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TENNESSEE HISTORY.
----BY----
JOHN ALLISON.
1897:
MARSHALL & BRUCE CO.,
NASHVILLE.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1897,
BY JOHN ALLISON,
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
DEDICATION.
TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER,
WHO, WHEN I WAS BUT A YOUTH,
FIRST INTERESTED ME IN AND TAUGHT ME MUCH
OF THE
EARLY HISTORY
OF THE
PIONEERS OF MY NATIVE STATE.
PREFACE.
This little volume, as will appear to the reader, is not a history of
anything nor of anybody, and is not so intended. The whole is simply an
effort to put together in readable form some facts in the very earliest
history of Tennessee not hitherto fully shown, if even mentioned.
I was born and brought up at Jonesboro, in Washington county,
Tennessee, and resided there until 1889.
My mother, when I was a mere boy, first interested me in and taught
me much about the pioneers and early history of my native state.
Following up much learned from her, I frequently visited old gentlemen
and aged ladies in Eastern Tennessee and a few in North Carolina, and
conversed with them about “old times” and their early lives, and from
them obtained much information not to be gotten in any other way. By
a formal order of the County Court of Washington county, made many
years ago, I was given custody and possession of the very earliest
court records made at Jonesboro (records from 1778 up to 1800, as I now
remember), and had possession of them for two or three years, and at
odd times went through and copied much from these old records. I had,
however, become interested in, and read much, from these court records
before the order of the court giving me possession of them.
I made, as best I could, original investigation as to facts plainly
suggested by the proceedings of the courts, as to the men who
constituted the court, their lives, character, etc., and also as to the
events surrounding, or involved in, the entries as indicated by the
substance of the “motions,” “orders,” etc.
Where authorities consulted and information obtained in my original
investigation have conflicted as to a date, I have given that which
seemed most probably the correct one: where no date at all could
be found or fixed, I have followed the “illustrious example of
distinguished historians,” and said, “about this time”--without giving
any date at all.
By permission of my long, long time scholarly friend, Dr. R. L. C.
White, the author, I publish with the volume “A Centennial Dream” with
the Key thereto. The “dream” and interpretation are put in an appendix,
for the reason that I can not copyright either.
Dr. White’s “Centennial Dream” has suggested, in fewer words, more
Tennessee history than any publication heretofore made, and, as
hundreds of persons can testify, has excited more interest, and caused
more thorough investigation, in Early History of Tennessee, than any
book or paper hitherto written on the subject. It will live as an
attractive, proficient instructor and teacher of the history of the
“Volunteer State” after he has “crossed over the river” and is at “rest
under the shade of the trees.”
All who read the dream and key to it will appreciate the obligation I
am under to Dr. White.
CONTENTS.
I. ANDREW JACKSON, ATTORNEY AT LAW 1
II. THE PICKETS OF CIVILIZATION 15
III. A UNIQUE COURT 38
IV. A TRAGIC EPISODE 60
V. EARLY TENNESSEE LEGISLATION 69
VI. MIRO, ALIAS “MERO” 86
VII. ANDREW JACKSON AS A “SPORT” 100
VIII. JACKSON’S DUEL WITH AVERY 110
IX. ANDREW JACKSON, DEPUTY SHERIFF AND FIREMAN 119
X. ANDREW JACKSON, THE MAN 125
“A CENTENNIAL DREAM” 137
INTERPRETATION OF THE “DREAM” 143
INDEX 151
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TENNESSEE HISTORY.
CHAPTER I.
_ANDREW JACKSON, ATTORNEY AT LAW._
Most English-reading people, as well as many of those who read history
written in other languages, are familiar with the life and deeds of
_General_ and _President_ Andrew Jackson; and very many people in
the United States know of _Senator_ and _Judge_ Andrew Jackson. Few,
however, are acquainted with young Andrew Jackson, Esq., attorney at
law, of Jonesboro, then (1788-9) the county-seat of Washington county.
North Carolina. They are all one and the same personage; and it can
truthfully be said that there is a still smaller number who know
anything whatever about the leading and dominating characteristics
of the people among whom young Andrew Jackson really began life, at
Jonesboro, in what is now Washington county, Tennessee.
Most of Jackson’s biographers, and nearly all of those who have written
and spoken about him, make him begin his business and professional life
at Nashville, in the fall of the year 1788. John Reid, in his “Life of
Andrew Jackson” (published in 1817), says that Jackson, on reaching the
settlement on the Holston river, near Jonesboro, remained there until
October, 1788, when he left and went to Nashville, arriving at the
latter place during the same month. Jenkins, in his “Life of General
Jackson” (published in 1850), says that Jackson reached Nashville in
October, 1788. Parton, in his “Life of Jackson” (published in 1860),
says: “Upon the settlement of the difficulties between North Carolina
and her western counties (1788), John McNairy, a friend of Jackson’s,
was appointed judge of the Superior Court for the Western District, and
Jackson was invested with the office of solicitor or prosecutor for the
same district.... Thomas Searcy, another of Jackson’s friends, received
the appointment of clerk of the court.... Before the end of October,
1788, the long train of immigrants, among whom was Mr. Solicitor
Jackson, reached Nashville, to the great joy of the settlers there.”
The distinguished historians are all in error in all of these
statements. There was no Superior Court at Nashville at this date.
The act of the general assembly of North Carolina, providing for or
establishing a Superior Court of Law and Equity for the counties of
Davidson, Sumner and Tennessee, was not passed until November, 1788.
The act passed at Fayetteville, in that month, “erected the counties
of Davidson, Sumner and Tennessee into a district for the holding of
Superior Courts of Law and Equity therein, by the name of Mero.” The
first volume of the original record of the minutes of the Superior
Court of Law and Equity for the district of Washington--then the
“Western District”--at Jonesboro, shows that David Campbell alone held
that court from the February term, 1788 (which was the first term),
until the February term, 1789, at which latter term the record shows
that Judge McNairy appeared and sat with Judge Campbell. The same
volume shows that, at the February term, 1788, and on the first day
of the term, Francis Alexander Ramsey was appointed and qualified as
clerk of the court, and that “Archibald Roan was appointed Attorney
to prosecute on behalf of the State,” on the first day of the term,
but that he resigned on the following day; “whereupon, William Sharp,
Esq. is appointed in his room.” Sharp continued to act as prosecuting
attorney until February, 1790, when, as the record shows, he was
succeeded by William Cocke. The same volume has this entry: “August
Term 1788. John McNairy Esq. produced a License to practice as an
Attorney in the several Courts within this State with a certificate
from the Clerk of the Court for the District of Salisbury that he
has taken the oaths necessary for his qualification as an attorney
whereupon he is admitted to Practice in this Court.”
The Superior Court of Law and Equity for the Mero District was not
formally organized and opened until late in the year 1789, when John
McNairy was appointed judge of that court.
Under the territorial form of government provided by Congress, in
May, 1790, for “the territory of the United States of America south
of the river Ohio,” the President appointed three attorneys for the
territory--one for Washington District, one for Hamilton District and
one for the “Mero District.” Andrew Jackson was appointed in and for
the “District of Mero,” and I have not been able to find any evidence
whatever that he held any office whatever prior to this appointment.
It is doubtful whether he ever received any compensation from the
government of the United States for the services rendered as attorney
of the “Mero District;” for, at the first session of the third general
assembly of Tennessee, an act was passed, October 26, 1799, the second
section of which is as follows: “Be it enacted, that the sum of four
hundred dollars shall be and the same is hereby appropriated for the
payment of the sum due Andrew Jackson, as a full compensation for
his services as Attorney General for the District of Mero under the
territorial government.” Andrew Jackson never accepted payment twice
for the same service.
Section 1 of the same act appropriates two hundred dollars “to
Archibald Roane, as full compensation for services as Attorney General
for the District of Hamilton under the territorial government.”
Jackson did not arrive at Nashville until the fall of the year 1789
or the spring of 1790--most probably the latter. He “settled” in
Jonesboro, in what was then Washington county, North Carolina, and is
now Washington county, Tennessee, in the early part of the spring of
1788. He probably came from Morganton, North Carolina, across the range
of mountains to Jonesboro, as early in the spring as the melting snow
and ice made such a trip over the Appalachians possible. From Morganton
to Jonesboro, by the trail or route then travelled, was more than one
hundred miles, two-thirds of which, at that time, was without a single
human habitation along its course. As emigration from east of the
mountains to “the new world west of the Alleghanies” was considerable
about this period, it is quite possible that Judge McNairy and others
came at the same time; but who they all were, and the exact date of
their arrival in Jonesboro, is not known.
On the old record books of the minutes of the proceedings of the Court
of Pleas and Quarter Sessions kept at Jonesboro will be found the
following entry: “State of North Carolina Washington County, Monday the
Twelfth day of May Anno Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty
Eight. Andrew Jackson Esq. came into Court and Produced a license as
an Attorney With A Certificate sufficiently Attested of his Taking
the Oaths Necessary to said office and Was admitted to Practiss as
an Attorney in this County Court.” The entry immediately preceding
recites that “Archibald Roane, David Allison, and Joseph Hamilton
Esquires Produced sufficient Licenses to Practiss as Attorneys and were
admitted,” etc.; and the entry immediately following recites that “John
McNairey Produced a license as an Attorney,” etc., and “was admitted to
Practiss as an attorney,” etc.
Thus this old record shows the admission to the bar, on the same
day, in the one-story log court-house, twenty-four feet square, at
Jonesboro, of five young men.
Jackson’s promotion from one office to another, until he reached the
highest and most exalted office on earth, the Presidency of the United
States, is known to all; but that “Twelfth day of May Anno Domini One
Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty Eight” must have been a lucky day,
or there must have been good material in those young men--for Andrew
Jackson was not the only one of them who attained eminence. Jackson
was first United States attorney for the “District of Mero,” but Roane
held the same office at the same time in the Hamilton District, while
McNairy presided over both of them as federal judge for “the territory
of the United States of America south of the river Ohio.” Jackson
met both McNairy and Roane as fellow delegates in the constitutional
convention for Tennessee, in 1796. Jackson was afterward a judge of
the Superior Court of Law and Equity, but so were both McNairy and
Roane--and this, too, before Jackson reached the bench, they having
been elected at the first session of the first general assembly of
Tennessee, in April, 1796, before the state had been formally admitted
into the Union by act of Congress. Their decisions, however, were never
called into question on that ground.
In 1797, McNairy was appointed a district judge of the Federal Court
in Tennessee, which position he held continuously until his death in
1831 or 1832, leaving his reputation as a wise and just judge and an
upright man as a heritage to Tennesseans.
Roane resigned his judgeship in June, 1801, and was elected Governor
of Tennessee in the following August. On retiring from the office
of Governor, after having served two years, he remained in private
life until 1811, when he was appointed circuit judge. Thereafter--in
October, 1815--he was again appointed to the Superior Court bench,
where he remained until April or May, 1818, and then retired from
public service, honored and esteemed.
David Allison was commissioned “Master of the Rolls and Clerk in Equity
of the Superior Court of Law and Equity” for Washington District at
Jonesboro, by Judges Samuel Spencer and David Campbell, in August,
1788. He held this office for about two years, resigning in 1790,
when he went to the settlement on the Cumberland--now Nashville--and
engaged, I believe, in the mercantile business.
Joseph Hamilton disappears entirely from the court records and
proceedings at Jonesboro, and I have been able only to trace him
elsewhere, as Clerk of the County Court of Caswell county, State of
Franklin, 1785, and when he was appointed by the territorial Governor
and Council to aid in running and marking the lines of Knox and
Jefferson counties, when they were established in 1792, and where he
was appointed one of the Trustees of Greeneville College in 1794.
It was while Roane was Governor, in 1802, that the memorable
contest between John Sevier and Andrew Jackson, for the position of
Major General of militia in Tennessee, occurred. It was no empty
and meaningless honor to hold this position then in the state--as
subsequent events demonstrated. Under the terms of the constitution,
the Major General was elected by the field officers of the militia.
When the votes which had been cast were counted, there was found to
be a tie between Jackson and Sevier. The Governor, by virtue of his
office, was commander-in-chief of the militia. He was therefore a field
officer, and as such was entitled to cast, and did cast, the deciding
vote between these two great commanders. Governor Roane gave his vote
for Jackson, and Jackson thus became Major General of militia in
Tennessee, which led him up to the victory he gained over the British
at New Orleans, and this victory eventually made him President of the
United States. If Roane had voted for Sevier?--I am a Presbyterian.
Roane was a candidate for re-election to the office of Governor, in
August, 1803. John Sevier was a candidate against him, and defeated
him, notwithstanding the fact that Roane had the earnest and active
support of Jackson. Jackson and Roane combined could not beat Sevier
before the people, although the latter had been three times Governor
theretofore. Roane, as before stated, remained in private life until
1811. Sevier was twice elected Governor after having defeated Roane,
and remained in public service almost continuously until his death
in September, 1815. To give in detail the various offices with which
John Sevier was honored, every one of which he honored in turn,
would be foreign to the subject. He filled every office known to the
statutes--and some which were unknown--except two: he was never a
Senator in Congress nor a judge of any of the Superior Courts. (He was
not a lawyer.) Nothing that could be said on the subject would add to
this evidence of the confidence the people had in him, and of their
faith in and affection for the man.
Jackson had attained to the age of twenty-one years on the 15th of
March preceding the entry above quoted, admitting him to the bar in
Washington county. He may have been formally admitted at Salisbury or
Morganton, North Carolina, but he did not in fact open an office or
enter upon the practice of law at either place. The order admitting him
to the bar at Jonesboro, therefore, may be accepted and regarded as the
opening entry in the business life and the professional and political
career of this, one of the greatest of all Americans.
These old court records at Jonesboro disclose the fact that Jackson
was in the town and in attendance on the Court of Pleas and Quarter
Sessions, at its November term, 1788. Under the law at that time, bills
of sale of slaves and horses and deeds to land had to be proven in the
court mentioned. A bill of sale was presented to this court by Jackson,
at its November term, 1788. This bill of sale is given below, for
reasons hereafter to be stated. It is as follows: “A Bill of Sale from
Micajah Crews to Andrew Jackson, Esquire for A Negroe Woman named Nancy
about eighteen or twenty years of Age was Proven in Open Court by the
Oath of David Allison a Subscribing Witness and Ordered to be Recorded.”
The court records for the years 1788 and 1789, kept in Washington,
Sullivan, Greene and Hawkins counties, establish the fact that Jackson
was practising law in those counties during the two years mentioned. He
could not, in the very nature of things, have attended court in those
counties, if he had been residing at Nashville or practising law in
Davidson, Sumner and Tennessee counties, which at that time constituted
the “District of Mero.”
It has been stated without qualification by some writers that Jackson
was present in Morganton, North Carolina, when Governor John Sevier
escaped from the authorities there and returned to “the western
waters.” Parton says that “Jackson may have witnessed the celebrated
rescue of Governor Sevier, as, about the time of its occurrence in
1788, he was at Morganton, on a visit to Colonel Waightstill Avery,
on his way to the western wilds of Tennessee.” Sevier, for having
organized and been elected Governor of the “lost state of Franklin,”
was arrested near Jonesboro, in October, 1788, and taken to Morganton;
but there was no such “celebrated rescue” or escape of Sevier as that
pictured in the various accounts of this affair which have been given.
Sevier, on reaching Morganton, was met by Generals Charles McDowell and
Joseph McDowell, who became his bondsmen until he could make a visit
to a brother-in-law who resided some miles from the town. Sevier made
this visit, returning to Morganton on the second day after leaving, and
reported to the sheriff of Burke county, who permitted him to go where
he pleased without requiring bond. In the meantime, Sevier’s two sons,
James and John, together with Major Evans, Mr. Crosby and probably
others from “the western waters,” had arrived in Morganton; and, in
consequence of what was then told to Sevier by his sons and friends
(which need not be stated here), he left Morganton, quietly and openly,
in broad day, and returned with them immediately to Washington county.
All of these occurrences took place during the month of October, 1788;
and Jackson could not have been, during this month, in Morganton, in
Jonesboro and in Nashville. He was, as before stated, at Jonesboro,
familiarizing himself with the country and getting acquainted with the
people in the counties mentioned.
It has been written of Jackson that he came into the “new settlements”
on foot, or that he walked from Morganton to Jonesboro. This is
incorrect. More than twenty-five years ago, the writer made it his
business to investigate the truth of that statement, and also other
incidents and facts in reference to the early life of Jackson while
he made his home at Jonesboro. There were then living in Washington
and the surrounding counties several aged native-born citizens who had
known Jackson personally, and who had heard much concerning him. These
old gentlemen, who ranged in age around eighty-five years, delighted
to talk of what they knew and had heard of Jackson when he came to
Jonesboro, and while he lived there during the years 1788 and 1789. All
that has been or will be stated herein is from notes of conversations
had with them, and either taken literally from or based on the old
court records at Jonesboro. From these sources of information it can be
asserted as truth that Jackson arrived in Jonesboro riding one horse
and leading another; that the horse he was riding was a “race horse;”
that he had a pair of “holsters” (pistols) buckled across the front
of his saddle; and that on the led horse was a shot gun, a “pack”
and a well-filled pair of saddle-bags, while following after him and
by his side was a goodly pack of foxhounds. This is an inventory of
his personal belongings, as given me by at least three of these old
gentlemen,[A] each of whom had known Jackson personally, and had heard
the story of his arrival in the community repeated often by fathers,
mothers and others. It is reasonable to infer that he had some money
also, or he could not, within a few months after his arrival, have
purchased the slave shown, by the bill of sale set out above, to have
been bought by him. The price of such a slave as that described was at
that time about three hundred dollars. When one of the old gentlemen
referred to was told by me that it had been said and “published” that
Jackson had come to Jonesboro “afoot,” he fired up and his eyes fairly
sparkled as he exclaimed: “Good God! Jackson never walked anywhere
from necessity. He came here riding a race-horse and leading another
first-rate horse.”
Jackson made his home, while he remained in the eastern part of what
is now Tennessee, at the house of Christopher Taylor (father of Abram
Taylor, before mentioned), about one mile west of Jonesboro, on the
road that led from the town to the “Brown settlement” on the Nolichucky
river. The old house is still standing, and can be seen from the
passing trains on the Southern railway. A view of it, as it appeared
some years ago, is given.
[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR.
Where Andrew Jackson boarded during years 1788-9. Showing port-holes.
Erected about 1773. From a photograph taken in April, 1897.]
Christopher Taylor was a slaveholder and a large landowner, and had
some race-horses which were fairly good for the times, together with
a pack of the “finest and fastest hounds” in the country. While every
one knew that Jackson was a devotee of the race-course, a lover of the
chase and not averse to a cock-fight, still he was admired and esteemed
by all, from the time he came into the country.
It is not probable that he had a law-office in Jonesboro, the tradition
being that he received and consulted with his clients at Christopher
Taylor’s, when court was not in session. When he was consulted by a
client, his first effort was to compromise or adjust the difference,
if possible; failing in this, he was most stubborn and unrelenting
on behalf of his client, never, however, resorting to anything not
in keeping with the strictest rules of propriety and fairness, and
always courteous, manly and open in his bearing toward court, jury and
opposing counsel, and exacting from every one the most respectful and
courteous treatment, whether in court, at the race-course or elsewhere.
He never insinuated anything--he spoke it out plainly. He despised
deceit and treachery, and he held in the highest esteem the bold, open
loyalty of a man to a friend or a conviction. He loathed any man who
was guilty of a little mean, or mean little, act. He had a profound
contempt for the narrow-minded and penurious or niggardly man. He
himself was not extravagant, but his heart and hand seemed to open
spontaneously to a deserving object of charity. Strange to say, while
he did not know what fear was, he was often heard to express great
sympathy for cowards or the timid, and he would never allow such an one
to be imposed on in his presence.
It is not necessary to recite evidence or narrate circumstances to show
that such a man as Jackson had the most exalted opinion of woman, and
that he was always her champion and defender; but an incident which
occurred at Rogersville, in Hawkins county, will be related here.
A most estimable widow kept the “tavern” at Rogersville. Her house
was generally full during court week. One day, a stranger came into
the public or reception room, shortly before supper, and asked for
entertainment or a room. The landlady in person showed him a room, with
two or three beds in it, and told him that he could, if he wished,
occupy that room with two other gentlemen, having a bed to himself,
explaining that, on account of it being court week, her house was so
crowded that she could not give him a separate room. The stranger was
not pleased with this arrangement, and so told the landlady. As they
returned to the public room, the stranger, just as they entered it,
made some insolent remark about a country and a town which could not
afford a gentleman a separate room. Jackson, who was sitting in the
room, heard the remark. Springing to his feet, he seized the stranger
by the arm, exclaiming, “Come with me, sir--I’ll find a separate
room and bed for you!” The stranger, observing Jackson’s tone and
manner, hesitated, and asked him what he meant. The only answer he
received was, “Come on, sir!” and he reluctantly went with Jackson,
who was still holding him by the arm. Jackson took his captive out
the “back way,” and brought him up in front of a corn-crib, in which
were some corn and shucks. Opening the door of the crib, he commanded
the stranger to “climb in,” at the same time displaying in his right
hand an argument that so overcame all desire of resistance that
prompt obedience was the immediate result. The stranger “climbed in,”
apologizing and begging at the same time, and Jackson closed the door
upon him. After looking at his prisoner for some minutes with great
satisfaction, Jackson asked him if he was willing to go back to the
house, apologize to the landlady, and accept the room which she had
offered him. The stranger readily expressed his willingness to do this,
which he did, and so the incident closed.
In going from Jonesboro to the courts in Greene, Hawkins and Sullivan
counties, Jackson always took with him his shotgun, holsters and
saddle-bags, and very often his hounds, so that he was always ready to
join in a deer chase or a fox hunt. He was an unerring marksman, and
was always the centre of attraction at the “shooting matches,” at which
the prizes were quarters of beef, turkeys and deer. He would dismount
anywhere on these trips, in order to participate in such a contest; and
messengers were frequently sent from remote parts of the settlements,
inviting him to come out and join in a hunt or a “shooting match.” He
invariably accepted such invitations.
In those early days, when a new settler came into the community, or
a young man married, as soon as the place for the “clearing” and the
erection of a cabin was fixed upon, the neighbors “gathered in,” and
they had what was called a “house raising” and a “barn raising.” They
felled the trees, hewed the logs and built the house and barn--all in
one day, or in two days at most. It was said that Jackson attended
more of these house and barn “raisings” than any other one man in
the country. They usually wound up with a fox hunt, a deer chase or
a shooting match. He was said to have been “a horseman without an
equal, the boldest and most fearless rider that had ever crossed
the Alleghanies.” He would ford or swim his horse through a river
wherever he came to it, if he wished to get to the opposite side. His
aggressiveness and restlessness were often the subject of remark, and
led to the opinion, which was freely expressed, that if ever there was
a war, he would be a great general.
He began life among people who had views and opinions of their own
on all questions of the day and subjects of public interest; yet his
judgment was consulted and his views sought on almost all public
affairs, notwithstanding his youth. He was recognized from the first as
a man who “would fight at the drop of a hat, and drop the hat himself”;
but in all the personal difficulties which he had while he resided in
Washington county, save one--a duel with Col. Avery, an account of
which will be given in another chapter--public opinion was generally
largely in his favor.
It may, and it should, be interesting to those who love and revere the
memory of Andrew Jackson to know something of the life, habits and
characteristics of the people among whom he first settled at Jonesboro,
as well as of those with whom he afterwards made his permanent home at
Nashville; for whatever can be said to the credit and glory of either
the early settlers on the Watauga or those upon the Cumberland can
be truthfully said of the others. Therefore, a brief account of the
dominating characteristics of the people among whom he first settled
will be given. This will, it is believed, throw some light on the
formation of Jackson’s character, methods and course throughout his
life.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Major Bird Brown, Abram Taylor and John Allison.