its value, that value to be ascertained in such
manner as the Legislature shall direct, so that taxes shall be equal and uni-
form throughout the State. No one species of property from which a tax
may be collected shall be taxed higher than any other species of property of
the same value. But the Legislature shall have power to tax merchants,
peddlers, and privileges in such manner as they may from time to time direct.
The portion of a merchant's capital used in the purchase of merchandise sold
by him to non-residents and sent beyond the State, shall not be taxed at a rate
higher than the ad valorem tax on property. The Legislature shall have the
power to levy a tax upon incomes derived from stocks and bonds that are not
taxed ad valorem. All male citizens of this State over the age of twenty-one
years, except such persons as may be exempted by law on account of age or
other infirmity, shall be liable to a poll-tax of not less than fifty cents nor
more than one dollar per annum. Nor shall any county or corporation levy
a poll-tax exceeding the amount levied by the State.
SEC. 29. The General Assembly shall have power to authorize the several
counties and incorporated towns in this State to impose taxes for county and
corporation purposes respectively, in such manner as shall be prescribed by
law ; and all property shall be taxed according to its value, upon the princi-
ples established in regard to State taxation. But the credit of no county, city,
or town shall be given or loaned to or in aid of any person, company, asso-
ciation, or corporation, except upon an election to be first held by the qualified
voters of such county, city, or town, and the assent of three-fourths of the
votes cast at said election. Nor shall any county, city, or town become a
stockholder with others in any company, association, or corporation, except
upon a like election, and the assent of a like majority. But the counties of
Grainger, Hawkins, Hancock, Union, Campbell, Scott, Morgan, Grundy,
Sumner, Smith, Fentress, Van Buren, and the new county herein authorized
to be established out of fractions of Sumner, Macon, and Smith Counties ;
White, Putnam, Overton, Jackson, Cumberland, Anderson, Henderson, Wayne,
Cocke, Coffee, Macon, Marshall, and Roane shall be exempted out of the
provisions of this section, so far that the assent of a majority of the qualified
X APPENDIX
voters of either of said counties voting on the question shall be sufficient,
when the credit of such county is given or loaned to any person, association,
or corporation ; Provided, That the exception of the counties above named
shall not be in force beyond the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty,
and after that period they shall be subject to the three-fourths majority appli-
cable to the other counties of the State.
SEC. 30. No article manufactured of flie produce of this State shall be taxed
otherwise than to pay inspection fees.
SEC. 31. The credit of this State shall not be hereafter loaned or given to
or in aid of any person, association, company, corporation, or municipality;
nor shall the State become the owner, in whole or in part, of any bank,
or a stockholder with others in any association, company, corporation, or
municipality.
SEC. 32. No convention or General Assembly of this State shall act upon
any amendment of the Constitution of the United States proposed by Congress
to the several States, unless such convention or General Assembly shall have
been elected after such amendment is submitted.
SEC. 33. No bonds of the State shall be issued to any railroad company
which at the time of its application for the same shall be in default in paying
the interest upon the State bonds previously loaned to it, or that shall here-
after and before such application, sell or absolutely dispose of any State bonds
loaned to it for less than par.
ARTICLE III.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
SECTION I. The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in a
Governor.
SEC. 2. The Governor shall be chosen by the electors of the members of
the General Assembly at the time and places where they shall respectively
vote for the members thereof. The returns of every election for Governor
shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government by the returning
officers, directed to the Speaker of the Senate, who shall open and publish
them in the presence of a majority of the members of each House of the Gen-
eral Assembly. The person having the highest number of votes shall be
Governor; but if two or more shall be equal and highest in votes, one of them
shall be chosen Governor by joint vote of both Houses of the General Assem-
bly. Contested elections for Governor shall be determined by both houses of
the General Assembly, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 3. He shall be at least thirty years of age, shall be a citizen of the
United States, and shall have been a citizen of this State seven years next
before his election.
SEC. 4. The Governor shall hold his office for two years, and until his suc-
cessor shall be elected and qualified. He shall not be eligible more than six
years in any term of eight.
APPENDIX Xi
SEC. 5. He shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the State,
and of the militia, except when they shall be called into the service of the
United States; but the militia shall not be called into service except in case
of rebellion or invasion, and then only when the General Assembly shall
declare by law that the public safety requires it.
SEC. 6. He shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons, after convic-
tion, except in cases of impeachment. '
SEC. 7. He shall, at stated times, receive a compensation for his services,
which shall not be increased or diminished during the period for which he
shall have been elected.
SEC. 8. He may require information, in writing, from the officers in the
executive department upon any subject relating to the duties of their respec-
tive offices.
SEC. 9. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General Assem-
bly by proclamation, in which he shall state specifically the purposes for which
they are to convene; but they shall enter on no legislative business except
that for which they were specilically called together.
SEC. 10. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
SEC. II. He shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly infor-
mation of the state of the government, and recommend for their consider-
ation such measures as he shall judge expedient.
SEC. 12. In case of the removal of the Governor from office, or of his death
or resignation, the powers and duties of the office shall devolve on the Speaker
of the Senate; and in case of the death, removal from office, or resignation of
the Speaker of the Senate, the powers and duties of the office shall devolve on
the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SEC. 13. No member of Congress, or person holding any office under the
United States, or this State, shall execute the office of Governor.
SEC. 14. When any officer, the right of whose appointment is by this Con-
stitution vested in the General Assembly, shall, during the recess, die, or the
office, by the expiration of the term, or by other means, become vacant, the
Governor shall have the power to fill such vacancy by granting a temporary com-
mission, which shall expire at the end of the next session of the Legislature.
SEC. 15. There shall be a seal of this State, which shall be kept by the Gov-
ernor and used by him officially, and shall be called the Great Seal of the
State of Tennessee.
SEC. 1 6. All grants and commissions shall be in the name and by the
authority of the State of Tennessee, be sealed with the State seal, and signed
by the Governor.
SEC. 17. A Secretary of State shall be appointed by joint vote of the Gen-
eral Assembly, and commissioned during the term of four years. He shall
keep a fair register of all the official acts and proceedings of the Governor,
and shall, when required, lay the same, and all papers, minutes, and vouchers
relative thereto, before the General Assembly; and shall perform such other
duties as shall be enjoined by law.
Xll APPENDIX
SEC. 1 8. Every bill which may pass both Houses of the General Assembly
shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor for his signature.
If he approve, he shall sign it, and the same shall become a law; but if he
refuse to sign it, he shall return it, with his objections thereto in writing, to the
House in which it originated, and said House shall cause said objections to be
entered at large upon its journals, and proceed to reconsider the bill. If, after
such reconsideration, a majority of all the members elected to that House shall
agree to pass the bill notwithstanding the objections of the Executive, it shall
be sent, with said objections, to the other House, by which it shall be likewise
reconsidered. If approved by a majority of the whole number elected to
that House, it shall become a law. The votes of both Houses shall be deter-
mined by yeas and nays, and the names of all the members voting for or
against the bill shall be entered upon the journals of their respective Houses.
If the Governor shall fail to return any bill with his objections, within five
days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same
shall become a law without his signature, unless the General Assembly, by its
adjournment, prevents its return, in which case it shall not become a law.
Every joint resolution or order, except on questions of adjournment, shall like-
wise be presented to the Governor for his signature, and before it shall take
effect shall receive his signature, and on being disapproved by him, shall in
like manner be returned with his objections; and the same, before it shall take
effect, shall be repassed by a majority of all the members elected to both
Houses, in the manner and according to the rules prescribed in case of a bill.
ARTICLE IV.
ELECTIONS.
SECTION i. Every male person of the age of twenty-one years, being a citizen
of the United States, and a resident of this State for twelve months, and of the
county wherein he may offer his vote for six months next preceding the day of
election, shall be entitled to vote for members of the General Assembly and
other civil officers for the county or district in which he resides; and there
shall be no qualification attached to the right of suffrage except that each
voter shall give the judges of election where he offers to vote satisfactory evi-
dence that he has paid the poll-taxes assessed against him for such preceding
period as the Legislature shall prescribe, and at such time as may be prescribed
by law, without which his vote cannot be received. And all male citizens of
the State shall be subject to the payment of poll-taxes and the performance of
military duty within such ages as may be prescribed by law. The General
Assembly shall have power to enact laws requiring voters to vote in the election
precincts in which they may reside, and laws to secure the freedom of elec-
tions and the purity of the ballot-box.
SEC. 2. Laws may be passed excluding from the right of suffrage persons
who may be convicted of infamous crimes.
APPENDIX xiii
SEC. 3. Electors shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the
peace, be privileged from arrest or summons during their attendance at elec-
tions, and in going to and returning from them.
SEC. 4. In all elections to be made by the General Assembly the members
thereof shall vote viva voce, and their votes shall be entered on the journal.
All other elections shall be by ballot.
ARTICLE V.
IMPEACHMENT.
SECTION I. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of
impeachment.
SEC. 2. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate. When sitting for
that purpose the Senators shall be upon oath or affirmation, and the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court, or, if he be on trial, the senior Associate Judge,
shall preside over them. No person shall be convicted without the concur-
rence of two-thirds of the Senators sworn to try the officer impeached.
SEC. 3. The House of Representatives shall elect from their own body
three members whose duty it shall be to prosecute impeachments. No im-
peachment shall be tried until the Legislature shall have adjourned sine die,
when the Senate shall proceed to try such impeachment.
SEC. 4. The Governor, Judges of the Supreme Court, Judges of the inferior
courts, Chancellors, Attorneys for the State, Treasurer, Comptroller, and Sec-
retary of State shall be liable to impeachment whenever they may, in the
opinion of the House of Representatives, commit any crime in their official
capacity which may require disqualitication; but judgment shall only extend
to removal from office and disqualification to fill any office thereafter. The
party shall, nevertheless, be liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punish-
ment according to law. The Legislature now has, and shall continue to have,
power to relieve from the penalties imposed any person disqualified from
holding office by the judgment of a court of impeachment.
SEC. 5. Justices of the Peace, and other civil officers not hereinbefore men-
tioned, for crimes or misdemeanors in office, shall be liable to indictment in
such courts as the Legislature .may direct; and, upon conviction, shall be
removed from office by said court as if found guilty on impeachment, and
shall be subject to such other punishment as may be prescribed by law.
ARTICLE VI.
JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.
SECTION i. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in one Supreme
Court and in such circuit, chancery, and other inferior courts as the Legisla-
ture shall from time to time ordain and establish in the Judges thereof and in
Xiv APPENDIX
Justices of the Peace. The Legislature may also vest such jurisdiction in cor-
poration courts as may be deemed necessary. Courts to be holden by Justices
of the Peace may also be established.
SEC. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of five Judges, of whom not more
than two shall reside in any one of the grand divisions of the State. The
Judges shall designate one of their own number who shall preside as Chief
Justice. The concurrence of three of the Judges shall, in every case, be
necessary to a decision. The jurisdiction of this court shall be appellate only,
under such restrictions and regulations as may from time to time be prescribed
by law; but it may possess such other jurisdiction as is now conferred by law
on the present Supreme Court. Said court shall be held at Knoxville, Nash-
ville, and Jackson.
SEC. 3. The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the qualified
voters of the State. The Legislature shall have power to prescribe such rules
as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of Section 2 of this Article.
Every Judge of the Supreme Court shall be thirty-five years of age, and shall,
before the election, have been a resident of the State for five years. His term
of service shall be eight years.
SEC. 4. The Judges of the Circuit and Chancery Courts, and of other infe-
rior courts, shall be elected by the qualified voters of the district or circuit to
which they are to be assigned. Every Judge of such courts shall be thirty
years of age, and shall, before his election, have been a resident of the State
five years, and of the circuit or district one year. His term of service shall be
eight years.
SEC. 5. An Attorney-general and Reporter for the State shall be appointed
by the Judges of the Supreme Court, and shall hold his office for a term of
eight years. An Attorney for the State for any circuit or district for which a
Judge having criminal jurisdiction shall be provided by law shall be elected
by the qualified voters of such circuit or district, and shall hold his office for a
term of eight years, and shall have been a resident of the State five years, and
of the circuit or district one year. In 'all cases where- the Attorney for any
district fails or refuses to attend and prosecute according to law, the court shall
have power to appoint an Attorney pro teinpore.
SEC. 6. Judges and Attorneys for the State may be removed from office by
a concurrent vote of both Houses of the General Assembly, each House vot-
ing separately; but two-thirds of the members to which each House may be
entitled must concur in such vote. The vote shall be determined by ayes and
noes, and the names of the members voting for or against the Judge or Attor-
ney for the State, together with the cause or causes of removal, shall be entered
on the journal of each House respectively. The Judge or Attorney for the
State against whom the Legislature may be about to proceed, shall receive
notice thereof, accompanied with a copy of the causes alleged for his removal,
at least ten days before the day on which either House of the General Assem-
bly shall act thereupon.
SEC. 7. The Judges of the supreme or inferior courts shall, at stated times,
APPENDIX XV
receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, which
shall not be increased or diminished during the time for which they are
elected. They shall not be allowed any fees or perquisites of office, nor hold
any office of trust or profit under this State or the United States.
SEC. 8. The jurisdiction of the circuit, chancery, and other inferior courts
shall be as now established by law until changed by the Legislature.
SEC. 9. Judges shall not charge juries with respect to matters of fact, but
may state the testimony and declare the law.
SEC. 10. Judges or justices of the inferior courts of law and equity shall
have power in all civil cases to issue writs of certiorari to remove any cause,
or the transcript of the record thereof, from any inferior jurisdiction into such
court of law, on sufficient cause, supported by oath or affirmation.
SEC. ii. No Judge of the supreme or inferior courts shall preside on the
trial of any cause in the event of which he may be interested, or where either
of the parties shall be connected with him by affinity or consanguinity, within
such degrees as may be prescribed by law, or in which he may have been of
counsel, or in which he may have presided in any inferior court, except by
consent of all the parties. In case all or any of the Judges of the Supreme
Court shall thus be disqualified from presiding on the trial of any cause or
causes, the court, or the Judges thereof, shall certify the same to the Governor
of the State, and he shall forthwith specially commission the requisite number
of men of law knowledge for the trial and determination thereof. The Legis-
lature may, by general laws, make provision that special Judges may be
appointed to hold any court the Judge /of which shall be unable or fail to
attend or sit, or to hear any cause in which the Judge may be incompetent.
SEC. 12. All writs and other process shall run in the name of the State of
Tennessee, and bear test and be signed by the respective Clerks. Indict-
ments shall conclude : " Against the peace and dignity of the State"
SEC. 13. Judges of the Supreme Court shall appoint their Clerks, who shall
hold their offices for six years. Chancellors shall appoint their Clerks and
Masters, who shall hold their offices for six years. Clerks of the inferior
courts, holden in the respective counties or districts, shall be elected by the
qualified voters thereof, for the term of four years. Any Clerk may be
removed from office for malfeasance, incompetency, or neglect of duty, in
such manner as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 14. No fine shall be laid on any citizen of this State that shall exceed
fifty dollars, unless it shall be assessed by a jury of his peers, who shall assess
the fine at the time they find the fact, if they think the fine should be more
than fifty dollars.
SEC. 15. The different counties of this State shall be laid off, as the General
Assembly may direct, into districts of convenient size, so that the whole
number in each county shall not be more than twenty-five, or four for every
one hundred square miles. There shall be two Justices of the Peace and one
Constable elected in each district by the qualified voters therein, except dis-
tricts including county towns, which shall elect three Justices and two Con-
XVI APPENDIX
stables. The jurisdiction of said officers shall be co-extensive with the
county. Justices of the Peace shall be elected for the term of six and Con-
stables for the term of two years. Upon the removal of either of said officers
from the district in which he was elected his office shall become vacant from
the time of such removal. Justices of the Peace shall be commissioned by
the Governor. The Legislature shall have power to provide for the appoint-
ment of an additional number of Justices of the Peace in incorporated towns.
ARTICLE VII.
STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS.
SECTION i. There shall be elected in each county, by the qualified voters
therein, one Sheriff, one Trustee, one Register — the Sheriff and Trustee for
two years and the Register for four years; but no person shall be eligible to
the office of Sheriff more than six years in any term of eight years. There
shall be elected for each county, by the Justices of the Peace, one Coroner,
and one Ranger, who shall hold their offices for two years. Said officers
shall be removed for malfeasance or neglect of duty, in such manner as may
be prescribed by law.
SEC. 2. Should a vacancy occur subsequent to an election in the office of
Sheriff, Trustee, or Register, it shall be filled by the Justices; if in that of
the Clerk to be elected by the people, it shall be filled by the courts; and
the person so appointed shall continue in office until his successor shall be
elected and qualified; and such office shall be filled by the qualified voters
at the first election for any of the county officers.
SEC. 3. There shall be a Treasurer or Treasurers and a Comptroller of the
Treasury, appointed for the State by the joint vote of both Houses of the
General Assembly, who shall hold their offices for two years.
SEC. 4. The election of all officers and the filling of all vacancies not other-
wise directed or provided by this Constitution shall be made in such manner
as the Legislature shall direct.
SEC. 5. Elections for judicial and other civil officers shall be held on the
first Thursday in August, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and for-
ever thereafter on the first Thursday in August next preceding the expiration
of their respective terms of service. The term of each officer so elected shall
be computed from the first day of September next succeeding his election.
The term of office of the Governor and other executive officers shall be com-
puted from the fifteenth of January next after the election of the Governor.
No appointment or election to fill a vacancy shall be made for a period
extending beyond the unexpired term. Every officer shall hold his office
until his successor is elected or appointed and qualified. No special election
shall be held to fill a vacancy in the office of Judge or District Attorney but
at the time herein fixed for the biennial term of civil officers; and such vacancy
shall be filled at the next biennial election recurring more than thirty days
after the vacancy occurs.
APPENDIX xvii
ARTICLE VIII.
MILITIA.
SECTION I. All militia officers shall be elected by persons subject to military
duty within the bounds of their several companies, battalions, regiments,
brigades, and divisions, under such rules and regulations as the Legislature
may, from time to time, direct and establish.
SEC. 2. The Governor shall appoint the Adjutant-general and his other
staff officers; the Majors-general, Brigadiers-general, and commanding officers
of regiments, shall respectively appoint their staff officers.
SEC. 3. The Legislature shall pass laws exempting citizens belonging to
any sect or denomination of religion, the tenets of which are known to be
opposed to the bearing of arms, from attending private and general musters.
ARTICLE IX.
DISQUALIFICATIONS.
SECTION I. Whereas, ministers of the gospel are, by their profession,
dedicated to God and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from
the great duties of their functions ; therefore, no minister of the gospel, or
priest of any denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either
House of the Legislature.
SEC. 2. No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of
rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this
State.
SEC. 3. Any person who shall, after the adoption of this Constitution, fight
a duel, or knowingly be the bearer of a challenge to fight a duel, or send or
accept a challenge for that purpose, or be an aider or abettor in fighting a
duel, shall be deprived of the right to hold any office of honor or profit in this
State, and shall be punished otherwise, in such manner as the Legislature
may prescribe.
ARTICLE X.
OATHS — BRIBERY OF ELECTORS — NEW COUNTIES.
SECTION I. Every person who shall be chosen or appointed to any offic«
of trust or profit under this Constitution, or any law made in pursuance
thereof, shall, before entering upon the duties thereof, take an oath to sup-
port the Constitution of this State and of the United States, and an oath of
office.
SEC. 2. Each member of the Senate and House of Representatives shall,
before they proceed to business, take an oath or affirmation to support the
Constitution of this State and of the United States, and also the following
XV111 APPENDIX
oath : " I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm) that, as a member of this Gen-
eral Assembly, I will, in all appointments, vote without favor, affection,
partiality, or prejudice ; and that I will not propose or assent to any bill,
vote, or resolution which shall appear to me injurious to the people, or con-
sent to any act or thing whatever that shall have a tendency to lessen or
abridge their rights and privileges as declared by the Constitution of this
State."
SEC. 3. Any elector who shall receive any gift or reward for his vote, in
meat, drink, money, or otherwise, shall suffer such punishment as the laws
shall direct; and any person who shall, directly or indirectly, give, promise,
or bestow any such reward to be elected, shall thereby be rendered incapable
for six years to serve in the office for which he was elected, and be subject to
such further punishment as the Legislature shall direct.
SEC. 4. New counties may be established by the Legislature, to consist of
not less than two hundred and seventy-five square miles, and which shall con-
tain a population of seven hundred qualified voters. No line of such county
shall approach the court-house of any old county from which it may be taken
nearer than eleven miles, nor shall such old county be reduced to less than
five hundred square miles ; but the following exceptions are made to the
foregoing provisions, viz. : New counties may be established by the present
or any succeeding Legislature out of the following territory, to wit : Out of
that portion of Obion County which lies west of the low-water mark of Reel-
foot Lake ; out of fractions of Sumner, Macon, and Smith Counties, but no
line of such new county shall approach the court-house of Sumner and Smith
Counties nearer than ten miles, nor include any part of Macon County lying
within nine and a half miles of the court-house of said county, nor shall more
than twenty square miles of Macon County, nor any part of Sumner County
lying due west of the western boundary of Macon County, be taken in the
formation of said new county ; out of fractions of Grainger and Jefferson
Counties, but no line of such new county shall include any part of Grainger
County north of the Holston River, nor shall any line thereof approach the
court-house of Jefferson County nearer than eleven miles (such new county
may include any other territory which is not excluded by any general provi-
sion of this Constitution) ; out of fractions of Jackson and Overton Counties,
but no line of such new county shall approach the court-house of Jackson or
Overton Counties nearer than ten miles, nor shall such county contain less
than four hundred qualified voters, nor shall the area of either of the old
counties be reduced below four hundred and fifty square miles ; out of frac-
tions of Roane, Monroe, and Blount Counties, around the town of Loudon,
but no line of such new county shall ever approach the towns of Maryville,
Kingston, or Madisonville nearer than eleven miles, except that on the south
side of the Tennessee River said lines may approach as near as ten miles to
the court-house of Roane County. The counties of Lewis, Cheatham, and
Sequatchie, as now established by legislative enactments, are hereby declared
to be constitutional counties. No part of Bledsoe County shall be taken to
APPENDIX xix
form a new county, or a part thereof, or be attached to any adjoining county.
That portiun of Marion County included within the following boundaries:
Beginning on the Grundy and Marion County line at the Nick-a-jack Trace, and
running about six hundred yards west of Ben. Posey's to where the Tennessee
Coal Railroad crosses the line ; running thence southeast through the Pocket,
near William Summers', crossing the Battle Creek Gulf at the corner of
Thomas Woolen's field ; thence running across the Little Gizzard Gulf to
Raven Point ; thence in a direct line to the bridge crossing the Big Fiery
Gizzard ; thence in a direct line to the mouth of Holy Water Creek ; thence
up said creek to the Grundy County line, and thence with said line to the
beginning, is hereby detached from Marion County and attached to the
County of Grundy. No part of a county shall be taken off to form a new
county, or a part thereof, without the consent of two-thirds of the qualified
voters in such part taken off ; and where an old county is reduced for the
purpose of forming a new one, the seat of justice in said old county shall not
be removed without the concurrence of two-thirds of both branches of the
Legislature ; nor shall the seat of justice of any county be removed without
the concurrence of two-thirds of the qualified voters of the county. But the
foregoing provision requiring a two-thirds majority of the voters of a county
to remove its county seat, shall not apply to the counties of Obion and Cocke.
The fractions taken from old counties to form new counties, or taken from
one county and added to another, shall continue liable for their pro rata of
all debts contracted by their respective counties prior to the separation, and
be entitled to their proportion of any stocks or credits belonging to such old
counties.
SEC. 5. The citizens who may be included in any new county shall vote
with the county or counties from which they may have been stricken off for
members of Congress, for Governor, and for members of the General Assem-
bly, until the next apportionment of members of the General Assembly after
the establishment of such new county.
ARTICLE XI.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
SECTION I. All laws and ordinances now in force and use in this State, not
inconsistent with this Constitution, shall continue in force and use until they
shall expire, or be altered or repealed by the Legislature. But ordinances
contained in any former Constitution or schedule thereto are hereby abrogated.
SEC. 2. Nothing contained in this Constitution shall impair the validity of
any debts or contracts, or affect any rights of property, or any suits, actions,
rights of action, or other proceedings in courts of justice.
SEC. 3. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution may be
proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives; and if the same shall
be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each of the two
XX APPENDIX
Houses, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their
journals, with the yeas and nays thereon, and referred to the General Assem-
bly then next to be chosen, and shall be published six months previous to the
time of making such choice; and if, in the General Assembly then next chosen
as aforesaid, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by
two-thirds of all the members elected to each House, then it shall be the duty
of the General Assembly to submit such proposed amendment or amendments
to the people in such manner and at such times as the General Assembly shall
prescribe. And if the people shall approve and ratify such amendment or
amendments by a majority of all the citizens of the State voting for Repre-
sentatives voting in their favor, such amendment or amendments shall become
a part of this Constitution. When any amendment or amendments to the
Constitution shall be proposed in pursuance of the foregoing provisions, the
same shall, at each of the said sessions, be read three times on three several
days in each House. The Legislature shall not propose amendments to the
Constitution oftener than once in six years. The Legislature shall have the
right, at any time, by law, to submit to the people the question of calling
a convention to alter, reform, or abolish this Constitution; and when, upon
such submission, a majority of all the votes cast shall be in favor of said propo-
sition, then delegates shall be chosen, and the convention shall assemble in
such mode and manner as shall be prescribed.
SEC. 4. The Legislature shall have no power to grant divorces, but may
authorize the courts of justice to grant them for such causes as may be speci-
fied by law; but such laws shall be general and uniform in their operation
throughout the State.
SEC. 5. The Legislature shall have no power to authorize lotteries for any
purpose, and shall pass laws to prohibit the sale of lottery tickets in this State.
SEC. 6. The Legislature shall have no power to change the names of per-
sons, or to pass acts adopting or legitimatizing persons, but shall, by general
laws, confer this power on the courts.
SEC. 7. The Legislature shall fix the rate of interest, and the rate so
established shall be equal and uniform throughout the State ; but the Legisla-
ture may provide for a conventional rate of interest, not to exceed ten per
cent, per annum.
SEC. 8. The Legislature shall have no power to suspend any general law
for the benefit of any particular individuals, nor to pass any law for the benefit
of individuals inconsistent with the general laws of the land; nor to pass any
law granting to any individual or individuals rights, privileges, immunities, or
exemptions other than such as may be by the same law extended to any mem-
ber of the community who may be able to bring himself within the provisions
of such law. No corporation shall be created, or its powers increased or di-
minished by special laws, but the General Assembly shall provide by general
laws for the organization of all corporations hereafter created, which laws may
at any time be altered or repealed; and no such alteration or repeal shall
interfere with or divest rights which have become vested.
APPENDIX XXi
SEC. 9. The Legislature shall have the right to vest such powers in the
courts of justice, with regard to private and local affairs, as may be expedient,
SEC. 10. A well-regulated system of internal improvement is calculated
to develop the resources of the State and promote the happiness and pros-
perity of her citizens; therefore it ought to be encouraged by the General
Assembly.
SEC. ii. A homestead in the possession of each head of a family, and the
improvements thereon to the value, in all, of one thousand dollars shall be
exempt from sale under legal process during the life of such head of a family,
to inure to the benefit of the widow, and shall be exempt during the minority
of their children occupying the same. Nor shall said property be alienated
without the joint consent of the husband and wife when that relation exists.
This exemption shall not operate against public taxes, nor debts contracted
for the purchase-money of such homestead or improvements thereon.
SEC. 1 2. Knowledge, learning, and virtue being essential to the preservation
of republican institutions, and the diffusion of the opportunities and advantages
of education throughout the different portions of the State being highly con-
ducive to the promotion of this end, it shall be the duty of the General Assem-
bly in all future periods of this Government, to cherish literature and science.
And the fund called the common school fund, and all the lands and proceeds
thereof, dividends, stocks, and other property of every description whatever,
heretofore by law appropriated by the General Assembly of this State for the
use of common schools, and all such as shall hereafter be appropriated, shall
remain a perpetual fund, the principal of which shall never be diminished by
legislative appropriation^ and the interest thereof shall be inviolably appro-
priated to the support and encouragement of common schools throughout the
State, and for the equal benefit of all the people thereof; and no law shall be
made authorizing said fund, or any part thereof, to be diverted to any other
use than the support and encouragement of common schools. The State
taxes derived hereafter from polls shall be appropriated to educational pur-
poses, in such manner as the General Assembly shall, from time to time, direct
by law. No school established or aided under this section shall allow white
and negro children to be received as scholars together in the same school.
The above provisions shall not prevent the Legislature from carrying into effect
any laws that have been passed in favor of the colleges, universities, or acade-
mies, or from authorizing heirs or distributees to receive and enjoy escheated
property under such laws as may be passed from time to time.
SEC. 13. The General Assembly shall have power to enact laws for the
protection and preservation of game and fish within the State, and such laws
may be enacted for and applied and enforced in particular counties or geo-
graphical districts designated by the General Assembly.
SEC. 14. The intermarriage of white persons with negroes, mulattoes, or
persons of mixed blood, descended from a negro to the third generation,
inclusive, or their living together as man and wife, in this State, is prohibited.
The Legislature shall enforce this section by appropriate legislation.
xxii APPENDIX
SEC. 15. No person shall, in time of peace, be required to perform any
service to the public on any day set apart by his religion as a day of rest.
SEC. 1 6. The declaration of rights, hereto prefixed, is declared to be a part
of the Constitution of this State, and shall never be violated on any pretense
whatever. And to guard against transgression of the high powers we have
delegated, we declare that everything in the bill of rights contained is excepted
out of the general powers of the Government, and shall forever remain
inviolate.
SEC. 1 7. No county office created by the Legislature shall be filled other-
wise than by the people or the County Court.
SCHEDULE.
SECTION I. That no inconvenience may arise from a change of the Consti-
tution, it is declared that the Governor of the State, the members of the Gen-
eral Assembly, and all officers elected at or after the general election of March,
1870, shall hold their offices for the terms prescribed in this Constitution.
Officers appointed by the courts shall be filled by appointment, to be made
and to take effect during the first term of the court held by Judges elected
under this Constitution.
All other officers shall vacate their places thirty days after the day fixed for
the election of their successors under this Constitution.
The Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Treasurer shall hold their offices
until the first session of the present General Assembly occurring after the
ratification of this Constitution, and until their successors are elected and
qualified.
The officers then elected shall hold their offices until the fifteenth day of
January, 1873.
SEC. 2. At the first election of Judges under this Constitution there shall be
elected six Judges of the Supreme Court, two from each grand division of the
State, who shall hold their offices for the term herein prescribed.
In the event any vacancy shall occur in the office of either of said Judges at
any time after the first day of January, 1873, it shall remain unfilled, and the
court shall from that time be constituted of five Judges.
While the court shall consist of six Judges they may sit in two sections, and
may hear and determine causes in each at the same time, but not in different
grand divisions at the same time. When so sitting the concurrence of two
Judges shall be necessary to a decision.
The Attorney-general and Reporter for the State shall be appointed after
the election and qualification of the Judges of the Supreme Court herein pro-
vided for.
SEC. 3. Every Judge and every officer of the executive department of this
State, and every Sheriff holding over under this Constitution, shall, within
twenty days after the ratification of this Constitution is proclaimed, take an
oath to support the same; and the failure of any officer to take such oath shall
vacate his office.
APPENDIX
xxill
SEC. 4. The time which has elapsed since the sixth day of May, 1861, until
the first day of January, 1867, shall not be computed in any cases affected by
the statutes of limitation, nor shall any writ of error be affected by such lapse
of time.
Done in convention at Nashville, the twenty-third day of February, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and of the inde-
pendence of the United States the ninety-fourth. In testimony whereof we
have hereunto set our names. JQHN Q BROWN> President
R. Henderson,
H. L. W. Hill,
Sp'l Hill,
Sam S. House,
Jno. F. House,
T. B. Ivie,
Thomas M. Jones,
David N. Kennedy,
D. M. Key,
Sam J. Kirkpatrick,
A. A. Kyle,
Jos. A. Mabry,
A. G. McDougal,
Malcom McNabb,
Matt. Martin,
John H. Meeks,
Thos. C. Morris,
J. Netherland,
A. O. P. Nicholson,
Geo. C. Porter,
Jas. D. Porter, Jr.,
Geo. E. Seay,
Samuel G. Shepard,
E. H. Shelton,
Wm. H. Stephens,
John M. Taylor,
J. C. Thompson,
N. Vance Thompson,
James J. Turner,
Geo. W. Walker,
Richard Warner, Jr.,
N. H. Williamson,
W. M. Wright.
Attest: T. E. S. RUSSWURM, Secretary.
THOS. W. JONES, Assistant Secretary.
W. S. KYLE, Second Assistant Secretary.
John Allen,
Jesse Arledge,
Humphrey Bate,
Jno. Baxter,
A. Blizzard,
Nathan Brandon,
James Britton,
R. P. Brooks,
Neil S. Brown,
James S. Brown,
T. M. Burkett,
John W. Burton,
Wm. Byrne,
Alex. W. Campbell,
Wm. Blount Carter,
Z. R. Chowning,
James A. Coffin,
Warren Cummings.
Robert P. Cypert,
T. D. Davenport,
N. V. Deaderick,
G. G. Dibrell,
N. F. Doherty,
J. E. Dromgoole,
James Fentress,
A. T. Fielder,
P. G. Fulkerson,
John A. Gardner,
John E. Garner,
S. P. Gaut,
Charles A. Gibbs,
B. Gordon,
J. B. Heiskell,
XXIV APPENDIX
ORDINANCE.
SECTION I. Be it ordained by the Convention, That it shall be the duty of
the several officers of the State authorized by law to hold elections for mem-
bers of the General Assembly and other officers, to open and hold an election
at the place of holding said elections in their respective counties, on the fourth
Saturday in March, 1870, for the purpose of receiving the votes of such quali-
fied voters as may desire to vote for the ratification or rejection of the Consti-
tution recommended by the Convention, and the qualifications of voters in said
election be the same as that required in the election of delegates to this
Convention.
SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of said returning officers in each county in this
State to enroll the name of each voter on the poll-books prepared for saidj
election, and shall deposit each ballot in the ballot-boxes respectively. Each
voter who wishes to ratify the new Constitution shall have written or printed
on his ticket the words " New Constitution," or words of like import; and
each voter who wishes to vote against the ratification of the new Constitution
shall have written or printed on his ticket the words " Old Constitution," or
words of like import.
SEC. 3. The election shall be held and the judges and clerks shall be
appointed as in the case of the election of the members of the General
Assembly; and the returning officers, in the presence of the judges or in-
spectors, shall count the votes given for the "New Constitution," and of
those given for the " Old Constitution," of which they shall keep a correct
estimate in said poll-books. They shall deposit the original poll-books of
said election with the Clerks of the County Courts in the respective counties;
and shall, within five days after the election, make out accurate statements of
the number of votes in their respective counties for or against the "New
Constitution," and immediately forward by mail one copy of said certificates
to the Governor and one to the Speaker of the Senate. So soon as the poll-
books are deposited with the County Court Clerks, they shall certify to the
President of the Convention an accurate statement of the number of votes
cast for or against the " New Constitution," as appears on said poll-books; and
if any of said returning officers shall fail to make the returns herein provided,
for within the time required, the Governor shall be authorized to send special-
messengers for the result of the vote in those counties whose officers have so
failed to make returns.
SEC. 4. Upon the receipt of said returns it shall be the duty of the Gov-
ernor, Speaker of the Senate, and the President of this Convention, or any
two of them, to compare the votes cast in said election; and if it shall appear
that a majority of all the votes cast for and against the new Constitution were
for " New Constitution," it shall be the duty of the Governor, Speaker of the
Senate, and- President of this Convention, or any two of them, to append to
this Constitution a certificate of the result of the votes, from which time the
Constitution shall be established as the Constitution of Tennessee, and the
Governor shall make proclamation of the result.
APPENDIX
XXV
SEC. 5. The Governor of the State is required to issue his proclamation as
to the election on the fourth Saturday in March, 1870, hereto provided for.
JOHN C. BROWN, President.
Attest: T. E. S. RUSSWURM, Secretary.
GOVERNORS OF TENNESSEE FROM 1790.
1. William Blount, Territorial Gov-
ernor, 1790-96.
2. John Sevier, 1796-1801.
3. Archibald Roane, 1801-03.
4. John Sevier, 1803-09.
5. Willie Blount, 1809-15.
6. Joseph McMinn, 1815-21.
7. William Carroll, 1821-27.
8. Samuel Houston, 1827 to April,
1829, when he resigned, and
William Hall, Speaker of the
Senate, became Governor, serv-
ing to October, 1829.
9. William Carroll, 1829-35.
IO. Newton Cannon, 1835-39.
n. James K. Polk, 1839-41.
12. James C. Jones, 1841-45.
13. Aaron V. Brown, 1845-47.
14. Neill S. Brown, 1847-49.
15. William Trousdale, 1849-51.
16. William B. Campbell, 1851-53.
17. Andrew Johnson, 1853-57.
1 8. Isham G. Harris, 1857-63.
Robert L. Caruthers was eject-
ed Governor in 1863, but on ac-
count of Tennessee being in
possession of Federal troops,
was unable to qualify. Presi-
dent Lincoln appointed An-
drew Johnson Military Gov-
ernor of Tennessee, who
served from 1862 to 1865.
19. \Villiam C. Brownlow, 1865-69.
20. D. W. C. Senter, 1869-71.
21. John C. Brown, 1*71-75.
22. James D. Porter, 1875-79.
23. Albert S. Marks, 1879-81.
24. Alvin Hawkins, 1881-83.
25. William B. Bate, 1883-87.
26. Robert L.Taylor, 1887-91
27. John P. Buchanan, 1891-93.
28. Peter Turney, 1893-97.
29. Robert L. Taylor, 1897-99.
30. Benton McMillin, 1899-1903.
31. James B. Frazier, 1903-05.
32. John I. Cox, 1905-07.
33. Malcolm R. Patterson, 1907-11,
34. Ben W. Hooper, 1911-.
SECRETARIES OF STATE FROM 1792.
Daniel Smith, Territorial Secretary,
1792-96.
William Maclin, 1796-1807.
Robert Houston, 1807-11.
W. G. Blount, 1811-15.
William Alexander, 1815-18 (died).
Daniel Graham, appointed August,
1818, served till 1830 (resigned).
T. H. Fletcher, appointed September,
1830, served till 1832.
Samuel G. Smith, 1832-35.
Luke Lea, 1835-39.
XXVI
APPENDIX
John S. Young, 1839-47.
W. B. A. Ramsey, 1847-55.
F. N. W. Burton, 1855-59.
J. E. R. Ray, 1859-65.
E. H. East, appointed in 1862 by An-
drew Johnson, Military Governor,
A. J. Fletcher, 1865-70.
T. H. Butler, 1870-73.
Charles N. Gibbs, 1873-81.
David A. Nunn, 1881-85.
John Allison, Jr., 1885-89.
Charles A. Miller, 1889-93.
W. S. Morgan, 1893-1901.
John W. Morton, 1901-09.
Hallam W. Goodloe, 1909-13.
R. R. Sneed, 1913-
COMPTROLLERS — OFFICE CREATED IN 1835.
Daniel Graham, 1836-43.
Felix K. Zollicoffer, 1843-49.
B. N. Sheppard, 1849-51.
Arthur R. Crozier, 1851-55.
James C. Luttrell, 1855-57.
James T. Dunlap, 1857-62.
Joseph S. Foster, appointed by Andrew
Johnson, Military Governor, 1862-
65.
J. R. Dillin, elected 1865, failed to
qualify, being a member of the
Legislature that elected him, and
ineligible.
S. W. Hatchett, 1865-66.
G. W. Blackburn, 1866-70.
E. R. Pennebaker, 1870-73.
W. W. Hobb, January, 1873, to May,
1873-
John C. Burch, May, 1873-75.
James L. Gaines, 1875-81.
James N. Nolen, 1881-83.
P. P. Pickard, 1883-89.
J. W. Allen, 1889-93.
James A. Harris, 1893-99.
Theodore King, 1899-1904.
Frank Dibbrell, 1904-13.
George P. Woolen, 1913-
TREASURERS FROM 1796.
The act of April 13, 1796, and territorial act of September, 1794, Chapter 9,
provided for two District Treasurers, viz. : District of Miro, and District of
Washington and Hamilton. Act of November i, 1827, created the offices
of Treasurer of Western District, at Jackson, Tennessee ; Treasurer of Wash-
ington and Hamilton, or East Tennessee, at Knoxville ; and Treasurer of
Miro, at Nashville. The constitution of 1834 provided for one Treasurer for
the state, to be elected by the legislature for two years.
Daniel Smith, Territorial Secretary,
acted as Treasurer from 1792 to
1794.
Landon Carter, Territorial Treasurer
of Washington and Hamilton, 1 794-
1800.
Howell Tatum, Territorial Treasurer
of Miro, 1794-96.
William Black, Miro, 1796-97.
Robert Searcy, Miro, 1797-1803.
John Maclin, Washington and Hamil-
ton, 1800-03.
APPENDIX
XXV11
Thomas McCorry, Washington and
Hamilton, 1803-13.
Thomas Crutcher, Miro, 1803-13.
Thomas McCorry, East Tennessee
(Washington and Hamilton), 1813-
15-
Thomas Crutcher, Miro, 1813-36.
Matthew Nelson, East Tennessee,
1815-27.
Miller Francis, East Tennessee, 1827-
36.
James Caruthers, Western District,
1827-36.
Mijler Francis, State, 1836-43.
Matthew Nelson, State, 1843-45.
Robert B. Turner, 1845-47.
Anthony Dibbrell, 1847-55.
G. C. Torbett, 1855-57.
W. Z. McGregor, 1857-65.
R. L. Stanford, 1865-66.
John R. Henry, 1866-68.
W. H.Stillweil, 1868-69.
J. E. Rust, 1869-71.
William Morrow, 1871-77.
M. T. Polk, 1877-83.
Atha Thomas, 1883-85.
J. W. Thomas, 1885-86 (died).
Atha Thomas, 1886-89.
M. F. House, 1889-93.
E. B. Craig, 1893-1901.
R. E. Folk, 1901-11.
G. T.Taylor, 1911-13.
W. P. Hickerson, 1913-
SUPERINTENDENTS OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.
This office was created in 1835, abolished in 1843, re-created in 1865, pro-
vided for in the constitution of 1870, and again created in 1873.
Robert H. McEwen, 1836-40.
Robert P. Currin, 1840-41.
Scott Terry, 1841-43.
L. R. Stanford, 1865-67.
John Eaton, Jr., 1867-69.
A. J. Tipton, 1869-71.
John M. Fleming, 1873-75.
Leon Trousdale, 1875-81.
W. S. Doak, 1881-82.
G. S. W. Crawford, 1882-83.
Thomas H. Paine, 1883-87.
Frank M. Smith, 1887-91.
W. R. Garrett, 1891-93.
Frank M. Smith, 1893-95.
S. G. Gilbreath, 1895-97.
Price Thomas, 1897-99.
Morgan C. Fitzpatrick, 1899-1901.
Seymour A. Mynders, 1903-07.
R. L. Jones, 1907-11.
J. W. Brister, 1911-13.
S. H. Thompson, 1913-.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
The State Board of Education was organized by Governor Porter under
authority of an act of the General Assembly, passed March 23, 1875. The
Governor and the State Superintendent are ex officio members, the Governor
being President and the Superintendent Secretary of the Board. There are six
other members appointed by the Governor, each to serve for a period of six years.
1876. James D. Porter, President; Leon Trousdale, State Superintendent;
E. H. Ewing; J. J. Reese; J. W. Hoyte; R. W. Mitchel; J. B. Lindsley,
Secretary.
1877 and 1878. James D. Porter, President; Leon Trousdale, State Superin-
XXviil APPENDIX
tendent; E. H. Ewing; H. Presnell; J. W. Hoyte; R. W. Mitchel; J. B.
Lindsley, Secretary.
1879 and 1880. Albert S. Marks, President; other members as above,
1881. Alvin Hawkins, President; W. S. Doak, State Superintendent; E. H.
Ewing ; Leon Trousdale ; J. W. Hoyte ; W. P.Jones ; J. B. Lindsley, Sec'y.
1882. Alvin Hawkins, President; G. S. W. Crawford, State Superintendent ;
E. S. Joynes; Leon Trousdale; J. W. Hoyte; W. P. Jones; J. B. Lindsley,
Secretary.
1883 and 1884. W. B. Bate, President; Thomas H. Paine, State Superin-
tendent; P>ank Goodman; Leon Trousdale; J. W. Hoyte; W. P. Jones j
J. B. Lindsley, Secretary.
1885 and 1886. W. B. Bate, President; Thomas H. Paine, State Superin-
tendent ; Frank Goodman ; Leon Trousdale ; P>ank M. Smith ; W. P.
Jones; J. B. Lindsley, Secretary.
1887 to 1890. Robert L. Taylor, President ; Frank M. Smith, State Super-
intendent; Thomas H. Paine; C. S. Douglass; John W. Bachman; W. P.
Jones; Frank Goodman, Secretary.
1891 and 1892. John P. Buchanan, President ; W. R. Garrett, State Super-
intendent ; Thomas H. Paine ; C. S. Douglass ; Frank M. Smith ; W. P.
Jones; Frank Goodman, Secretary.
1893 and 1894. Peter Turney, President ; Frank M. Smith, State Superin-
tendent; Thomas H. Paine; C. S. Douglass; H. D. Huffaker; W. P. Jones;
Frank Goodman, Secretary.
1895 and 1896. Peter Turney, President ; S. G. Gilbreath, State Superin-
tendent ; Thomas H. Paine ; C. S. Douglass ; H. D. Huffaker ; A. D.
Wharton; Frank Goodman, Secretary.
1897 and 1898. Robert L. Taylor, President; Price Thomas, State Superin-
tendent ; other members as above.
1899-1903. Benton McMillin, President ; Morgan C. Fitzpatrick, State
Superintendent and Secretary ; Thomas H. Paine ; C. S.Douglass ; H. D.
Huffaker; A. D. Warton ; Frank Goodman; A. J. Cavert ; P. L. Harned;
J. L. Brooks.
1903-05. J. B. Frazier, President ; Seymour A. Mynders, State Superin-
tendent and Secretary ; C. S. Douglass ; H. D. Huffaker ; P. L. Harned ;
J. L. Brooks ; Wharton S. Jones ; Dr. J. H. Kirkland.
1905-07. John I. Cox, President ; other members as above.
1907-09. M. R. Patterson, President ; R. L. Jones, State Superintendent
and Secretary ; P. L. Harned ; J. L Brooks ; Wharton S. Jones ; Dr.
J. H. Kirkland ; A. L. Todd.
1909-11. M. R. Patterson, President ; R. L. Jones, State Superintendent
and Secretary ; J. M. Barker ; W. N. Billingsly ; J. L. Brooks; R. E. L.
Bynum ; T. B. Loggins ; A. L. Todd.
1911-13. Ben W. Hooper, President; J. W. Brister, State Superintendent
and Secretary ; J. L. Brooks ; R. E L. Bynum ; M. H. Gamble ; C. C.
Hanson ; J. F. Hunter ; H. A. Luck ; O. L. McMahan ; S. H. Thomp-
son ; A. L. Todd.
APPENDIX
XXIX
COMMISSIONERS OF AGRICULTURE.
The Bureau of Agriculture, Statistics, and Mines was established in 1854,
the governor being ex officio president. E. G. Eastman was elected secretary
and served to the war. By act of March 4, 1875, tne °ffice of Commissioner
was created, and the department was established on its present basis.
J. B. Killebrew, 1875-81.
A. W. Hawkins, 1881-83.
A. J. McWhirter, 1883-87.
B. M. I lord, 1887-91.
D. G. Godwin, 1891-93.
T. F. P. Allison, 1893-97.
John T. Esserry, 1897-99.
Thomas H. Paine, 1899-1903.
W. W. Ogilvie, 1903-07.
John Thompson, 1907-11.
Thomas F. Peck, 1911-.
ATTORNEYS-GENERAL.
The office of Attorney-General and Reporter for the State was created in
1831.
George T. Yerger, 1831-39.
Return J. Meigs, 1839 to November,
1839.
West II. Humphreys, 1839-51.
W. G. Swan, 1851-54.
John L. T. Sneed, 1854-59.
John W. Head, 1859 to the war.
Thomas H. Cold well, 1865-70.
Joseph B. Heiskell, 1870-78.
Benjamin J. Lea, 1878-86.
George W. Pickle, 1886-1902.
Charles T. Gates, Jr., 1902-13.
Frank M. Thompson, 1913-.
JUDGES OF TENNESSEE FROM 1792.
1792. William Blount, Governor, David Campbell, and Joseph Anderson
composed the Territorial Court to 1796.
1796. Act of April 9, 1796, established a Superior Court of Law and Equity,
and provided for three judges for the state.
John McNairy, Archibald Roane, and
Willie Blount were commissioned,
on April n, 1796, Judges of the
Superior Court of Law and Equity
for the state.
Howell Tatum (vice McNairy, re-
signed), 1797-98.
W. C. C. Claiborne (vice Willie Blount,
declined), 1796-97.
David Campbell, 1797-1807.
Andrew Jackson, appointed Septem-^
ber, 1798, and elected December,
1798, served to 1804.
Samuel Powell, 1807-09.
John Overton (vice Jackson), 1804-09.
Parry W. Humphreys, 1807-09.
Hugh Lawson White (in place of A.
Roane), 1801-07.
Thomas Emmerson (vice White),
1807-09.
XXX
APPENDIX
JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF ERRORS AND APPEALS.
By the act of November 16, 1809, a Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals
was created, Circuit Courts established, and five judicial circuits erected;
judges elected by the legislature to serve during good behavior. The follow-
ing served as indicated : —
Hugh L. White, 1809-15.
George W. Campbell, 1809-11.
John Overton, 1811-16.
W. W. Cooke, 1815-16 (died).
Archibald Roane, added to the court
October 21, 1815, served to 1818.
Robert Why te(^V<? Overton), 1816-35.
John Haywood, 1816-26.
Thomas Emmerson, 1819-22.
Jacob Peck, 1822-35.
William L. Brown, added to the court
in 1822, resigned July, 1824.
John Catron, 1824-35 (Chief Justice
from 1831).
Hugh L. White was elected in 1824,
but declined.
Thomas L. Williams was appointed
vice White, but declined, and the
legislature declined to fill the va-
cancy.
Henry Crabb, appointed, vice Hay-
wood, in 1827 (died same year).
Nathan Green, 1831.
SUPREME COURT UNDER CONSTITUTION OF 1834.
Nathan Green, 1835-53 (resigned).
William B. Reese, 1835-47.
William B.Turley, 1835-50 (resigned).
Robert J. McKinney, 1847-63 (served
till war discontinued courts).
Robert L. Caruthers, 1853-61.
W. F. Cooper, appointed in 1861
(served till war discontinued courts).
A. W. O. Totten (vice Turley), 1850-
55-
William R. Harris, 1855-58 (died).
Archibald Wright, 1858-63 (served
till war discontinued courts).
Russell Houston, from January 25,
1865, to August 24, 1865.
Samuel Milligan, from January 25,
1865, to January, 1867.
Henry G. Smith, from January 25,
1865, to January, 1867.
James O. Shackelford, from August
24, 1865, to 1867 (resigned).
Andrew McClain, 1867-70.
Alvin Hawkins, from June, 1867, to
1870.
George Andrews, from June, 1867, to
1870.
SUPREME COURT UNDER CONSTITUTION OF 1870.
T. A. R. Nelson, from 1870 to Decem-
ber 5, 1871 (resigned).
A. O. P. Nicholson, Chief Justice, from
1870 to March 23, 1876 (died).
J. W. Deaderick (Chief Justice, 1878-
84), 1870-84 (died).
Robert J. McFarland (vice Nelson),
from 1872 to 1884 (died).
APPENDIX
xxxi
Peter Turney (Chief Justice, 1886),
1870-93.
Thomas J. Freeman, 1870-86.
John L. T. Sneecl, 1870-78.
William F. Cooper, 1878-86.
II. H. Lurton, 1886-93.
John S. Wilkes, 1894-1908 (died).
B. D. Bell (vice Wilkes), 1908-10.
W. C. Fowlkes, 1886-90 (died).
B. J. Lea, 1890-94 (died).
D. L. Snodgrass, Chief Justice, 1 886-
1902.
W. C. Caldwell, 1886-1902.
W. C. McAlister, 1894-1910.
W. D. Beard, Chief Justice, 1894-1910
(died).
John K. Shields, Chief Justice, 1902-
PRESENT SUPREME COURT.
EI.KCTKI) FOR EIC.IIT YEARS.
£. M. M. Niel (Chief Justice, 1913-),
1902-.
2. D. L. Lansden, 1910-.
3. Grafton Greene, 1910-.
4. A. S. Buchanan, 1910-.
5. S.C. Williams (vice Shields), 1913-.
LIBRARIANS.
The office of State Librarian was created in 1854. Prior to that time the
Secretary of State had been ex officio Librarian. See Chapter XXV.
Return J. Meigs, 1854-61.
John E. Hatcher, 1861-65.
A. Gattinger, 1865-69.
William II. Wharton, 1869-71.
Mrs. Paralee Haskell, 1871-79.
Mrs. S. P. Ilatton, 1879-87.
Mrs. Sue P, Lowe, 1887-91.
Mrs. Linnie Williams, 1891-95.
Mrs. Irene Ingram, 1895-97.
Miss Pauline L. Jones, 1897-99.
Miss Jennie E. Lauderdale, 1899-1901,
Miss Lulu B. Epperson, 1901-03.
Miss Mary Skeffington, 1903-.
LEGAL HOLIDAYS IN TENNESSEE.
(See Acts of 1889, Chapter 63.)
January I, New Year's Day.
February 22, Washington's Birthday.
Good Friday.
April 26, Memorial Day.
May 30, Decoration Day.
July 4, Independence Day.
Thanksgiving.
December 25, Christmas Day.
All General Election Days.
XXxii APPENDIX
STATE AUDITOR.
Office created by act of January 27, 1913.
George M. Clark, 1913-.
INSURANCE COMMISSIONER.
Office created by act of January 27, 1913. Prior to that time the duties
had been performed by the State Treasurer.
J. Will Taylor, 1913-.
SUPERINTENDENT OF BANKS.
Office created by act of March 20, 1913. Prior to that time there had been
no specific provision for official supervision of state banks.
John L. Hutton, 1913-.
INDEX
Abolitionists, 180, iQ5, 107.
Adams, John Quincy, 152, i8g.
Adams Law, 266.
Admission of Tennessee, 105.
Adventurers, 20-33.
Agricultural and Met haniral College, 292.
Alabama, Indian war in, 126.
Alamance Creek, 37, 40.
Alamo, 167.
Albright, W. F., 305.
Alexander, Abraham, 39.
Alexander, John, 30.
Allen, Eliza, 142.
Ambrister, 133.
Amendment, thirteenth, 222.
Anderson, Joseph, 117.
Anderson, S. R., 202.
Annapolis, 106.
Anti-federalists, 115, 184.
Anti-Saloon League, 267, 276.
Arantla, Count, 97.
Arbuthnot, 133.
Armstrong, Jennie, 292.
"Articles of Association," 54.
Asbury, Bishop, in.
Ashe, John, 38.
Acer's Station, 87.
Atkins, J. D. C., 224.
Bahama Islands, cession of, 95.
Baird, John, 102.
Balch, Hezekiah, in.
Banks, 131, 132, 162, 234.
Barancas, Fort, 26, 06.
Barnes, Mr., 138.
Bate, William B., 167, 234, 245, 246, 268.
Bayer, J. H., 305.
Bean, Russell, 44.
Bean, William, 33, 44, 55, 60, 63.
Beasley, John R., 245.
Beauregard, General, 204.
Bell, John, 153, 198, 308.
Belmont, battle at, 203.
Benton, Jesse, 126.
Benton, Thomas H., 126.
Big Salt Lick, 84, 87.
Billingsly, W. N., 302. 305.
Black, William, 117.
Bledsoe, 101.
Bledsoe's Station, 87.
Blind, School for, 162.
" Bloody First," 173.
Blount, Barbara, 292.
Blount College, in, 292.
Blount, William, territorial governor, 101;
Indian troubles, 103-105; chairman consti-
tutional convention, 115, 116; senator, 117;
charges against, 119.
Blount, Willie, 117, 122-129.
Bluffs, battle of the, 91.
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 123.
Boone, Daniel, 27, 62.
Boone Creek, 33, 27.
Boundary line, 262.
Bounds, Thomas, ito.
Bowling, F. M., 302.
Bowling Green, 202.
Bowyer, Lewis, 55.
Boyds Creek, 74.
Bragg, Braxton, 204, 205.
Breckenridge, John C., 197.
Brister, J. W., 281, 286.
Brooks, J. L., 305.
Brown, A.V., opposes H.L. White, 153 ; admin-
istration 6f, 164-167 : charges again?*, 170:
in convention, 172 ; Postmaster General. 308.
Brown, Jacob, 44, 55.
Brown, John, 197.
Brown, John C., 231, 233-236.
Brown, Neill S., 170, 171, 233, 308.
Brown, Mr., 104.
"Brownlow Debt," 235.
Brownlow, William G., 157, 222-225.
Brown's Store, 44, 45, 54.
Buchanan, James, 166, 180.
Buchanan, John P., 251-253, 255.
Buchanan's Station, 104.
Buckingham, Nathaniel A., 116.
Buckner, Simon B., 202.
Buel, General, 204.
XXXIV
INDEX
Buffalo Ridge, in.
Bureau of Agriculture, Statistics, and Mines,
179.
Burnside, General, 206.
Cabot, John, 13.
Cage, William, 80.
Cairo, 203.
California, admission of, 197.
Camden, 68.
Cameron, Alexander, 56, 68.
Campbell, David, 79, 80, 82, 101.
Campbell, George W., '308.
Campbell, H. T., 265.
Campbell, William B., 69, 70, 167, 172, 173.
Canada won by the English, 25.
Cannon, Newton, 153, 154, 159.
Capital, state, 162.
Capitol, state, 146, 162.
Carmack, Edward Ward. 216, 272.
Carolina. See North Carolina and South
Carolina.
Carpetbaggers, 228.
Carrick, Samuel, in.
Carroll, William, 126, 129, 140, 141, 145-149,
153-
Carter, John, 55, 59, 60.
Carter, Landon, 79, 80, 82, 117.
Carter, Mr., 44.
Carters Valley Settlement, 44, 54,
Cass, Lewis, 171.
Castalian Springs, 84.
Castleman, 92, 101.
Caswell, Governor, 81.
Caswell, W. R., 202.
Catron, John, 153, 308.
Centennial, Tennessee, 257-260.
Central Tennessee College, 200.
Cession to United States, 78.
Champlain, 13, 24.
Chapman, Thomas, 80.
Charles II., 14.
Charleston, 68, 198.
Chattanooga, 205, 206.
Cheatham, Benjamin Franklin, 167, 202, 211,
212, 235, 309.
Cheatham, Mrs., 63.
Cherokees, 19, 21, 33, 45, 56.
Cheves, R. S., 265.
Chickamauga Creek, 75, 205.
Chickamaugas, 20, 21, 74.
Chickasaws, 20, 21, 45, 125, 133, 138.
Chicksaw Bluffs, 134.
Chisholm, J., 60.
Choctaws, 20, 125.
Christian Brothers' College, 271, 290.
Churches, 112.
Civil War, 184-207, 309.
Clarendon Grant, 10, 15.
Clarion, The, 153.
Clark, George Rogers, 86.
Clarke, William, 60.
Claxton, P. P., 302.
Clay, Henry, 152, 156, 163, 164.
Cleveland, Colonel, 69.
Cobb, William, 60.
Cocke, William, 58, 82, 102, 117, 126.
Coffee, John, 126, 129.
Cole, E. W., 291.
Colleges, no, in, 290. See Schools.
Colonies, 29, 34, 35.
Columbus, Christopher, n.
Columbus, Kentucky, 202.
" Committee of Notables," 63.
" Committee of Thirteen," 54, 60, 64.
" Compact of Government," 87, 92.
Confederacy, 198, 228. See Civil War.
Confederate Army, 202-204. See Civil
War.
Conservatives, 224.
Constitution, of North Carolina, 59.
of Tennessee, 105, 116, 118, 146, 231,
i-xxv.
of United States, 194.
Continental Congress, 39.
Convention, Constitutional, 115, 147, 231.
Hartford, 188.
Mecklenburg, 39.
Nashville, 221.
Revision, 221, 222.
Slaveholders', 106.
Southern, 172.
Cook, J. H., 303.
Cooper, Duncan B., 2160.
Cooper, Robin, 2i6a.
Coosa River, 75.
Corinth, Mississippi, 203.
Cornwallis, 68, 69, 71.
Gotten, J. A., 303.
Cotton gin, 193.
Counties, 42, 43, 102, 103, 135, 136.
Courts reformed, 146, 147.
Cowpens, 69.
Cox, John I., 268-270, 302.
Crawford, William H., 152.
Creek War, 125-127, 309.
Creeks, 20, 21, 125-128, 132.
Crockett, David, 153, 168, 169.
Cuba, 95.
Cumberland, Duke of, 26.
Cumberland Gap, 202-204.
Cumberland Settlements, 84-89, 92, 97, 98.
Cumberland University, 215, 290.
Cummins, Charles, in.
INDEX
XXXV
Dalton, Georgia, 206.
"Dark and Bloody Ground," 22.
Davidson Academy, in.
Davidson County, 92-94.
Davis, President, 202.
De Mumbreun, Captain, 85.
De Peyster, 70, 71.
De Soto, 23, 24.
Deaf Mutes, School for, 162.
Declaration of Independence, 39.
Democratic Republicans, 115, 152, 184.
Democrats, 152, 156, 161, 172, 180, 221, 222.
Doak, Samuel, no, in.
Doherty, George, 102.
Donelson, Andrew Jackson, 172, 308.
Donelson, Fort, 202, 203.
Donelson, John, 86.
Donelson, Stockley, 102.
Douglas, Charles S., 302.
Douglas, Stephen A., 197.
" Dragging Canoe," 56, 58.
Dred Scott Decision, 197.
Duggan, B. O., 305.
Dugger,,W.S.,305.
Dunmore, Lord, 73.
Dutch, 191, 192.
"Eagle Orator," 175.
Earthquakes, 122, 123.
East Tennessee University, 303.
Eaton, John H., 308.
Eaton's Station, 87.
Echota, 75.
Edwards, R. M., 242.
Emancipation, 106, 197.
Emancipation Proclamation, 222.
Ematuipator, The, 195.
Embree, Elihu, 195.
English claims, 13.
English Parliament, 35.
English settlements, 24, 26, 27.
Enoree River, 68.
Etheridge, Emerson, 224, 239.
Evans, H. Clay, 257.
Explorers, 23-28.
Fairs, 179.
Farmers' Alliance, 251.
Farragut, David Glascoe, 213, 214.
"Father of Middle Tennessee," 63, 92.
Fayetteville, 228.
Federal Army, 203, 204, 227. See Civil War,
Federal government, 184-186.
Federalists, 115, 184.
Ferguson, Patrick, 68-71.
"Fifty and four" proposition, 241.
"Fifty and three" settlement, 246.
Filibusters, 208.
First Text-book Commission, 302.
Fishing Creek, 202.
Fisk University, 290.
Fitzpatrick, Morgan C, 301, 302.
Fleming, John M., 236.
Florida, 25, 95, 128, 132, 154.
Ford, James, 102, 103.
Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 212, 213, 309.
Foster, Ephraim H., 153, 164, 166.
Fowler, James A., 261.
" Franchise Acts," 223..
Franklin, battle of, 206.
Franklin, State of, 65, 78-83.
Frazier, James B., 265-267, ?68, 302, 303.
Frazier, Thomas N., 265.
Freeland's Station, 87.
Freeman, Alfred A., 233.
French claims, 13.
French Lick, 24, 84, 86.
French settlements, 24.
Fugitive Slave Law, 185.
Fussell, J. H., 245.
Garret!, W. R.. 299.
Gasper's Station, 87.
Gass, W. S., 303.
Gates. General, 68.
" General Arbitrators," 88.
General Education Bill, 304.
Gentry, Meredith P., 175.
George III., 30, 37.
Gilmore, James R., 71.
Gist, Benjamin, 60.
Gomley, Thomas, 55.
Government, Federal, 184-186.
military, 219, 221, 227.
of colonies, 29, 34, 35.
of pioneers, 54.
provisional, 227.
state, 115-118, 140, 141, 147, 219.
territorial, 101, 102, 118.
"Graded interest settlement," 244.
Grangers, 251.
Grant, General, 203-205, 211, 235.
Greeley, Horace, 236.
Greenback party, 241.
Greene College, in.
Greeneville, 79, in.
Greer, Andrew, 60.
Griswold, Roger, 189.
Grundy, Felix, 153, 154, 308.
Haile, John, 59.
Halifax, 59.
Hall, Allen A., 153, 308.
Hall, William, 129, 141-143.
XXXVI
INDEX
Hamilton, Alexander, 115.
Hard Labor, 32.
Hardee, William J., 202.
Hardin, Joseph, 102.
Harned, P. L., 303.
Harris, Isham Greene, 180, 182, 198, 199,
308.
Harris, James A., 269.
Harris, Jeremiah, 157.
Harrison, William Henry, 156, 157.
Hartford Convention, 188.
Haskell, W. T., 167.
Hatton, Robert, 180.
Hawkins, Alvin, 242, 245.
Heaton's Station, 56, 57.
Henderson, Richard, 62, 84.
Henry, Fort, 202, 203.
Henry, G. A. (the " Eagle Orator"), 175.
Hiawassee River, 75.
" Hickory Ground," 127.
Hillhouse, James. 188.
Honeycut. Mr., 63.
Hood, General, 206.
Hooper, Ben W., 279-288.
Horseshoe, battle of the, 127.
Houghton, Thomas, 60.
Houston, Sam, 82, 129, 141, 142.
Huffaker, H. D., 303.
Huguenots, 64.
Huntsville, 126.
"Immortal Thirteen," 161, 166.
"Income Tax Bill," 262.
Indian Commissioners, 30.
Indian raids, 57, 58, 88, 132.
Indian wars, 46, 73-76; in Middle Tennessee,
103-105; Creek War, 125-127; Seminole
War, 132, 133.
Indians, 17-22; rights of, 13, 30, 31; in Inter-
colonial wars, 25, 29; destroy Fort Loudon,
27; land bought from, 45, 134; attack
Cumberland Settlement, 91 ; Spaniards aid,
06, 97. See Cherokees, Chickamaugas,
Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, Iroquois,
Seminoles, Shawnees.
Insane, hospital for, 146, 148.
Insurrection among coal miners, 252, 253.
"Intercolonial Wars," 25, 29, 35, 95.
Internal improvements, 146, 147, 161, 234.
Iroquois, 21, 32.
Isbell, Zach, 55, 60.
Island Flats, 58.
Island No. 10, 203, 204.
Jackson, Andrew, 150-153; names Ten-
nessee, 105; representative in Congress,
117; judge of the Superior Court, 118;
in War of 1812, 124, 125; in Creek War
126; Major General United States Army.
128, 129; in Seminole War, 133; Presi-
dent, 151.
Jackson, Howell E., 308.
Jamestown, 24, 192.
Jefferson, Thomas, 115, 119, 185, 188, 194.
Johnson, Andrew, one of "Immortal Thir-
teen," 161; Governor of Tennessee, 175-
177; Military Governor, 204, 221; Presi-
dent, 227; candidate for Congress, 235
United States senator, 239.
Johnson, Cave, 153, 308.
Johnston, Albert Sidney, 202-204.
Jones, James Chamberlain, 159-164.
Jones, John, 55.
Jones, R. L., 276, 303, 305.
Jones, Wharton S., 302.
Jonesboro, 67, 79.
Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 197.
Kelly, Alexander, 102.
Kentucky, 73, 135.
Kentucky Resolutions," 185.
Key, David M., 239, 308.
Kilvington, W. C., 291.
Kings Mountain, 64, 69-71, 309.
Kirkland, Dr. J. H., 303.
Knox, General, 136.
Knoxville, capital at, 102, 116; Constitu-
tional Convention at, 105, 115; Blount
College founded near, 1 1 1 ; named for Gen-
.eral Knox, 136; legislature at, 162; army
headquarters at, 202 ; battles of, 206.
Ku Klux Klan, 228-231.
La Salle, 13, 24.
Lacy, Hopkins, 102.
Lambert, Jeremiah, in.
Land warrants, 31, 32.
Lane, Tidence, in.
Lea, Margaret, 142.
Lebanon, 290.
Lee, General, 206.
Legislature, territorial, 102; state, 116, '62.
Lewis, General, 73.
Lexington, 38.
Library, state, 178.
Lincoln, President, 182, 198, 199, 221.
Longstreet, General, 206.
Lookout Mountain, 205, 206.
Loudon, Fort, 27.
Louisiana, 24, 119, 169, 188.
Louisville, 203.
Lowry, John, 117.
'Loyal League," 228, 230.
Lucas, Robert, 55, 60.
INDEX
XXXVll
Lundy, Benjamin, 195.
Lyon, P. A., 306.
Lynn, Henry J., 244.
McClellan, General, 221.
McClung, Polly, 292.
McDowell, General, 68.
McGillivray, Alexander, 97, 98.
McMaihen, Jno., 60.
McMillin, Benton, 259, 262, 283, 301.
McMinn, Joseph, 102, 131-139.
McNabb, Jno., 60.
McNabb, William, 60.
McNairy, John, 117.
Mackall, General, 203.
Maclin, William, 115, 117.
Madison, James, 185.
Mansker, Casper, 86, 92.
Marblehead, 188.
Marks, Albert S., 239, 242.
Marling, John L., 308.
Martin Academy, no.
Mason, Charles, 302.
Maury, Matthew Fontaine, 213.
Maynard, Horace, 211, 212, 235, 238, 239,
308.
"Mecklenburg Resolutions," 39, 40.
Meigs, R. J., 178.
Memphis, 136, 137, 202, 204.
Mennonites, 193.
Mexican War, 142, 166-169, 309.
Middle Tennessee settled, 84-89, 92, 97, 98.
Military government, 219, 221, 227.
Mill Springs, battle of, 203.
Minims, Fort, 125. .
Miners' insurrection, 252, 253.
Minutemen, 36.
"Miro District," 101.
Miro, Don Estevan, 100.
Missionary Ridge, 205.
Mississippi River, Spanish control, 06, 97,
100, 103; Americans control, 119; in Civil
War, 203.
Missouri Compromise, 197.
Mobile, 128, 214.
Monroe, President, 132, 133.
Montgomery, 108.
Moultrie, William, 68.
Murfreesboro, 162, 205.
Murrel, John A., 154.
Mynders, S. A., 266, 270, 276, 286, 302, 303.
Nash, Colonel, 136.
Nashborough, 87, 91.
Nashville, X7; named for Colonel Nash, 136;
hospital for insane at, 14X1 legislature at,
162; State Fair at, 179: army headquarters
at, 202; battle of, 206; convention at, 221,
centennial at, 257-260.
Nash^'ille Union, 153. . .
National Observatory, 213.
National Republicans, 152, 153.
Navy, reforms in, 213.
Negro schools, 236, 290, 296.
Negroes, 170, 184, 228. See Slavery.
Netherland, John, 180.
New Orleans, 95, 128, 214.
Newspapers, 153, 157.
Nicaragua, 209.
Nicholls, Colonel, 128.
Nicholson, A. O. P., 172.
\i( kojack Expedition, 104, 105.
" Night Riders." 274.
"Nollichucky Jack," 76.
Nollichucky Settlement, 45. 54.
North Carolina, Tennessee part of, 15, 45'.
Watauga Association annexed to, 59; cedes
Tennessee to United States, 78, Franklin
State formed in, 70-83.
Northwest Territory, 194.
"Notables," 88.
Nueces River, 167.
Nullification, 184-189.
"Nullification Ordinance," 185.
Oconostota, 84.
"Old Abraham," 56, 58.
"Old Frank," an..
"Old Guard," 297.
"Old Hickory," 127.
"Ordinance of 1787," 194.
Ordinance of Secession, 109.
Ore, Major, 104, 105.
Over-mountain men, 69.
Paine, Thomas H., 246, 299, 302.
Parker, Mr., 44-
Parliament, English, 34, 35.
Patterson, Malcolm R., 269, 271, 305.
Patterson, Martha, 177.
Peabody Educational Fund, 294.
Peabody, George, 293.
Peabody Normal College, 290, 294.
Pendleton, George H., 221.
Penitentiary lease system, 249, 252, 253, 256.
Penitentiary, state, 146, 148.
Pennsylvania Personal Liberty Bill. 185, 186.
Pensacola, 128, 133.
Pensions, 270, 274.
Perryville, 205.
Personal Liberty Bill, 185, 186.
Pierce. Franklin, 172, 173.
Pillow, Fort, 202-204.
Pillow, Gideon Johnson, 167, 202, 209.
XXXV111
INDEX
Pioneers, 44-51, 107-113.
Pirates, river, 154, 155.
Pittsburg Landing, 204.
Plumer, Governor, 188.
Point Pleasant, 73.
Political Reconstruction, 221, 225.
Polk, James K., Governor of Tennessee, 154,
156; stump-speaking of, 159, 160; in Mexi-
can War, 167; President, 163-165, 307
Speaker of House, 308.
Polk, Mrs., 246.
Polk, Leonidas, 202, 210.
Polk, William H., 308.
Pontiac's War, 30.
Port Royal, 24.
Porter, James D., 238, 239.
Postage stamps, 308.
Price, Thomas, 60.
Prohibition, 250, 275, 282, 285.
"Prophet," The, 125.
Provincial Congress of North Carolina, 59.
Provisional governments, 227.
Prudhomme, Fort, 24.
Public schools, 236. See Schools.
Quebec, 24.
Quincy, Josiah, 188.
Radicals, 224.
Railroads, 148.
Raines, John, 86, 101.
Ramsey, Francis A., 82, 116.
"Raven," The, 56.
"Rear Guard of tne Revolution," 71.
Reconstruction, domestic, 217, 220.
political, 221-225, 227.
Reelfoot River, 123.
Reeves, Charlotte, 62.
Regulators, 36, 37.
Religion, in, 112.
Republicans, 221, 231.
Democratic, 152, 184.
National, 152, 153.
Revision Convention, 221, 222.
Revolutionary War, 34-40, 68-71.
Rhea, John, 117.
Richmond, Kentucky, 204.
Right of search, 123.
Rio Grande River, 167.
River pirates, 154, 155.
Roane, Archibald, 117, 118, 120.
Robertson, Charles, 55, 59, 60.
Rol>er.tson, James, 62-64; m "Committee of
Thirteen," 55; in Indian wars, 58, 73, 103-
105; justice of peace, 60; chairman of
"Notables," 63, 88; at French Lick, 86;
called "Father of Middle Tennessee," 92;
representative in North Carolina legisla-
ture, 92; Brigadier General, 101; and
Spanish Governor, 100, 101.
Robertson, Mrs., 91.
Roger Williams University, 290.
Rogersville, 102.
Romine Bill, 266.
Roulstone, George, 102.
Running Water, 104.
Russell, George, 55, 60.
Rutherford, Governor, 68.
Rutherford, Griffith, 102.
Rutlage, George, 102.
Salem, Tennessee, no.
San Antonio, 167.
San Diego, 208.
San Jacinto, 142.
Santa Anna, 168.
Savannah, Georgia, 68.
Schools, 108-110, 171, 236, 246, 290-306.
School for Blind and for Deaf, 162, 290, 291.
Scott, Winfield, 173.
Sears, Dr., 292.
Secession, 182, 184-189, 198, 199, 227.
Secession of Tennessee, 181, 199.
Second Text-book Commission, 266, 303.
Seminole War, 132, 133, 154.
Seminoles, 12.7, 132.
Senter, D. W. C., 225, 227, 231.
Settlement, of East Tennessee, 32, 33, 40, 44,
45, 53-oo.
of Middle Tennessee (Cumberland), 84-89,
92, 97, 98.
of West Tennessee, 133-136.
Settlements, English, 24, 26, 27.
French, 24.
Sevier, John, 64, 65; in Watauga Association,
55; in Indian wars, 58, 74, 75; delegate to
Provincial Congress, 59; justice of peace,
60; Colonel Washington County, 67; in
Revolutionary War, 68, 69, 71, 301; Gov-
ernor State of Franklin, 79, 80; tried for
treason, 82 ; fame of, 82 ; Brigadier General
East Tennessee, 101; member Legislative
Council, 102; Governor of Tennessee, 117,
118, 120.
Sevier, John, Jr., 115, 117.
Sevier, Valentine, 60, 73.
Sewanee, 210.
Shawnees, 21, 125.
Shelby, Evan, 73, 74.
Shelby, Isaac, Colonel Sullivan County, 67;
in Revolutionary War, 68, 69, 71: subdues
Indians, 73; purchases West Tennessee
133-
Shelby, John, Jr., 60.
INDEX
XX XIX
Shclbyville, 205.
Sherrill, Kathcrine ("Bonnie Kate")- 64.
Shiloh, 204.
Shout, Christopher, 102.
Signal service bureau, 213.
"Sixty and six" compromise, 241.
"Sky-Blues," 245.
Slaveholders' convention, 196.
Slavery, IQI ; strife over admission of Texas,
170; party conflict about, 184; abolished,
222. See Civil War.
Smith, Frank M., 2QI.
Smith, James, 55.
Sonora, 208.
Sons of Liberty, 36.
•South. See Civil War.
South Carolina, 15, 185, 188.
South Western Baptist University, 283.
South Western Presbyterian University, 282.
Southampton, 196.
Southern convention, 172.
Spain, 95-08, 132, 133.
claims of, 12, 26.
Spanish explorations, 23.
Spencer, Thomas Sharpe, 84, 85, 92.
St. Marks, 133.
Stanwix, Fort, 32, 73.
State Board of Education, 286.
State commanders, 202.
State debt, 162, 231, 234, 240, 244, 246.
State government, 115-118, 140, 141, 147,
219.
State, growth of, 154.
State Guard, 254.
State Library, 178.
State's rights party, 184.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction,
236.
State Teachers' Association, 296.
Stearns, Dr. Eben S., 294.
Stewart, Virgil, 155.
Stinson, J. G., 302.
Stokes, William B., 225.
Stones River, 87.
Stuart, James, 60, 68, 117.
Sub Commissions, 264, 302-306.
Sullivan County, 67.
Sullivans Island, 68.
Sumter, Fort, 198.
Talbot, Thomas, 80.
Tallapoosa River, 127.
Tariff, 184.
Tatham, William, 55.
Tatum, Howell, 117.
Taylor, Alfred A., 248.
Taylor, Leroy, 102.
Taylor, Parmenas, 102.
Taylor, Robert C, 248-251, 258.
Taylor, Zachary, 167, 170, 171.
Teachers' Institute, 297.
Tecumseh, 125.
Tellico River, 75.
Tennessee Centennial, 257, 260. »
Tennessee County, 102, 103.
Tennessee Historical Society, 178.
Tennessee Industrial School, 290, 291.
Territorial government, 101-103.
Territory, 100-103.
Texas, 142, 166, 167, 189, 197.
Text -book Commissions, 264, 302-306.
Thirteen English colonies, 29, 95.
Thirteenth amendment, 222.
Thomas, General, 203.
Thompson, S H., 286.
Tilghman, Lloyd, 202.
Tipton, John, 80, 82, 102, 118, 138.
Todd, A. L., 303, 306.
Tohopeka, 127.
Tories, 36, 54, 59, 68.
Transylvania, 62.
" Transylvania Company," 64.
Travis, WUliam, 167.
Treaty, between England and France, 28, 29.
between United States and Spain, 119.
ending War of 1812, 128.
with Indians, 30, 33, 67.
Trousdale, Leon, 299.
Trousdale, William, 167, 171-173, 308.
Tryon, Governor, 37.
Tuckasege, 75.
Turney, Peter, 255-257.
Turney, Samuel, 161.
" Uniform Text -book Law," 264, 301.
Union City, 202.
Union, Fort, 87.
University of Nashville, 304.
University of Tennessee, in, 290, 293.
University of the South, 210, 290.
Van Buren, Martin, 152, 153, 156.
Vanderbilt University, 290.
Vicksburg, 155.
Virginia, 44.
"Virginia Resolutions," 185.
"Volunteer State," 129, 167.
Walker, Felix, 55.
Walker, Thomas, 26.
Walker, William, 208.
Waltdn, Jesse, 60.
"War Horse of Sumner County," 172.
War, Civil, 184-207, 309.
xl
INDEX
War, Indian. See Indian Wars.
Intercolonial, 25, 29, 35, 95.
of 1812, 123-128, 309.
Revolutionary, 34-40, 68-71.
Ward, Edward, 140.
Ward, Nancy, 56, 75.
Washington CollegCj no.
Washington County, 59, 60, 67, 78.
Washington District, 56, 59.
Watauga Association, 44, 53-60, 63, in.
Watauga, Fort, 56, 57.
Wear, Samuel, 102.
Weather bureau, 213.
Weathersford, William, 125-127.
West Indies, u, 191.
West Tennessee, 133-136.
Wharton, A. D., 302.
Wheels, 251.
Whig, The, 153, 222.
Whigs, 36, 59, 153, 156, 161, 173, 180.
White, Hugh L., 152, 153, 303.
White, James, 102.
White, Richard, 60.
Whitney, Eli, 193.
Wilkinson, General, 124.
Williams, James, 308.
Williams, Thomas H., 117.
Wilson, Benjamin, 60.
Wilson, David, 102.
Wilson, Joseph, 60.
Wilson, S. F., 242.
Winchester, James, 102, 116.
Winstead, George W., 255.
Wisener, W. H., 229, 233.
Wolcott, Governor, 188.
Wolf's Hill, 44, 54.
Womac, Jacob, 55, 60.
Woods, Michael, 60.
Wright, A. H., 303.
Wright, John V., 242.
Zollicoffer, Felix X., 202, 203.
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