John Sevier
Encyclopedia
John Sevier served four years (1785–1789) as the only governor of the State of Franklin
State of Franklin
The State of Franklin, known also as the Free Republic of Franklin or the State of Frankland , was an unrecognized autonomous United States territory created in 1784 from part of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains that had been offered,...

 and twelve years (1796–1801 and 1803–1809) as Governor of Tennessee. As a U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 from 1811 until his death. He also served as the commander of the Washington County, North Carolina, contingent of the Overmountain Men
Overmountain Men
The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Appalachian Mountains who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in the war's southern campaign, they are best known for their role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings...

 in the Battle of Kings Mountain
Battle of Kings Mountain
The Battle of Kings Mountain was a decisive battle between the Patriot and Loyalist militias in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War...

.

Early life

John Sevier was born in the town of New Market, Virginia
New Market, Virginia
New Market is a town in Shenandoah County, Virginia, United States. It had a population of 2,146 at the 2010 census. New Market is home to the Rebels of the Valley Baseball League, and the New Market Shockers of the Rockingham County Baseball League.-History:...

. His paternal grandfather, known as Valentine 'The Huguenot' Sevier, was from the French Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

 branch of the Xavier family that included as a distant relative Saint Francis Xavier; his paternal grandmother, Mary Smith, was English. Sevier's father was born in London, England, and his mother, Joanna Goad, was an American.

Along with his first wife, Sarah Hawkins, and their children, Sevier settled in the Holston River
Holston River
The Holston River is a major river system of southwestern Virginia and east Tennessee. The three major forks of the Holston rise in southwestern Virginia and have their confluence near Kingsport, Tennessee. The North Fork flows southwest from Sharon Springs in Bland County, Virginia...

 valley in what is now East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...

. It was at this time that he gained the nicknames Nolichucky Jack and Chucky Jack for his exploits along the Nolichucky River
Nolichucky River
The Nolichucky River is a major stream draining the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and east Tennessee. The river is long.-Hydrography:...

. That area was then claimed by Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, and he served briefly in Lord Dunmore's War in 1774. In this war John Sevier began to win the reputation as an Indian fighter that would make him a hero in his own day, though making some modern historians uncomfortable with his legacy.

Revolutionary War

Soon after settling in Northeast Tennessee
Tri-Cities, Tennessee
In Tennessee and Virginia the name "Tri-Cities" refers to the region comprising the cities of Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol and the surrounding smaller towns and communities in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia...

, Sevier involved himself in local politics, becoming a signatory to both the Watauga Association
Watauga Association
The Watauga Association was a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River in what is now present day Elizabethton, Tennessee...

 and the petition of the Washington District
Washington District, North Carolina
The Washington District of North Carolina was in a remote area west of the Appalachian Mountains, officially existing for only a short period of time , although it had been self-proclaimed and functioning as an independent governing entity since the spring of 1775...

 (known as the "Watauga Petition") asking North Carolina to become part of that state. He was the commander of the district's militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

 in the 1776 Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

 siege of Fort Caswell (or Fort Watauga
Fort Watauga
Fort Watauga, more properly Fort Caswell, was an American Revolutionary War fort that once stood at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee...

) near Sycamore Shoals
Sycamore Shoals
The Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, usually shortened to Sycamore Shoals, is a rocky stretch of river rapids along the Watauga River in Elizabethton, in the U.S. state of Tennessee...

 (present-day Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton is the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is also the historical site both of the first independent American government located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original thirteen British American colonies.Elizabethton is also the...

). After this battle he was promoted from Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel, and in this capacity led 240 of over 1,000 militiamen over the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...

 to fight against Major Patrick Ferguson
Patrick Ferguson
Major Patrick Ferguson was a Scottish officer in the British Army, early advocate of light infantry and designer of the Ferguson rifle. He is best known for his service in the 1780 military campaign of Charles Cornwallis, in which he aggressively recruited Loyalists and harshly treated Patriot...

 and a similar number of British Regulars and Carolina Loyalists
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...

 at the Battle of Kings Mountain
Battle of Kings Mountain
The Battle of Kings Mountain was a decisive battle between the Patriot and Loyalist militias in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War...

. The tremendous victory for the Overmountain Men
Overmountain Men
The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Appalachian Mountains who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in the war's southern campaign, they are best known for their role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings...

 increased Sevier's fame and popularity on the frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...

, and when the time came for the people of the area to govern themselves, Sevier was more than once their first choice.

During this time, Sevier's first wife, Sarah Hawkins, died, and he married Catherine "Bonny Kate" Sherrill.

Much of this story is presented every year in Liberty!, an outdoor drama performed in Elizabethton, Tennessee, site of the muster of the Overmountain Men.

State of Franklin

North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, bowing to the pressure from Congress
Congress of the Confederation
The Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled was the governing body of the United States of America that existed from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789. It comprised delegates appointed by the legislatures of the states. It was the immediate successor to the Second...

 and eager to be rid of an expensive and unprofitable district, ceded all her lands west of the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...

 to the United States Government. However, the Congress did not immediately accept the lands, creating a vacuum of power in what is now East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...

. Sevier was one of several prominent men who stepped into that vacuum, playing a founding role and accepting the governorship of the self-proclaimed State of Franklin
State of Franklin
The State of Franklin, known also as the Free Republic of Franklin or the State of Frankland , was an unrecognized autonomous United States territory created in 1784 from part of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains that had been offered,...

. When North Carolina rescinded her cession and re-asserted her claim to the district, Sevier initially wanted to return to the Old North State
Old North State
Old North State is an American Folk band from Durango, Colorado, formed in 2009. The band consists of founding members Dillon Wray and Jantzen Wray . The band released their debut studio album, Long Road Home independently in July 2011...

, in part because he was offered a promotion to brigadier general. William Cocke
William Cocke
William Cocke was an American lawyer, pioneer, and statesman. He has the distinction of having served in the state legislature of four different states: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and was one of the first two United States senators for Tennessee.-Biography:William was...

, another prominent Franklinite (and later U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 from Tennessee), convinced him to stay the course.

As North Carolina and Franklin competed for the loyalties of the residents of the area, Sevier became involved in intrigues with Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

 to gain control of Cherokee lands in what is now northern Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, and he even considered an alliance with Spain, whose Governor Esteban Rodríguez Miró
Esteban Rodríguez Miró
Esteban Rodriguez Miró y Sabater , also known as Esteban Miro and Estevan Miro, was a Spanish army officer and governor of the Spanish American provinces of Louisiana and Florida....

 sent gold to Sevier in hopes of subverting trans-Appalachian America. In September 1793, he was involved in the battle against Cherokees who slew white settlers near Georgia in Battle of Hightower
The 1793 Battle of Hightower
The Battle of Hightower in 1793 was part of the Chickamauga wars, in which the Cherokee sought to defend their territory from illegal immigration by white settlers...

. Both Franklin and North Carolina elected local officials, state senators, and representatives to Congress. Eventually some of Sevier's property was seized for taxes supposedly owed to North Carolina. This confiscation took place while Sevier was campaigning against Cherokee who were defending themselves against Franklinite settlers living south of the French Broad River
French Broad River
The French Broad River flows from near the village of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into the state of Tennessee. Its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville is the beginning of the Tennessee River....

. Upon his return, Sevier took the militia to the farm of John Tipton, a prominent North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 man (so prominent, in fact, that North Carolina supporters were often called Tiptonites), and laid siege for three days (February 27 to February 29, 1788). Tipton was ultimately reinforced by militia from Sullivan County, and two of Sevier's sons were captured. Upon their release, Sevier withdrew from the siege. This event became known as "The Battle of the Lost State of Franklin", and marked the beginning of the end for the Franklin government. Because the men on both sides were neighbours and friends, most deliberately missed in their shots, and few men were killed or injured. However, within a year, the State of Franklin would no longer exist.

Sevier was arrested in 1788 on a charge of treason under North Carolina law, but he escaped.

In 1789, Sevier was elected to the North Carolina Senate as a Federalist. After this election Sevier received a pardon from the governor, ending the treason charge.

Sevier was elected from North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 to the First United States Congress and served from June 16, 1790, until March 3, 1791.

Southwest Territory

In 1789, what is now Tennessee was again ceded by North Carolina to the U.S. government, and it was then organized into the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio, or "Southwest Territory". The capital was briefly at Jonesborough, Tennessee
Jonesborough, Tennessee
Jonesborough is a town in and the county seat of Washington County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The population was 4,168 at the 2000 census...

, then moved the following year to Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

. The governor, appointed by President Washington, was William Blount
William Blount
William Blount, was a United States statesman. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention for North Carolina, the first and only governor of the Southwest Territory, and Democratic-Republican Senator from Tennessee . He played a major role in establishing the state of Tennessee. He was the...

. Sevier and Blount worked together during the territorial period; but when Tennessee became a state, Sevier and Blount, and later Blount's protégé Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

 increasingly found themselves at odds.

Governor of Tennessee

When Tennessee became a state in 1796, Sevier was elected her first governor, and held the office through two re-elections to enjoy three two-year terms (the maximum number of consecutive terms allowed by the Tennessee Constitution of 1796). Upon his relinquishment of that post, he sought the semi-elective position of Major-General of volunteer forces for all of Tennessee. The vote was a tie, broken in favor of Sevier's rival, Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

, by the new governor, Archibald Roane
Archibald Roane
Archibald Roane was the second Governor of Tennessee, serving from 1801 to 1803.-Biography:Roane was born in 1759 or 1760 in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, then a part of Lancaster County. He was the son of Andrew and Margaret Walker Roane...

 who was a personal friend of Jackson's. Sevier and Jackson would remain bitter enemies until Sevier's death, and they would even make an attempt at dueling one another in 1803. Sevier and Jackson met outside the courthouse in Knoxville and Sevier brought up Jackson's marriage to Rachel. Jackson, insulted, requested an interview a euphemism for a duel and the two eventually met outside of Kingston, Tennessee. After a lot of name calling and threats, the two rode off without firing a shot. In that same year, Sevier would be reelected to the governor's chair, defeating Roane, and held it for six more years. Partially because of the unusually short length of his first term due to the time of the admission of the state to the Union, Sevier served as governor of Tennessee longer than any other person except for fellow six-term governor William Carroll, who served for slightly over twelve full years.

Later life

After serving as governor for the second set of three terms, Sevier was elected to the Tennessee State Senate in 1809 and to the U.S. House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 in 1811, holding the latter office until his death. Sevier died one day past his seventieth birthday while surveying
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

 the boundary between the state of Georgia and the Creek Nation in modern Alabama, an area he was familiar with from his days as a land speculator.

Family

By his first wife, Sevier had ten children, and by his second wife he had eight children.

Much like the Sally Hennings/Thomas Jefferson descendants, there are currently several lines of families who claim to descend from John Sevier and an unknown Cherokee Indian woman. Their daughter, Winney Alice Sevier, was left at the Henry Campbell farm in Russell County
Russell County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 30,308 people, 11,789 households, and 8,818 families residing in the county. The population density was 64 people per square mile . There were 13,191 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...

, Virginia, when the mother could no longer care for her. She fell in love with one of the boys who lived on the farm, Abraham Campbell, and they married and lived in a house on the adjacent farm.

A large family of Seviers in Madison Parish
Madison Parish, Louisiana
-National protected areas:* Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge * Vicksburg National Military Park -Demographics:-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S...

, Louisiana, also claim descent from John Sevier, among them State Senator
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

 Andrew L. Sevier
Andrew L. Sevier
Andrew Leonard Sevier, Sr. , was an attorney from Tallulah, Louisiana, who served for thirty years from 1932 until his death as a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate. He represented the 32nd District, which then included Madison, East Carroll, Tensas, and Concordia parishes...

 of Tallulah
Tallulah, Louisiana
Tallulah is a city in and the parish seat of Madison Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 9,189 at the 2000 census...

, who served in the upper house in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...

 from 1932 until his death in 1962.

Monuments and memorials

The Gov. John Sevier Home is a Tennessee state historic site.
Both Sevierville, Tennessee
Sevierville, Tennessee
Sevierville is a city in Sevier County, Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States. Its population was 11,757 at the 2000 United States Census; in 2004 the estimated population was 14,101. Sevierville is the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee....

, and Sevier County, Tennessee
Sevier County, Tennessee
Sevier County is a county of the state of Tennessee, United States. Its population was 71,170 at the 2000 United States Census. It is included in the Sevierville, Tennessee, Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN Combined Statistical Area. The...

, are named in his honor, as is John Sevier Highway in Knox County, Tennessee
Knox County, Tennessee
Knox County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its 2007 population was estimated at 423,874 by the United States Census Bureau. Its county seat is Knoxville, as it has been since the creation of the county. The county is at the geographical center of the Great Valley of East Tennessee...

.

John Sevier Elementary School, located in Maryville, Tennessee
Maryville, Tennessee
Maryville is the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. The city is located south of Knoxville. Maryville's population was 27,258 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Maryville has received a number of accolades for its...

, and John Sevier Middle School, located in Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport is a city located mainly in Sullivan County with some western portions in Hawkins County in the US state of Tennessee. The majority of the city lies in Sullivan County...

, are also named in his honor.
The Tennessee Valley Authority runs a coal-fired power plant bearing his name.

Myrtle Hill Cemetery
Myrtle Hill Cemetery
Myrtle Hill Cemetery, also nicknamed "Where Romans Rest", is the second oldest cemetery in the city of Rome, Georgia. The cemetery is at the confluence of the Etowah River and Oostanaula River and to the south of downtown Rome across the South Broad Street bridge. Myrtle Hill is one of the seven...

, Rome, Georgia
Rome, Georgia
Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Rome is the largest city and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Floyd County...

, the Xavier chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....

 erected a monument to Sevier in 1901.

John Sevier's funerary monument stands on the east lawn of the Knox County Courthouse grounds, where his body was re-interred in 1889.

Norfolk Southern Railway operates a classification yard
Classification yard
A classification yard or marshalling yard is a railroad yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railroad cars on to one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a lead or a drill...

 in the northeast Knox County. It is known as John Sevier Yard.

His monument still stands in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sevier Hall on Austin Peay State University campus is named in honor of John Sevier, and currently houses over 100 girls a semester.

See also

  • Governor John Sevier Historic Site - Marble Springs
  • Daniel Boone
    Daniel Boone
    Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...

  • Kings Mountain National Military Park
    Kings Mountain National Military Park
    Kings Mountain National Military Park is a National Military Park near Blacksburg, South Carolina, along the North Carolina/South Carolina border...

  • Kings Mountain, North Carolina
    Kings Mountain, North Carolina
    Kings Mountain is a small suburban city of Gastonia and Charlotte in Cleveland and Gaston counties, North Carolina, United States. The population was 9,693 at the 2000 census....

  • Roan Mountain State Park
    Roan Mountain State Park
    Roan Mountain State Park is a Tennessee state park in Carter County in Northeast Tennessee along the Tennessee-North Carolina border near the community of Roan Mountain, Tennessee. Situated in the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, the park preserves woodlands near 6,285 foot Roan Mountain...

  • Roan Mountain, Tennessee
    Roan Mountain, Tennessee
    Roan Mountain is a census-designated place in Carter County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,360 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area...

  • Carter County, Tennessee
    Carter County, Tennessee
    Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 57,424. Its county seat is Elizabethton.Carter County is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined...

  • Valentine Sevier
    Valentine Sevier
    Valentine Sevier II was a pioneer settler on the Tennessee frontier and a younger brother of John Sevier, the state's first governor.-Family background:...

  • Isaac Shelby
    Isaac Shelby
    Isaac Shelby was the first and fifth Governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina. He was also a soldier in Lord Dunmore's War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812...

  • Tennessee Valley
    Tennessee Valley
    The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina...

  • James Robertson (early American)
    James Robertson (early American)
    James Robertson was an explorer and pioneer active primarily in what is now the State of Tennessee during the second half of the 18th century. An early companion of explorer Daniel Boone, Robertson helped establish the Watauga Association in the early 1770s, and helped defend Fort Watauga from an...

  • Chickamauga wars
    Chickamauga wars
    The Chickamauga Wars were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles which were a continuation of the Cherokee struggle against encroachment by American frontiersmen from the former British colonies...

  • Watauga Association
    Watauga Association
    The Watauga Association was a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River in what is now present day Elizabethton, Tennessee...

  • State of Franklin
    State of Franklin
    The State of Franklin, known also as the Free Republic of Franklin or the State of Frankland , was an unrecognized autonomous United States territory created in 1784 from part of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains that had been offered,...


Further reading

  • Driver, Carl Samuel. John Sevier: Pioneer of the Old Southwest. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1932

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK