State of Franklin

Sullivan,Washington, Greene,

& Davidson County, Tennessee

The State of Franklin was set up in 1784 out of the westerly portion of the colonial state of North Carolina. Shortly after the War of Independence the original colonies were asked to pay for the war efforts and create a country with a sound financial policy. Since the taxing the population was difficult and cash was in short supply North Carolina ceded the western portion of the state to the federal coffers. Before the Congress could accept the offer North Carolina withdrew the offer. The citizens of the region decided that federal rule in the meantime was probably a good idea since North Carolina as a state had given this remote region little support in its fight with the Indians or protection from criminal refugees. They saw other benefits as an independent state in terms of taxation, representation and an understanding attitude toward local problems. Representatives of the North Carolina counties of Sullivan, Washington, Greene, and Davidson accepted the offer of cessation to federal territory. The state of Franklin existed for only four years to finally merge with the new state of Tennessee.

This region is centered geographically around the valleys created by the Holston and Clinch Rivers in the Cumberland and Appalachian mountains. This rugged territory was a refuge for the frontier type before and shortly after the War of Independence. It includes the towns of Knoxville, Bristol, and Greenville, Tennessee. Near Greenville is the birth place of Davy Crockett with Bristol on the Virginia border as one of the gateway cities into the western territory.

A convention of delegates (except for Davidson County that sent none) met on August 23, 1784 and after intense debate they declared these western counties independent of North Carolina on a unanimous vote. The statehood vote, however, was by no means unanimous with John Tipton leading a minority position.

Several names were offered for the new state. The name Frankland was proposed since it was translatable as "the Land of the Free," however, Franklin was decided upon perhaps for gaining the favor of Benjamin Franklin. John Sevier was elected Governor. The convention set the salary of the governor at two hundred pounds per annum, the supreme judges at one hundred and fifty pounds per annum. There were some interesting regulations created in the new constitution. One set the prices for goods traded and another to set the standard for office holders. Office holders could not be any person "if he were immoral, a Sabbath breaker, a clergyman, a doctor or a lawyer."

Unfortunately Benjamin Franklin was not terribly supportive of his namesake state. When solicited by John Sevier for help Franklin wrote,

"I am sensible of the honor which your Excellencey and your council do me. but being in Europe when your State was formed I am too little acquainted with the circumstances to be able to offer you anything just now that may be of importance, since everything material that regards your welfare will doubtless have occurred to yourselves. "

He concludes with a statesman like paragraph. I will endeavor to inform myself more perfectly of your affairs by inquiry and searching the records of Congress and if anything should occur to me that I think may be useful to you, you shall hear from me thereupon."

(Franklin's letter to Governor John Sevier, 1787)

North Carolina tried to break up the cession and statehood plans of the people of Franklin since the North Carolina had no real intention of releasing this territory. John Tipton, leader of the opposition within Franklin, had been responsible for carrying out court judgment orders to seize the property of the then Governor John Sevier, including nearly all his slaves. Sevier put together a small army of one hundred and fifty men and marched on John Tipton's estate to get back the property and perhaps to seize Tipton himself. After a brief siege and a consolidation of Col. George Maxwell's forces with Tipton's; Sevier's band was routed with the capture of several including two of Sevier's sons. Meanwhile Sevier went on a bold raiding campaign against Indian settlements in the western sections of now Tennessee. When he returns to Franklin he is captured by Tipton's men and taken to trial. Sevier makes a bold escape at his trial through a second story window onto a waiting horse.

North Carolina regains control of the region in 1788 by pardoning its leaders. Sevier eventually learns through all these travails, the manners and fallacies of government. He is elected as a Senator in North Carolina. In 1789 North Carolina ceded again the region in the west and Franklin became part of Eastern Tennessee in 1796. John Sevier becomes the first Governor of the new state of Tennessee.

Several of my relatives were here during all the governmental changes and show up in documents in all three borderings states due to the changing perimeters. Look for the names of Abraham Grubb, Stoffel(or Stophel), Varnell, and Weathers. They do not show up in the history books and tended to be the very quintessential of the frontiersman or mountain men, staying by the themselves and maintaining their independent lives against natural and unnatural adversity.

source:

Historic Sullivan County, Tennessee, p. 109-113

World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc. Chicago

All information and photos included within these pages are here for the express purpose of personal genealogical research and may not be included or used for any commercial purpose or included in any commercial site without the express permission of Cheryl and Elroy Christenson. Copyright Elroy Christenson 1998-2016.

