Old times; or, Tennessee history, for Tennessee boys and girls

Front matter

OT^D TIJVIES;

BY EDWIN PASCHALL.

PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR

Chapter I. Introductory

A GREAT man once said, " Tennesseans are bound to be true and brave from respect to their ancestors." If so, then how necessary is it that each successive generation of Tennesseans should be made acquainted with those ancestors — should understand their character and principles of action, and how they acquitted themselves in the scenes through which they were called to pass. To assist the boys and girls, who must soon become the men and women of Tennessee, in acquiring this knowledge, this little book has been prepared. It is intended to present to them a history of old tnnes in Tennessee, at once pleasant to read and easy to understand.

No other new country will ever be settled in the same manner as was Tennessee. The invention of steamboats, railroads, and telegraphs has entirely changed the mode of proceeding in such matters. Hence, the early population of our State were placed in peculiar circumstances, which naturally gave rise to singular character and habits of life. The scenes of frontier life on the Holston and the Cumberland have passed away never to be repeated. Henceforth they can be viewed only in their written history. Curiosity alone should prompt a desire on the part of Tennesseans to know who and what sort were the men who, from 1770 to 1800, made Tennessee what it has since been. But there is yet a stronger and better reason why we should look into the records of those old times.

The men and women who planted and cherished civil society in the "Western wilderness must have been "true and brave," for no others could have done it. "When our young friends shall have read the accounts here given of the dangers and hardships endured by the early settlers in Tennessee for thirty years, tliey will agree with us, that a frontier cabin on Watauga or Cumberland was not the place in which to look for faithless and cowardly men. True courage is not the less true, because it is not displayed to the gaze of the world on the broad battle-fields of Blenheim or "Waterloo ; nor is public spirit less to be admired and reverenced, because it is employed in defending from savage massacre the women and children of an humble colony in the backwoods.

The fidelity and courage of our ancestors w^as proved, amid scenes of violence and blood, in defending their liberties and lives against British bayonets and Indian tomahawks. We live in altered circumstances, and may hope that, in our day, the horrors of war shall jiot again reach our happy land. But should Providence grant us this peaceful destiny, w^e shall not the less be bound to be " true and brave " men and women. Our virtues must be exercised in a different way, but they will remain still equally essential to constitute our own moral worth, and to promote the welfare and progressive elevation of our country.

" He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." In the political and social condition of our country at this time, there is much room for the exercise of that moderation and forbearance recommended in the passage of Scrijiture we have quoted. It is easy to be violent and extreme, but only a " true and brave man" will stand for the right against popular delusions and the threats of powerful factions. To advocate unpopular truth, and to resist the clamors of a multitude persuading to injustice, are the virtues which our times demand, and to practice them to our own loss, requires as great courage as to face a battery of cannon.

You, young readers, will soon have the character of the State and the welfare of the people in your own keeping. But you have no need to wait for that time before you will be called upon to show yourselves " true and brave." Without faithfulness and firmness, you cannot be what you should be now. Except by the exercise of these virtues, you cannot fulfill your present duties to yourselves, your parents, your brothers and sisters, or even to your teacher and school-fellows. If " true and brave " men and women have always been the saviours of the world, be assured that they were not false and craven when they played football or worked ^ samplers.

Most of the men you will read of in the following pages had little education in schools, many of them none. This was the fault of the age in which they lived, wRen it w^as not so common as it now is to enjoy the means of education. Besides, the work in which they were engaged, was such as could be done with very little learning, and their praise is that they did that work well. But you, our young friends, live under a different set of circumstances. You can now all have the advantages of mental cultivation, and in the present state of the world, you can hardly perform the full duty of good citizens without a considerable share of intelligence, such as must be derived from reading and study. May you not fail to meet the demands upon you in a manner worthy of Tennesseans in the nineteenth century, and entitle yourselves to be numbered among the "true and brave " of the coming gener-ation !

CH-APTER II.

OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.

The history of most civilized countries may be divided into ancient and modern. Take any of the principal nations of Europe — Great Britain, France, or Russia, for instance — and historians can give you a tolerably full and correct account of what has happened in any of them lately, especially since the art of printing was invented, about four hundred years ago. But when we go back beyond that time, the information we can get is more scanty and uncertain, and the farther we go back, the more doubtful every thing becomes, until we reach a point of time beyond w^hich nothing is to be known. The history of the Jews, as given in the Bible, is perhaps the most ancient that is known to exist.

But Tennessee and the other States of the American Union have no ancient history. There is no history of the country at all that reaches back beyond the time of its discovery and settlement by white men from Europe. The Indians that were then found wandering over the country, did not understand the art of printing or writing, nor did they possess any other means of preserving the memory of the events that had happened among them. On this account we cannot expect to know any thing about the people that had lived in America for thousands of years before it was discovered by Columbus. Men of learning and ingenuity have tried very hard, but in vain, to know even a little in regard to the ancient history of this Continent. From several circumstances, it is pretty certain that America was once inhabited by a people more civilized than the Indians ; but who they were, or what became of them, we shall probably never know.

The history of America, therefore, begins about three hundred and fifty years ago, and is all modern. The whole of it is found in printed or written accounts, made out by persons w^ho had personal knowledge of the various events that have occurred ; and is, therefore, as much to be depended on as any history of any country can be. And as to Tennessee in particular, as a separate community, its history is not a hundred years old, since so long ago there was hardly a

IG OLD times; or,

white man within the present boundaries of the State.

Strange as it may seem to boys and girls, it is yet true, that persons are now living in Tennessee, who can remember when the whole country was a wilderness. These persons can tell you of the time when there were only a few log cabins where the rich and splendid city of Nashville now stands ; and when the land where Murfreesborough is was covered with a canebrake, without even a cow-path leading through it. The first white child born in Nashville — Dr. Felix Robertson — died in 1864 ; and a lady now living has told us that she was a grown young woman when her father made the first settlement in Rutherford county. Where our railroads now run, the traveler, sixty years ago, might think himself fortunate if he could find a blazed path leading from one solitary settlement to another. The grandchildren of that generation probably do not know what is meant by a blazed path. Do you know ?

Surrounded as the people of Tennessee now are with all the comforts, and even the luxuries, of life, it must be difiicult for them to imagine how the early settlers of the country could contrive to live without any of them. Can our young readers think how they could get along hi a country without railroads, or turnpikes, or roads of any sort ? without churches, or schoolhouses, or dry-goods stores, or even mills to grind corn? without bridges or ferry-boats to cross the streams? How would they manage ^to live without coffee, or tea, or sugar, and even without bread or salt ? And yet, the first settlers of Tennessee did manage to do without all these things, and a great many others, that we are in the habit of considering as necessary to comfortable living. How they actually did live, at least in some particulars, will appear in the course of this history.

It would require several large volumes to contain all that is known of the early history of Tennessee, or even so much of it as may be found scattered through printed books. Of course, we shall here attempt nothing of that kind. Our aim is to tell enough to give to the reader a clear and correct notion of the state of things which existed here among the people who cleared the canebrakes, and waged a successful war against rattlesnakes and Indians. AVe desire to present all that may serve to make up a faithful picture of frontier life, and nothing more.

18 OLD times; oRj

Chapter III. About North Carolina

As the territory composing the present State of Tennessee was formerly a part of North Carolina, it may be well to give, in this place, a short account of the latter State. The " Old North State," as it is frequently called, was among the first of the English settlements in America. According to the charter or deed granted by the King of England, the province was to front a certain distance on the Atlantic Ocean, and to run back westwardly across the Continent to the Pacific Ocean, which was then called the South Sea. However, neither the King of England nor any of his people was at all acquamted with the country, except a few spots along the sea-coast.

The first settlements in Carolina were made, as a matter of course, in the eastern parts, and near to the ocean, where the English ships could reach them, and bring supplies and assistance when needed. The earliest permanent settlement made by the English in the province was in 1663 — two hundred and six years ago. In process of time, as the settlers became better acquainted with the interior of the country, new settlements were made at a greater distance from the sea. In the course of about a hundred years, the population extended to the Alleghany Mountains, which are now the western boundary of the State. But, except in some choice spots, North Carolina has never been very thickly settled ; and as much of the soil is poor and unproductive, it is not likely to have a dense population for a long time to come.

The first white inhabitants of Carolina were probably all English ; but, in the course of time, a great many Scotch, and Dutch, and French, and Irish made it their home. In the eastern part of the province, a large tract of country w^as taken up by a clan of Scotch Highlanders, and even thirty years ago some of their descendants could scarcely speak the English language. The part of the country where they live is commonly called the sand-hills. A colony of Quakers from Pennsylvania planted themselves in the western portion of the State, and called their settlement New Garden. It is beyond dispute the best cultivated and most delightful part of the State.

But there is another description of persons among the early population of Carolina which deserves a special notice, because many of the first settlers of Tennessee were of that stock, as well as many of the men most distinguished in its history. I allude to the people called Scotch- Irish. They took this compound name because they were descended from Scotch families, who had, in old times, left Scotland and settled in Ireland. After awhile, a large body of them moved from Ireland to Western Pennsylvania ; and again, many of them went from Pennsylvania, and formed what is still known as the Scotch-Irish settlement in Western Carolina.

The Scotch-Irish, who have not been much educated, or mixed much with the world, may generally be distinguished by certain peculiarities of speech, such as Aprile, for April, etc. But all of them are remarkable for their energetic and thrifty habits, and for being able to take good care of themselves. They are also particularly jealous of power, and inclined to resist authority. Those in Pennsylvania Avere at the . head of the " Whisky Rebellion," when Washington was President ; and a similar outbreak, called the " Regulation," was gotten up by them in North Carolina before the Eevolutionary "War. James Buchanan, once President of the United States, was a Pennsylvania Scotch-Irishman ; and in Tennessee, the names of Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, Hugh L. White, and John Bell, may be referred to Carolina families of the same stock.

Farther, in regard to the Scotch-Irish : they are, or at least were originally, all Presbyterians. Presbyterianism was the religion established by law in Scotland, at the time they removed from that country to the North of Ireland. The people of Ireland were then, and are yet, mostly Roman Catholics. Therefore, when a foreigner tells you he is from the North of Ireland, you may generally conclude that he is a Protestant of the Presbyterian order; but if from any other part of the island, you may expect to find him a Catholic. Perhaps it is well to mention here, that by Protestant, we mean all forms of the Christian religion, except the Catholic. Baptists, Methodists, and Episcopalians, are Protestants, as well as the Presbyterians.

Chapter IV. More About North Carolina

The different sorts of people who make up ^ the population of North Carolina, as stated in the last chapter, have mingled together until the distinctions among them are mostly worn off. But such Avas not the case at the time that Tennessee began to be settled by them. Up to that period, and even longer, the Highland Scotch, the Scotch-Irish, the Quakers, and the Dutch, continued to be almost as distinct in their habits and manners as if they did not belong to the same community. Even yet, they have not been so completely amalgamated, or mixed together, as in most other States, for which a reason will presently be given.

On the sea-coast of North Carolina there are no good harbors ; that is, there are no places where the water is deep and still close up to the land. The mouths of the rivers are also much filled up with sand-bars. In consequence of this state of things, large ships cannot safely approach the shore, and therefore there is no considerable sea-port to^vn to carry on foreign commerce. Until lately that some railroads have been built, the people of North Carolina were forced to take their produce in wagons, many of them hundreds of miles, to Charleston, in South Carolina, or to Petersburg and Richmond, in Virginia, and to get home their dry goods and groceries in the same inconvenient and expensive way.

From the circumstances mentioned in the last paragraph, it may be readily supposed that the people of North Carolina have not been greatly addicted to trading in any way. They have been forced to live very much at home and by themselves, and have' seen less of the world than the people of the other States. And this is the chief reason why the different classes of the population have remained so long distinct, and retained so much of their original peculiarities. A great deal of trading and moving to and fro among all sorts of folks, will soon bring people to think and act pretty much alike ; and the inhabitants of North Carolina have done less of this than most othere. For the same reason, perhaps, they are considered to be more quiet and modest than the people of many other States.

Well, young friends, we suppose you have all heard of Whigs and Tories. And you probably understand that a Tory was an American who took part with the English king and government against the people of the provinces, who were fighting for their freedom and independence, and who were called Whigs. This contest, generally called the Revolutionary War, was begun in the year 1775, and the first battle betw^een the Americans and the English soldiers was fought in that year at Lexington, in the province of Massachusetts. It was in the next year, on the fourth of July, that the Continental Congress declared the provinces — thirteen in number — to be free and independent States. That is the reason why people now celebrate the fourth of July as a great holiday. This Revolutionary War lasted about eight years, at the end of which Great Britain gave up the point, and agreed to let the people of America be independent, and manage their own affairs to suit themselves.

Well, North Carolina was one of the colonies, or provinces, that were engaged in this war against Great Britain, and her people were very much

TENNESSEE HISTORY. 2S

divided about it. Perhaps there were as many Tories as Whigs, and they carried on very cruel and distressing hostilities against each other — killing, robbing, burning, and destroying, as each party could get the advantage. The Highland Scotch, in the sand-hills, were all Tories to a man, on account of their ignorance, and their having been taught w^iile in Scotland that the king should do as he pleases, and that nobody should resist him. Many others, who had been engaged in the "Regulation" some years before, had been then conquered, and f/^rced to swear that they would be obedient to the King of England. This oath of allegiance: a-s it is called, they considered to be binding on their consciences, and thought it would be sinful for them to fight against the king.

The Quakers think it contrary to the principles of the Christian religion to fight in any way, or for any cause; therefore, they were neither Whigs nor Tories. They were frequently ill-treated by both parties, but according to their religious views, submitted, without resistance, to whatever injuries might be inflicted upon them. They are generally inoflensive and friendly, industrious and useful citizens. On this account, by the laws of Tennessee, and perhaps other

States, they are exempted from militia duty in time of peace. This is, however, a rather empty compliment, as they are bound, like other citizens, to perform military service in time of war.

From this statement, our young readers will see that all the Tories were not bad men, but that many of them thought they were doing right when they fought for the king, or refused to fight against him. But there were others, who were Tories for what they could make by it, and because they wished to be on the strong side. Of this selfish and unpatriotic class, there were a good many in North Carolina, as well as in the other provinces. The greater part of them left the country upon the establishment of its independence.

Chapter V. The First Settlement In Tennessee

It has been before stated that the King of England gave to the first settlers of North Carolina all the country lying to the west of that province, entirely across the Continent to the Pacific Ocean. If any of our young readers should here ask what right the King of England had to give away a country which w^as then in possession of the Indians, we can only say that such was the fashion of those times. Christian nations thought they had a right, if they could, to take away lands from heathens, who had no knowledge of Christianity. The King of England only did in this matter what all other Christian kings were then in the habit of doing, when they had power and opportunity. After receiving such a grant from the king, the people who undertook to occupy the country, had to get clear of the Indians as best they could.

It has also been mentioned that in about a hundred years from the time the English took possession of North Carolina, the country had been gradually occujDied and cultivated as far west as the Alleghany Mountains. There the settlement of the country was stopped for awhile, because no one desired to make his home in the barren soil and hard climate of the mountains. By looking at a map, you will see that Virginia lies adjoining North Carolina on the north side, and the line between them runs from the Atlantic Ocean due west. This line had been marked only so far as the settlements in the two provinces extended — that is, to the mountains. For this reason, when persons came into the wilderness on the west side of the mountains, they could not be certain whether they were on land belonging to North Carolina or Virginia.

The persons who first crossed the mountains into that part of the country which is now the State of Tennessee, did not come to stay in it, but to hunt and to trade with the Indians. Wild animals were very plentiful, such as bears, deer, foxes, beavers, otters, minks, raccoons, etc. These were easily killed with the rifle, or taken in various sorts of traps, and the skins could be sold for a good price among the people on the east side of the mountains. But if a man preferred it, he could buy the skins from th^ Indians for a mere trifle, such as glass beads, cheap knives, fish-hooks, etc. Some of these skins were valuable for the fur that was on them ; others were tanned and made into leather.

These hunters and traders, after traveling upon their business until they were satisfied, would pack their skins upon horses, and return to the settled parts of North Carolina and Virginia. Of course, like other travelers, they had marvelous stories to tell of what they had seen and heard. The descriptions they gave of the rich and beautiful country on the west side of the mountains, naturally caused, in those who listened to them, a desire to see and to possess the goodly land. There soon sprung up in Western Carolina and Virginia a feeling of restlessness and a spirit of adventure, very difierent from the quiet and cautious habits for which the people of those two States have ever been remarkable. So great, however, were the difficulties and dangers of the enterprise, that none but a few of the most daring and reckless among them would, for a good while, trust themselves on this side of the Alleghany rjdge.

From the most western settlements in Carolina to the Watauga River, where the first emigrants planted themselves, is not less than seventy miles, across steep and rough mountains, where nobody was then living, and where, even to this time, there are only a few scattered cabins. There were no roads, nor even a beaten pathway, for the whole distance. No provisions were to be had on the route, except what could be carried along on pack-horses, and such wild animals as the hunters could kill with their rifles. And when they had reached the Watauga, they were not at all better off, having neither houses to live in, nor grain to make bread, nor land cleared to make a crop. But worse than all these things, was the danger arising from the Indians by whom they were surrounded in their new homes. I shall speak of these Indians in the next chapter.

The first white man who settled in Tennessee with his family, was Captain William Bean, from Pittsylvania county, Virginia. In the year 1769 — just one hundred years ago — he built his cabin on Boon's Creek, a small stream that runs into the Watauga River. His son, Russell Bean, was the first white child born in Tennessee. If you will now look at a map, 5^ou may see that the Watauga River, near the northeast corner of Tennessee, empties into the Holston, on the south side of the latter stream. The Holston rises in "Western Virginia, and runs mostly in a western direction. Other persons, with families, soon moved in, and fixed their new homes around Captain Bean's ; and thus was Tennessee begun to be settled.

Chapter VI. Indians In Tennessee

At the time that the Territory of Tennessee was first visited by traders and hunters, it, and also Kentucky, were in a singular condition in regard to human inhabitants. There is no doubt that the whole country had once been occupied by various Indian tribes ; but at the time of which we speak, there was no part of it in the actual possession of the red men, except that portion of the present State of Tennessee lying south of Tennessee River. This portion belonged to the Cherokees. By examining a map, you will see that this is the south-east portion of the State, bordering on North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, and comprising less than one-fourth of its surface. This was only a part of the Cherokee lands, as they had extensive possessions in the adjoining province of North Carolina, and in the

TENNESSEE HISTOHY. 33

territory now constituting the States of Georgia and Alabama.

The country then inhabited by the Cherokee Indians is perhaps the most delightful part of North America ; being sufficiently elevated for health, with a fair proportion of hills and plains, well watered, and* finely timbered, a fertile soil, and a soft and genial climate. The great French traveler, M. Volney, pronounced it to have the only good climate in America. At the time of the first settlement in East Tennessee, the Cherokees were less powerful than they had formerly been, having just suffered a disastrous defeat, and lost many of their warriors, in a great battle with the Chickasaws. It was, no doubt, fortunate for the young community at Watauga, that these Indians had so lately been whipped.

The Chickasaws did not inhabit any portion of Tennessee, but they claimed to have dominion over all West Tennessee from the Tennessee River to the Mississippi, as their hunting-grounds. As the early emigrants did not come much into contact with the Chickasaws, it is unnecessary to say more about them in this place.

The Shawnees had at one time held the country on the Cumberland ^^"ver, from about '' 2 where Nashville now stands, to the Ohio. They had been engaged almost continually in wars with the Cherokees or Chickasaws. At length, about a hundred years before the settlement of Watauga — according to Indian tradition — the two last-mentioned tribes had combined together, and entirely broken up the Shawnee Nation. Most of them went off and joined some northern tribes called the Six Nations. They still continued, however, to make incursions into the lands they had left, for the purposes of war and hunting. In these expeditions they were assisted by the Six Nations, and thus Kentucky and Tennessee became the "debatable land," the "dark and bloody ground," on which were fought the fierce battles between the northern and southern tribes.

As neither of the parties was able to hold quiet and permanent possession of these lands, the one kept on the south, and the other on the north, of the disputed territory, and only came into it occasionally to hunt, or to attack the hunters of the hostile tribes. In this way it happened, according to the best accounts that could be gotten from the Indians, that the first visitors from Carolina and Yirojinia found Tennessee and Kentuckv a wilderness without human inhabitant, except the Cherokees in one corner, as has been before stated. Whether this is the true account or not, it is a singular and important fact, that just when the people of Virginia and Carolina were ready to take possession of the country, the former owners had retired from nearly the whole of it.

The lands thus left vacant were among the most fertile on the Continent. The abundance of grass, cane, and other spontaneous productions of the earth, w^ould, of course, support countless numbers of wild animals, and furnish, perhaps, the. most plentiful hunting-grounds that have ever existed anywhere. The absence of resident Indians, together with the favorable climate and rich soil, allowed the buffalo, bear, deer, and turkeys to multiply to the fullest extent; so that the pioneer settlers had nothing to do but " slay and eat."

OLD times; oe,

Chapter VII. Chakactek Of The Indians

Probably most of our young readers have beard frequent descriptions of Indians, and some of them have perhaps seen one or more of the few that still wander about the country. They are frequently called red men, on account of the color of their skin, which is pretty much like that of a copper cent or a brass skillet. They are generally not large men, seldom weighing more than one hundred and fifty pounds. They are straight and slender, their limbs very trim and tapering, with small hands and feet. Their bones are rather small, and they have less muscular strength than white men or negroes; but they are nimble and wiry, and able to travel on foot with great ease and rapidity.