A Deep-Rooted People

October 1, 2014

Dear Constant Readers,

This is the fourth installment in a new series of posts which I hope will form the first draft of a book. The working title for this book is, "Confessions of a Second Grade Failure." It is a coming-of-age memoir about growing up in Kingsport, Tennessee during the 1960s and early 1970s.

And don't forget - if you subscribe to receive my blog posts by email before October 15, you will automatically be registered in a contest to win a new Kindle reader from Amazon. For more details about the contest and how to subscribe, please read this post.

Cheers,

Stephen

_______________

Confessions of a Second Grade Failure

A Deep-Rooted People

My great-aunt, Alma Taylor, when meeting people for the first time would often ask, “Now, tell me, who are your people?” She wanted to know who their family was, who were their kinfolk, and just where were the roots of their family tree buried. Needless to say, Aunt Alma was our family’s genealogist, always keeping track of just who was related to whom.

As for my people, my kin - the roots of our family tree are buried deep within the heart of Appalachia. Many of my ancestors, from both sides of my family, began arriving in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee in the early-to-mid 1770s. My third great-grandfather, John Hail (originally Haile; later spelled Hale), came to the area that is now Kingsport from Baltimore, Maryland to join a group of settlers known as the Wataugans. Like many of the men and women who came to the river valleys of the Holston (later Kingsport), Nolichucky (Greeneville) and Watauga (Elizabethton), John Hail came looking for a new beginning in life on the frontier with his family. What he wanted was a place to farm and a way to make a living. Hail and his family found what they had come looking for and eventually settled near Horse Creek, just below Bays Mountain, a boundary of present-day Kingsport.

The Wataugans formed an organization by which to govern themselves. The Watauga Association

became the first example of a community outside the original thirteen colonies, forming an independent and democratic government. This was in 1772, four years before some other gentlemen in Philadelphia decided to do a much similar thing. After the Declaration of Independence, the Wataugans sought affiliation with one of the colonies. North Carolina annexed this area of Watauga, which came to be known as the Washington District. Hail was one of the leaders who helped draft the Wataugan’s petition to North Carolina, and later represented the new Washington District to the North Carolina Provincial Assembly in 1776.

During the same period, another of my ancestors, my fourth great-grandfather, the Rev. Tidence Lane - also originally from Baltimore, then later Randolph County, North Carolina - came with his family and a group of other Baptists from North Carolina to live in the new Washington District in the mid-to-late 1770s. They settled in the Boone’s Creek area of the district. Tidence Lane is regarded as the first Baptist preacher to settle in Tennessee. He is also recognized as the founding pastor of Tennessee’s first established and permanent church of any denomination. This was the Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church, established in 1779 under Lane’s pastoral guidance. It was located about eight miles from present-day Jonesborough. Lane also had the distinction of becoming the moderator of the first denominational assembly in Tennessee, known as the “old Holston” Assembly of Baptist Churches.

Both my great-grandfathers served in the Revolutionary War, at first in skirmishes in the South and also Kentucky with the British and Loyalist troops. Lane served as a captain in the North Carolina Militia of the Revolutionary Army, with three of his sons: Tidence, Jr., Isaac, and Aquilla. They and other Wataugans who fought together came to be known as the “Overmountain Men.” What the Overmountain Men came to be best known for is their valiant participation in the Battle of King's Mountain.

In August of 1780, the British army under the command of General Charles Cornwallis invaded North

Carolina. At the same time, he sent Major Patrick Ferguson into the mountains to root out the revolutionary rebel fighters. Ferguson sent a message over the mountains of the Blue Ridge. between North Carolina and the Washington District, warning the settlers that if they refused to surrender and lay down arms, he would “march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay waste the country with fire and sword.” I need not point out that this message did not go over very well. So, the Wataugans decided that instead, they would march “over the mountains” and confront the British - hence the name, the “Overmountain Men.”

On September 25, 1780, about 500 men from the Watauga settlements gathered at Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River near Elizabethton. They were joined by 400 Virginians who had marched from Abingdon. Under the military leadership of William Campbell, Isaac Shelby, and John Sevier, they began their long march to engage the British. They were joined by other militias from North and South Carolina along the way. They arrived at Gilbert Town, North Carolina, which was Major Ferguson’s base, though he and the British troops were not there when the Overmountain Men arrived.

Ferguson’s forces were at King's Mountain, which is in northwest South Carolina. Ferguson received

word about the advance of the frontier fighters and had his troops, about 1,000 strong, embed themselves on the mountain. When the Overmountain Men arrived, the battle became a rout. It’s said that William Campbell from Abingdon told the men to “shout like hell and fight like devils.” So they did. Major Ferguson was killed by a sharpshooter. British and Loyalist troops included 157 who were killed, 163 severely wounded, and 698 taken prisoner. The Overmountain Men and related militias only lost 28 men, with 62 wounded.

As a result of this victory, British General Cornwallis and his army were forced back to South Carolina, and severely set back British military plans, particularly for Yorktown, Virginia. So, in many respects, the brave mountaineers and frontiersmen can be said to have played a pivotal role in winning the Revolutionary War. Without the courage of these Wataugans, there may well not have been a United States of America.

Following the war, the Watauga settlements grew and in 1796 became part of the new state of Tennessee. John Sevier, a key leader of the Watauga Association and of the Overmountain Men, became the state’s first governor.

The area which is now present-day Kingsport grew as well. A community formed around the

burgeoning river trade along the Holston. In 1802, William King bought a sizeable lot along the Holston River to build a boatyard. King owned a number of boatyards on the Holston and Tennessee rivers. He used flatboats to ferry goods down the river to central Tennessee. This small village took it’s name from King, and began to be known as “King’s Port” - later, Kingsport. King died in 1808. A distant cousin of mine, George Hale, rented the boatyard and the accompanying inn for a period of time. He operated a store which sold clothing and fabric, farming tools, household essentials, medicines and elixirs, food, and spirits. It was a popular place to shop. In 1818, Richard Netherland purchased the land, including the boatyard and the inn. Since then, the inn has come to be known as the Netherland Inn.

For a time, this community of Kingsport flourished. Between the river traffic and its location along the Great Stage Road - a wagon road established in the late 1700s which ran from Washington, D.C. to Nashville - these were good times. The wagon road brought many guests to the popular Netherland Inn. The Inn even boasted about hosting three different U.S. Presidents - Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and James Polk.

By the middle of the 1800s, fortunes began to change. The river trade dried up. Other roads were built. Kingsport was largely bypassed and began a slow decline. As one historian put it, Kingsport fell into a kind of slumber from which it would not awaken until the 1900s, when dreamers, financiers, and engineers arrived to build a new industrial city along the Holston.

(Tomorrow’s post will be about how Modern Kingsport came to be.)