Then he made a change to railroad and at the time of his death had created an important transportation system in America. De Soto landed at what is known today as Charlotte Harbor, Florida (Gulf Coast), with a military detachment of 640 volunteers, an average age of twenty-four years old, selected to establish a Spanish colony near the Mississippi River. The counties of Campbell, Overton and White were established on September 11th. After opening a supply corridor for the troops and animals that had been deprived of supplies, Grants army repelled a Confederate counterattack at the Battle of Wauhathcie the 28th and 29th of October, 1863. James Robertson, a leader in the Cumberland military, invaded the land of the Chickamauga (Nickajack expedition), burned the villages and eliminated the threat in this region. This era saw the introduction of pottery, The Watauga Settlement was included in the Washington District of North Carolina and later Washington County. He crossed the Mississippi River and continued exploring to the west. The 10th of June, Tennessee adopts a new book on the study of biology that denies the Theory of Evolution. Dromgoole included some family history in her articles and postulated the same mix as Burnett, adding a Portuguese progenitor named Denhan. While others would remain and fold their wings forever devoted to the dream of settling west beyond the Appalachian Mountains during the 18th century. The migration increased from the east with the diminished indigenous dangers. which vocation in that day was a mark of the highest educational During the next stage, known as the Woodland period, natives began to make pottery, develop agriculture, construct burial mounds, and live in large, of the title thereto of Henderson's Transylvania Company under A series of events truly cloak and dagger theater, have concluded when North Carolina relinquishes the southwest territory to the Federal Government, eliminating all possibilities of materializing the intentions of Spanish domination. Struggle for the Frontier | A History of Tennessee Student Edition This results in the painful trekThe Trail of Tears. A small group of Cherokee refused to obey the forced eradication and escape into the Smoky Mountains. The men were guided by Robertson, while Donelson lead a fleet with women and children down river by the Tennessee y then up river by the Cumberland. The latter had founded the city of Louisville at of civilization across the western mountains. Knoxville was the capital since 1796. At a church service, Sister Susanna Kitchen complained against another church member for saying she harbored them Melungins. The term was derogatory, used by an outsider for those in the community she disapproved. Collectively known as Long Hunters, these individuals had ventured across the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains by the 1750s. These were led by Kasper Mansker, with whom In one of the largest victories achieved by theUnion Armyduring the war, Thomas attacked and routed Hoods army, largely destroying its capacity as a battle force. After the spending the winter in northern Florida and with news of gold in the direction of the rising sun, he headed northeast in the Spring of 1540, crossing Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas. The primary objective of the long hunters was the acquisition of furs for the lucrative international fur market. Elaborate pottery styles and an array of personal artifacts such For this purpose a party set out from Watauga in the month of The Chickasaw ruled the lands west of the Tennessee River. The information and knowledge gained by early explorers encouraged migration into the region. The fame of Sevier, for his great military feats and his courageous attempt to achieve independence, were known abroad. The first Europeans to reach the area were French fur traders, who built trading posts in the dense woods. Cultivation of new and improved (February 1862). The first British settlement in what is now Tennessee was built in 1756 by settlers from the colony of South Carolina at Fort Loudoun, near present-day Vonore. The counties of Jefferson and Knox were established on June 11, 1792. of these he might insure himself and his fellow immigrants The French progressed from the west lead by Father Jacques Marquette and the fur trader Louis Jolet, came down the Mississippi River. The English built Fort Loudon (in what now is Vonore, Tennessee), with the intention of keeping the Cherokee loyalty divided. After patenting his design, Holmes began the manufacture of tow trucks (called wreckers) and accessories for sale to mechanic garages for cars and whoever else had interest in recovering or towing crashed vehicles or with mechanical problems. New research and discoveries have substantiated the existence of the fort while providing the exact location of trenches with wood pillar remains. This is an increase of 17% above the census of 1970. Like the traders who preceded them, the long hunters sought furs; unlike the traders, they did not engage in barter with the Native Americans. Websettlement off in the Indian reservation, and Alexander Came-ron, an agent of the Royal Government, ordered its inhabitants to move back across the Holston. The region officially became part of the United States with the Jackson Purchase in 1818, 22 years after Tennessees statehood. The term appears again in October 1840 in the Jonesborough (Tennessee) Whig, where an impudent Melungeon from the nations capital, then called Washington City, was identified as a scoundrel who is half Negro and half Indian. Through the nineteenth century, the word Melungeon appears to have been used as an offensive term for nonwhite and/or low socioeconomic class persons by outsiders. Once the Royal authorities found proof of their existence past the Proclamation Line, soldiers responded by informing the settlers to return to North Carolina and Virginia. In 1682 another French expedition, led by Robert Cavelier de la Salle, also explored the Mississippi River and built a fort near the mouth of the Hatchie River, naming it Fort Prudhomme in honor of a comrade who was briefly lost from the rest of the group. However, as English traders and hunters became land-hungry settlers, the Cherokee came to see them as a threat. Peace was established between the English and Cherokee. It was at this time that With no success of finding gold, he returned to the west, entering Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama while trying to return to Mobile Bay to meet his ships. Celebration year of the Bicentennial of Tennessee as a state in the Union since 1796. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. thereafter prevailed among the colonists. above, was born in the year 1718, and was a native of The following information is provided for citations. Tennessee History | HISTORY: Latin America & Tennessee as the Archaic period, descendants of the Paleo-Indians began to settle on river terraces, where they gathered wild plant food and shellfish in addition WebThe first group of white settlers moved into the Watauga or Sycamore Shoals area (now Elizabethton in Carter County) around 1768. WebThose who disembarked near the mouth of Red River to settle on the banks of the stream were Moses, Isaac, Joseph and James Renfroe, Nathan and Solomon Turpin, Isaac Mayfleld, James Hollis, James Johns and a widow named Jones, with their respective families. In spite of the leaving victorious, De Soto withdrew to the the north, past the Tennessee River so his men would be isolated and unable to escape to the ships. Tennessee is the first of the Southern states to be readmitted to the Union on the 24th of July of that year. William Bean and James Robertson were the early leaders of this group. Cherokee, Chiaha, Chickasaw, Mosopelia, Muskogee Creek, Natchez, Shawnee, Tali, Tuskegee and the Yuchi. James Robertson, George Freeland, William Neely, Edward Swanson, James Hanly, Mark Robertson, Zachariah White, William Overall, I greatly appreciate them !! The counties of Montgomery and Robertson were established on April 9th, Grainger on April 22nd, Cocke and Union on October 9th. The mining industry grows in this area thanks to the railroad that connects it to the east coast. This time, the vote of Central Tennessee favored succession and the state joined with the Confederation. Isham G. Harris, then Governor(1857-1862) called the Assembly General of Tennessee to an emergency meeting in January of 1861, after the attack by the Union at Fort Sumter, denouncing the Union and President Lincoln for their warlike action. Not much time passed before the Native Americans destroyed the fort. Needham and Arthur arrived in Cherokee territory in 1673, the same year that the first French expedition sailed down the Mississippi. The 23rd of November the Army of the Cumberland under the command of Major General George H. Thomas managed to gain the high ground at Orchard Knob while part of the Tennessee Army under the command of Major General William T. Sherman maneuvered to launch a surprise attack on the right flank of Bragg at Missionary Ridge. This first group of settlers scattered in the central basin in search of land that could be cultivated. This pilgrimage was for the purpose of having an America's history is not static. The first settlers arrived to the area during the years after 1765. A treaty with the Chickasaw Indians by Jackson and Issac Shelby of Kentucky extends the demarcation line of Tennessee to the west until the Mississippi river. the Falls of the Ohio in 1778, and was now quartered near strains of corn and beans fueled another large jump in population. Tennessee continued to attract settlers from the Atlantic Coast into the 1830s and received Irish and German settlers during the European immigrations beginning at that time. The State Community College in Columbia is established. Brigadier-General James Robertson "Father of Tennessee''. The Whigs controlled state politics at the very time Jackson was president. gathered from all the settlements between Knoxville and New Albert Gore, Jr. is elected Vice-president of the United States. The first settler in Tennessee. Of the 19, 600 residents of Memphis, 5200 of them die in a yellow fever epidemic. to move thither and form a settlement. Finding some men who were going to Major General William S. Rosencrans, at the head of the Cumberland Army, marched from Nashville to Murfreesboro the 26th of December to confront the Army of Tennessee, led by General Braxton Bragg. amount of money the immigrant had in their possession. Some authors attempted to factually trace the origins of the Melungeons in the late 1800s. The Spanish explorer Captain Juan Pardo was the first to use the word Tennessee during an expedition during the summer of 1567. What was the largest Native American tribe in Tennessee? The territory, before becoming a state, fought to have a political voice and suffered without protection afforded by an organized government. groups of natives began to battle each other for territory and develop tribal identity. There was a treaty ceding lands in Georgia and Tennessee in return for an equal amount of land in Arkansas Territory, the first Indian Territory.. Latter-day Saint immigrants settled western Missouri in 1831 but were driven from the state in 1839. 10,500 Tennesseans volunteer to serve in the Korean War. and also avoid the danger of running the shoals. The principal objective was to attack Murfreesboro, an important railroad resupply center for the Union railroad from Nashville to Chattanooga, at dawn on the 13th of July. 68. 12,000-15,000 years ago - Paleo Indians. Coronal Shelby defeated the Chickamaugas near now Chattanooga. in the region. French Lick. From the beginning Blount College was only for men, as were the majority of college during those times. The aggressiveness of the settlers in the taking Native American lands created indigenous hostility so that the Native Americans sided with the British in the settlement conflict. Before statehood, it was known as the Territory South of the River Ohio. Between 1790 and 1800 the population of Tennessee tripled. These words, as does the French-derived melungeon, share their root in the Latin verb miscere, to mix. The theories on the origins of the families termed Melungeon have changed through the years. The Mayor Andrew Lewis built Fort Virginia near Echota, on Cherokee land, 25 miles southwest of Knoxville. Blount College, the antecedent of the University of Tennessee, was established in Knoxville in 1794, two years before Tennessee became a state. Who were the first A great accomplishment, success ringing as the early settlements would emerge from the land. WebThe first settler in Tennessee. Early Settlers | WATAUGA ASSOCIATION OF GENEALOGISTS Tennessee was divided in 3 zones on the question of the emancipation of slaves: the east of the state with its center in Knoxville was Unionist and in favor of abolition; the west of Tennessee, with its center in Memphis, was Confederate and defended the right to slavery and the center of the state with its capital of Nashville was equally divided, preferring to find a solution through dialogue. First White Settlers - Genealogy Village With With new inspiration, Sevier responded to the propositions of Dr. White. Indeed, the name Melungeon had until that time been used primarily by outsiders as a way to identify, and to belittle, a group within their community that appeared to be different. On Chickasaw hill, to the south of Wolf River, he constructed Fort San Fernando of the Barrancas, giving Spain control of the waterways of the Mississippi river until 1797 when it was abandoned according to the Treaty of Pinckney. Today a large number of persons have begun to search for their Melungeon roots, embracing an identity that most of their ancestors denied. The author's ancestors, who first came to Sumner County, Tennessee, were the Hobdys, the Cottons, the Durhams, the Gillespies, the Perdues, the Mattoxs, the Cochrans, the Abshers and the Mayes. had carefully selected his men, taking with him only suitable The white mans goal was no longer to have trading privileges but to take possession of land. Who were the first settlers of Tennessee? Several families did in fact leave the area but many chose to stay. One of the events that precipitated the dissolution of the State of Franklin happened in February of this year. When at length the crop was laid by, 1770 Photo Where did the first settlers in Tennessee come from? The census indicates that the population of Tennessee is 3,926,018. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. No candidate in the future would be able to be elected president without counting on the support of workers and farmers. from conifer to our modern deciduous forest. Despite their efforts to assimilate into the dominant white culture, most of the Cherokee of East Tennessee were forcibly removed from the state by the U.S. government in 183839. From the same section of Virginia originally came The Hancock County Historical and Genealogical Society estimated in 2001 that about 500 Melungeon descendants still lived in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. everything in readiness for the coming of the second party. Research into this theory is centered at the University of Virginia branch campus at Wise, and the Muslim-Portuguese account can be found at several Web sites devoted to Melungeons. In 1714, Charles Charleville built a small fort in Tennessee called Fort Lick. An increase in territorial warfare and the erection of ceremonial temples and public In the 150 years after de Soto first came to Tennessee, new native tribes moved into the area, defeating the less developed tribes. The Indigenous Confederation was headed by Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet. And that same year the grandson of the founder, Gerald Holmes, left the company and stated a new one named Century Wreckers. In the 1750s and 1760s, longhunters from Virginia explored much of East and Middle Tennessee. Responding to the threat, the Confederate government sent General Forrest to Chattanooga to organize a cavalry brigade. Jacksons champion in the U.S. House of Representatives, Tennessean James K. Polk, was elected president in 1844, although the majority of Tennesseans, sympathetic to the Whig Party, voted against him. Who was the first white man in Tennessee? Major General Ulysses S. Grant had been given the command of the Western Forces and considerable reinforcements arrived with him in Chattanooga from Mississippi and also from the East. Winfield Dunn is the first republican elected Governor of Tennessee in 50 years. He made his fortune in transport systems, first creating a service from State Island and later to California and France. Tennessee begins to emerge into the age of the cultural and intellectual frontier. Sometime between 3,000 and 900 BC, natives began to cultivate plants such as squash and gourds, and could therefore depend upon a regular food supply. Tennessee holds a vast amount of history and genealogy. The Archaic culture was succeeded by the Woodland culture and later by the Mississippian culture, both of which refined hunting methods and ultimately developed an agricultural livelihood. A final source of information about the region came as the result of political objectives, as was the case in the construction of Fort Loudoun, which was begun on the Little Tennessee River in 1756. In the final battle at Horseshoe Bend Jackson finally defeats the powerful military of the Creek. Kaskaskia, Robertson bought a drove of livestock, consisting of whose patronage he and his fellow settlers had come. The county of Humphreys was established on October 19th, Giles and Lincoln on November 14th. Territorial census: Governor Blount organized a constitutional convention in Knoxville. (LogOut/ From another perspective, the long hunters represented the first essential steps in the settlement process. -2023 With the expansion of the automobile industry Holmes business grew and eventually his products gained a world reputation for their quality and capacity. Center for Latin American Studies colonists in East Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia decided One of the most interested observers in the State of Franklin was Don Diego de Gardoqui who had come to America in 1785, commissioned by Spain as a diplomat in the United States and with the American Congress. Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, is born in Memphis. But over six month, as all the Deep South states seceded, Tennessees course had not always been certain. The 1st of December of this year, Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, refuses to obey the bus driver who orders her to give up her seat to a white passenger. The numbers and surnames of the families staying on the Tennessee lands required the Royal Governors to react. Also, sickness and accidents attributed to early deaths as did childbirths. His anti-slavery position is seen in Tennessee as potentially disastrous, especially in West Tennessee where the large capitals had invested in the slave industry. led by Juan Pardo introduced firearms and deadly European diseases to the native populations. A combination of misunderstood orders and the pressure of the tactical situation resulted in Thomas troops gaining the top of Missionary Ridge, putting the Tennessee Army in flight and retreat to Dalton, Georgia. The University of Tennessee football team wins the National Championship. William Bean and James Robertson were the early leaders of this group. By 1770 prices ranged from one dollar for deerskins to as much as five dollars for otter pelts. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. In 1777, commissioners of Virginia and North Carolina negotiated the Long Island Treaty with the Cherokee. From the earliest days of the exploration and settlement of the southeastern United States, tales abounded about exotic civilizations lost in the wilderness. The National Museum of Human Rights in Memphis is inaugurated in the same place as the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated, the 4th of April of 1968. The county of Clayborne was established on October 29th, Anderson, Jackson and Roane were established on November 6th. The Mississippian peoples were dominant when the first known European in the area, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, arrived in 1540 in search of gold. Martha Jane Huskey Ogle brought her seven children to the area and built her cabin, which can still be seen today at the Arrowmont School of through the wilderness they reached the French Lick. Being that its the Country Music Capital of the World, Nashville is home to many country singers and other celebrities who enjoy the country life. History tells us that the first person to use the world Tennessee with the current spelling was the Governor of South Carolina (1750), James Glen. The federal government begins to construct an atomic energy plant in Oak Ridge. (TOP 5 Tips), Who Are The Two Senators From Tennessee? Who were the early settlers in Tennessee? Town of Jonesborough, Tennessee The plan failed and in 1760, the Cherokee surrounded the fort and finally assassinated most of the captives. tribes. Long hunters struggled for survival with the wilderness environment as well as with Native Americans. A violent economic depression ruins the majority of banks and individuals. Early history examines the archaeological record that tells the story of the first inhabitants of Tennessee. East Tennessee: The first group of white settlers moved into the Watauga or Sycamore Shoals area (now Elizabethton in Carter County) around 1768. Reprint, Winston-Salem: John F. Blair Publisher, 2000. There they would either await the coming of the voyagers under Cherokee and Creek warriors launched violent and repeated attacks on the Cumberland villages. Then Governor Robert Taylor said: Some of those who saw the ruin of our land 30 years ago will appreciate the fact that we have built miracles.. as combs, pipes, and jewelry marked the complex society of these last prehistoric inhabitants of Tennessee. Nashville transforms into a center of education and arts in the south. For this reason, certain long hunters were also surveyors, and they became the best sources of information about the trans-Appalachia. The traders of Cumberland and across the region were unhappy and worried, they were equally concerned with their dissatisfaction with the central government that allowed absolute control of trade and with the resentment against the Spanish domination. (In the post-Civil War period, some persons of color commonly claimed Portuguese blood, associated with dark skin, as they sought to escape oppression as African Americans.) The first political leaders of Tennessee-Blount, Sevier, Henderson and Andrew Jackson-were dedicated to land speculation. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. About 12,000 years ago, the region's climate began to warm and the predominant vegetation changed favors from Virginia. 7 min read. Around it they built a rude fence for its protection against the Tennessee became a door to the west. Both sides used it during the war and the Confederates had evacuated it during the fall of New Madrid and Island #10 to the Union who had occupied it since. Humans first inhabited the land now known as Tennessee when the last of the Ice Age As previously related, the boundary line between North Carolina Volunteer State Professor John T. Scopes is declared guilty of violating the state law that prohibits the teaching of the Theory of Evolution. A Committee of Safety was organized and during the spring of 1776, Virginia was asked to annex the area. last residence, final destination in the U.S.. whether they had been to the U.S. before (and if so, when, where and how long). Of the 95 already established counties in Tennessee, 36 are formed between 1796 and 1819. Warmer climate, The Cherokee offensive was well-coordinated against the settlements of eastern Tennessee (the Battle of Island Flats and the attack of Fort Caswell). Between 4:15 and 4:30 in the morning of the 13th of July, Forrest surprised the Union squads at Woodbury, to the east of Murfreesboro and rapidly invaded a Federal hospital and the camp of a detachment of the 9th Regiment of Pennsylvania Cavalry. It does not store any personal data. Nashville, Tennessee, 1909. The Federal government establishes the Tennessee Valley Authority to conserve and develop the resources of the Tennessee River Valley. William Bean, supposedly the first permanent settler in Tennessee built a cabin on Boones Creek near the Watauga River. A network transmits for the first time from the Grand Ole Opry.. (courtesy of the Washington County, Tennessee Archives), (Courtesy of Washington County, Tennessee Archives-link attached with photo). animals. Guthrie argued that the Melungeons in the sample were a Caucasoid population from the Mediterranean, with some African ancestry, though it is impossible to ascertain whether this admixture dates from the Old World or has occurred since the groups arrival in America. The exact route of the Soto expedition through Tennessee is unclear, but it is likely that they crossed the Appalachian Mountains somewhere to the north of the Great Smokies and followed the French Broad River down to what later was southeast Tennessee. Those who established homesteads were men renowned in the early history of Tennessee. In the region of Memphis: During the summer of 1795, the Spanish governor of Louisiana, Manual Gayoso de Lemos, acquired Chickasaw Indian lands. The attack of the Creek Redsticks at Fort Mims (Alabama), where 240 men, women and children died. This caused the native population to increase, and groups of nomadic hunters began to settle into larger villages. The names of the Tennessee tribes included the Catawba, Touring the East Tennessee Backroads, Winston-Salem: John F. Blair Publisher, 1993. By her account, the Melungeons arose from African, white, Indian, and Portuguese ancestry, with an emphasis on the latter two. The delegates converted the territory to a state with an organized government and constitution before applying to Congress for admission to the Union. gave him assurance that French Lick was safely within the Who first settled in Tennessee? Wise-Answer He must have been close to James Chandler as well since they were both present at their weddings in 1811 to Keicher girls. Early on the 16th, Floyd and his second in command, Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow, handed over command to Brigadier General Simon Bolivar Buckner who accepted the conditions of Unconditional Surrender from General Grant. In 1990 an article by chemist James Guthrie revisited the Pollitzer-Brown study, looking at the gene frequencies in five blood groups. The Battle at Fort Donelson, the 11th to 16th of February, 1862, was fought shortly after the capture of Fort Henry on the 6th of February. all of whom were untiring in their efforts to extend the limits Hanly, Mark Robertson, Zachariah White, William Overall, and a Fort Pillow was located 40 miles to the north of Memphis and had been constructed by Brigadier General Gideon Johnson Pillow in 1862. Archaic Indians thereby ensured a dependable food supply and freed themselves from seasonal shortages of wild plant foods and game. Evidently my Ancestor got there a little to late for the 1778 tax list , but here is what I found: Vachel Dillingham entered two tracts of land, in 1778, and in 1779. His conclusion was that although the identity of the Melungeons as a distinctive mixed-race group had virtually disappeared, the term Melungeon still served a major function in two seemingly opposite ways. As the settlers made their way from North Carolina and Virginia, they traveled along many hunting trails of the Cherokee and the Catawba Indians. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The invention of the cotton gin during this period contributes to the increase of cotton plantations in central Tennessee. The county of Maury was established on November 16th, Warren on November 26th, Bledsoe and Rhea on November 30th, Bedford and Franklin on December 30th. The tribal identities of the 16th and 17th century occupants of Tennessee are disputed. The first permanent white settler was William Bean, who in 1769, built a cabin on the Watauga River in northeast Tennessee . Learn about the history and culture Of the ten southern secessionist states, Tennessee was the last to withdraw from the Union. Blount and William Cocke were named senators and Andrew Jackson was named representative. The attack by Forrest began at 10 am and was brutal and without cease.