Dropped Stitches in Tennessee History

Preface

. Thib 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 ladieB 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 "il lustrious example of distinguished historians," and said, "about this time" — with out 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 •hade 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 op Civilization IB 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 12S "A Centennial Dream" 13S Interpretation op the "Dream" 143 Index

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 Washing ton 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 lead ing 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 Eeid, 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 Gen eral 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 d^te. The act of the general assembly of North Carolina, pro viding 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 con tinued 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 Salis bury 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 Con gress, 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 Wash ington 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 McNairej* 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 Pres idency 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. Jack son was first United States attorney for the " District of Mero," but Roane held the same office at the same time in the Hamil ton District, while McNairy presided over both of them as federal judge for "the territory of the United States of Amer ica 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 Fed eral 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 Ten nesseans. 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 settle ment on the Cumberland — now Nashville — and engaged, I be lieve, 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 es tablished in 1792, and where he was appointed one of the Trus tees 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 Gov ernor, 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 twent3*-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.

Un der 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 Alli son 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 Gov ernor 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 coun ties 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 Jones boro. 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 sad dle-bags, while following after him and by his side was a goodly pack of foxhounds. This is an inventory of his personal be longings, as given me by at least three of these old gentlemen, * 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 * Major Bird Brown, Abram Taylor and John Allison. RESIDENCE OK CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR, Where Andrew Jackson boarded during years 1788-9. Showing port-holes. Er.-eteJ about 1773. From a photograph tftken in April. 1897. part of what is now Tennessee, at the house of Christopher Tay lor (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. 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 narrowminded 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 de fender ; but an incident which occurred at Rogersville, in Haw kins 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 gentle men, 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 re turned 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 ex pressed his willingness to do this, which he did, and so the in cident closed. In going from Jonesboro to the courts in Greene, Hawkins and Sullivan counties, Jackson always took with him his shot gun, holsters and saddlebags, 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 any where 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 daj's, when a new settler came into the com munity, or a 3'oung 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 riderQthat 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 in terest; 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 eounty, save ome — 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 what ever can be said to the credit and glory of either the early set tlers on the Watauga or those upon the Cumberland can be truths ully said of the others.