Gideon Morris | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1756 |
Died | April 1798 |
Resting place | Morris Cemetery, Morristown, Tennessee |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Settler |
Known for | Founding Morristown, Tennessee |
Spouse | Jenette Blythe (1748–1828) |
Gideon Morris (c. 1756 – April 1798) was an early American settler and trans-Appalachian pioneer. He was a part of the Watauga Association and is most known for founding the city of Morristown, Tennessee.
Gideon Morris was born in Randolph County, North Carolina around 1756.
Records from North Carolina state that Morris moved to the Watauga Settlement with an unspecified amount of siblings. In 1775, Morris signed the Watauga Petition to annex Watauga to North Carolina. Records also stated that Morris served in an expedition against Native Americans in the fall of 1775.
In 1778 Gideon Morris appeared in court and swore an oath of allegiance. Lands were granted by the State of North Carolina to Morris in Washington, Greene and Hawkins counties. He most likely settled on parts of these grants either in 1787 or 1791, which was included in Jefferson County and now in Hamblen County. The settlement founded by Morris has, as far as is known, always been called Morristown. No known records exist demonstrating land grants in the area to anyone aside from Gideon and his extended family. Jefferson County possesses a record of the results of the execution of Morris' will, which includes property deeded to his son John Morris in 1817 for a 400-acre tract of land originally granted to Gideon by the state of North Carolina, and presumably comprising only a portion of the original grant due to the known size of the Morris family at that time. Morris lived on that tract of land until his death in 1798. [1]
Morris is buried in Morris Cemetery in Morristown, Tennessee. A Tennessee state historical marker stands near the cemetery to commemorate the founders of the town. [2]
Morris' settlement of Morristown would be included in the new state of Tennessee in 1796 and would be incorporated in 1855. The town became the county seat of the newly formed Hamblen County in 1870. [3]
Hamblen County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,499. Its county seat and only incorporated city is Morristown. Hamblen County is the core county of the Morristown, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Hamblen, Jefferson, and Grainger counties. The county and the Morristown MSA are included in the Knoxville-Morristown-Sevierville, TN Combined Statistical Area.
Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 56,356. Its county seat is Elizabethton. The county is named in honor of Landon Carter (1760–1800), an early settler active in the "Lost State of Franklin" 1784-1788 secession from the State of North Carolina. Carter County is part of the Johnson City, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area, located in northeastern Tennessee.
Elizabethton is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original Thirteen Colonies.
Morristown is a city in and the county seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee, United States. Morristown also extends into Jefferson County on the western and southern ends. The city lies within the Ridge and Valley of the Appalachians. The city's population was recorded to be 30,431 at the 2020 United States census. It is the principal city of the Morristown Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Grainger, Hamblen, and Jefferson counties. The Morristown metropolitan area is also part of the Knoxville-Morristown-Sevierville Combined Statistical Area.
White Pine is a town in Jefferson and Hamblen counties in Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Morristown metropolitan area. The population was 2,471 at the 2020 census.
The Nolichucky River is a 115-mile (185 km) river that flows through western North Carolina and East Tennessee in the southeastern United States. Traversing the Pisgah National Forest and the Cherokee National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the river's watershed includes some of the highest mountains in the Appalachians, including Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, the highest point in the eastern United States. The river is a tributary of the French Broad River and is impounded by Nolichucky Dam near Greeneville, Tennessee.
James Robertson was an American explorer, soldier and Indian agent, and one of the founding fathers of what became the State of Tennessee. An early companion of explorer Daniel Boone, Robertson helped establish the Watauga Association in the early 1770s, and to defend Fort Watauga from an attack by Cherokee in 1776. In 1779, he co-founded what is now Nashville, and was instrumental in the settlement of Middle Tennessee. He served as a brigadier general in the Southwest Territory militia in the early 1790s, and as an Indian Commissioner in later life.
Richard Henderson was an American jurist, land speculator and politician who was best known for attempting to create the Transylvania Colony in frontier Kentucky. Henderson County and its seat Henderson, Kentucky are named for him. He also sold land to an early settlement that went on to become Nashville, Tennessee.
Robert Weakley was an American politician who represented Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives from 1809 to 1811.
William McFarland was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1875 to 1877, representing the 1st congressional district of Tennessee. He is one of only two Democrats to have won this district's seat since the Civil War. McFarland also served as a state court judge in 1869, and as mayor of Morristown, Tennessee, from 1882 to 1885. A Southern Unionist, he was a member of the Jefferson County delegation at the pro-Union East Tennessee Convention in 1861.
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, Tennessee. Archeological excavations have found Native Americans lived near the shoals since prehistoric times, and Cherokees gathered there. As Europeans began settling the Trans-Appalachian frontier, the shoals proved strategic militarily, as well as shaped the economies of Tennessee and Kentucky. Today, the shoals are protected as a National Historic Landmark and are maintained as part of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park.
Russellville is a census-designated place in Hamblen County, Tennessee. Located along U.S. Route 11E-Tennessee State Route 34, it is situated approximately at a midpoint between Whitesburg and Morristown.
Joseph Hardin Sr. was an Assemblyman for the Province of North Carolina, and was a signatory of the Tryon Resolves. Early in the War for Independence, as a member of the militia from Tryon County, Hardin fought the Cherokee allies of Britain along the western frontier. Later in the war, having taken his family over the Appalachian Mountains to the Washington District for safety against the advance of the Red Coats out of South Carolina, Hardin joined the Overmountain Men. He saw action at the Battle of Ramsour's Mill and the decisive Battle of Kings Mountain. Following the peace with Britain, Hardin was a co-founder and second Speaker of the House for the State of Franklin; and an Assemblyman in the Southwest Territory before its statehood as Tennessee.
The Washington District of North Carolina was in a remote area west of the Appalachian Mountains, officially existing for only a short period, although it had been self-proclaimed and functioning as an independent governing entity since the spring of 1775. The district was the bureaucratic successor to the Watauga Association, a group of Virginian settlers that colonized the area in 1769, originally believing themselves to be in trans-Appalachian Virginia territory. When the settlement's application to be united with Virginia was denied, they asked North Carolina to annex the settlement, which occurred in November, 1776.
The Path Grant Deed is a document regarded as a first step toward the American westward migration across the Appalachian Mountains, resulting from negotiations at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775. The land acquired within the boundaries of the Path Grant allowed Daniel Boone to develop the Wilderness Road free from attack or claims by the Cherokee. The Path Grant was recorded on November 15, 1794, by the Hawkins County, Tennessee registrar in Deed Book #1, pages 147-151
State Route 343 is a state highway in Morristown, Hamblen County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It serves as connector from US 25E into downtown Morristown.
The Great Grant Deed, also known as The Great Grant, was a transaction for the sale of property by the Cherokee Nation to Richard Henderson and Company. The grant is also known as the Louisa purchase or the Transylvania purchase. The transaction occurred at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River on March 17, 1775. The Great Grant was for lands forming Henderson's new Transylvania Colony comprising much of what is now the state of Kentucky.
The Jacob Brown Grant Deeds, also known more simply as the Nolichucky Grants, were transactions for the sale of land by the Cherokee Nation to Jacob Brown. The transaction occurred at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River on March 25, 1775. The Jacob Brown grants were for two large tracts along the Nolichucky River some of which had been previously leased from the Cherokee.
The Charles Robertson Grant, also known more simply as the Watauga Grant, was a transaction for the sale of land by the Cherokee Nation to Charles Robertson. The transaction occurred at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River on March 19, 1775. The Charles Robertson Grant was for a large tract in what is now East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, some of which had been previously leased from the Cherokee.
The Battle of Morristown took place during the American Civil War in present-day Hamblen County, Tennessee on October 28, 1864. Union forces under General Alvan C. Gillem attacked Confederate forces under General John C. Vaughn who were defending Morristown, Tennessee. Vaughn's Confederates were routed and Gillem's forces pursued them into nearby Russellville, Tennessee.