5/8/2023 addendum: on the 77th anniversary of VE Day (5/8/1945), I updated the links to the websites cited, and I improved the format of this original 8/7/2021 article. I still await proof, if there is any, that confirms that Dandridge is the second-oldest town by date settled, not by date established. This article still confirms that Rogersville is the second-oldest town in Tennessee, by date settled!
Introduction
The most recent article from 7/25/2021 mentioned six working documents. The oldest of them, which started on 3/28/2021, is updated, finalized, and published today!
This is a friendly howdy to our fine friends in Jefferson County! I win the “which town is oldest” war! Y'all are still my friends, even if you are wrong!
Later today, “the gang” is finally getting together in person! The last gathering was on Saturday, 2/15/2020. Among other factors, the new cold virus (i.e., “global pandemic” or Corona Myopia) has been hindering us.
This article is published today to add fuel to the conversational fodder! If “the gang” doesn't read it, before we get together, then I'll mention it! I love each member of “the gang!” We always have fun together. For decades, we have had joking arguments, about which town is the second-oldest in Tennessee. I win! The following is the proof!
Tennessee Statehood
First, let's set the stage. Tennessee became a state on June 1, 1796. Source: “Tennessee,” A&E History, by Editors, updated 8/21/2018. That's why the media were bragging about Tennessee, on June 1st this year. Tennessee has been a state for 225 years.
By the way, June 1st is the beginning of meteorological summer. Astronomical summer begins on June 20. I prefer to follow meteorological seasonal patterns.
As a personal aside, June 1st was Mrs. Appalachian Irishman's last work day. Her summer vacation has started. It will end on August 10th. She will return to “hitting a lick” on the last “dog day” of summer, as mentioned in the most recent article.
95 Tennessee Counties in Chronological Order
Let's continue to Tennessee's 95 counties. The beginning date for each county is listed below in chronological order. Sources: “Education Outreach,” Tennessee State Library and Archives: Education Outreach Program; Tennessee Blue Book; "Table of Contents: 5 List of Tennessee Counties,” under “History and Facts of Tennessee Counties,” My Counties; and 2009-2010 Tennessee Blue Book, Section VI – Tennessee, Origin of County Names (a PDF file).
1777, Washington
1779, Sullivan
1783, Davidson & Greene
1786, Sumner
1787, Hawkins. The exact date is 1/6/1787.
Source: “Hawkins County,” Tennessee Encyclopedia, by Henry R. Price, last updated 3/1/2018.
1792, Jefferson & Knox
1794, Sevier
1795, Blount
1796, Carter, Grainger, Montgomery, & Robertson
1797, Cocke
1799, Smith, Williamson, & Wilson
1801–1849, 61 counties:
1801, Anderson, Claiborne, Jackson, & Roane
1803, Dickson, Rutherford, & Stewart
1806, Campbell, Overton, & White
1807, Bedford, Bledsoe, Franklin, Hickman, Maury,
1809, Giles, Humphreys, & Lincoln
1817, Lawrence, Marion, Morgan, & Wayne
1819, Hamilton, Hardin, McMinn, Monroe, Perry,
1821, Carroll, Henderson, Henry, & Madison
1823, Dyer, Fentress, Gibson, Hardeman,
1824, Fayette
1835, Benton & Lauderdale
1836, Bradley, Cannon, Coffee, Johnson, Marshall,
1837, DeKalb 1839, Polk
1840, Van Buren 1842, Macon
1843, Lewis 1844, Grundy & Hancock
1845, Decatur 1849, Scott
1850–1879, final 16 counties:
1850, Union 1854, Putnam
1855, Cumberland 1856, Cheatham
1857, Sequatchie
1870, Clay, Hamblen, Lake, Loudon, & Trousdale
1871, Crockett, Houston, & Moore
1875, Unicoi
1879, Chester & Pickett
Jonesborough is the Oldest Town in Tennessee
It is well known that Jonesborough is the oldest town in Tennessee. “History,” The Town of Jonesborough, Tennessee, beside “Jonesborough’s Timeline,” states, “1779 Jonesborough is Established: Jonesborough, the oldest town in Tennessee, is established seventeen years before Tennessee was granted statehood.”
Jonesborough was settled ten years earlier, in 1769. The same website confirms, beside “1769 English Colonists Move into the Region,” that Jonesborough was settled in 1769, when “William and Lydia Bean, the first permanent white settlers, built a cabin on the Watauga River in Northeast Tennessee. New settlers begin to come into the area from Virginia and North Carolina.”
Please note that Jonesborough was settled in 1769 and established in 1779. A town is settled before it is established.
Rogersville is the Second-Oldest Town in Tennessee
Settled in 1775, Rogersville is the second-oldest “settled” town in Tennessee. “Visitors,” the official website for the Town of Rogersville, TN, states, “Rogersville is a town in, and the county seat of, Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. It was settled in 1775, by the grandparents of Davy Crockett, and is the second-oldest town in the state.” The official website states that Rogersville is the second-oldest town in Tennessee.
“Hawkins County,” Tennessee Encyclopedia, by Henry R. Price, last updated 3/1/2018, confirms that Rogersville was established in 1789, fourteen years after being settled:
In 1789, Amis presented a petition from the community to the North Carolina General Assembly to establish a town at the Hawkins Court House site and to name the town Rogersville. Approval of the petition, which was granted on November 7, 1789, empowered county commissioners to lay out a town in half-acre lots, with convenient streets and lots reserved for public buildings.
Dandridge is the Third-Oldest Town in Tennessee
Both settled and founded in 1783, Dandridge is the third-oldest “settled” and “founded” town in Tennessee. To my Jefferson County friends, the following is the proof that settles our decades-old dispute!
The official Town of Dandridge website introduces itself, in error, by stating, “Welcome to Dandridge, Tennessee: 'Tennessee’s Second Oldest Town.'” At least the town's introduction places “Tennessee's Second Oldest Town” in quotation marks, since the statement is not correct.
Scrolling to the bottom of that introductory page, the “History” section states, ”Dandridge was founded around 1783 when the settlers came across the Appalachian Mountains moving west.”
“Jefferson County,” Tennessee Encyclopedia, by Estle P. Muncy, last updated 3/1/2018, confirms, “The first permanent settlement at Dandridge dates to 1783; the village became the county seat in 1793.”
Conclusion
Dandridge was both settled and founded in 1783. Rogersville was settled in 1775, eight years before Dandridge. Of course, Rogersville was established in 1789, six years after Dandridge.
To our Jefferson County “gang” members, Rogersville was settled before Dandridge! I win! Yes, Rogersville was established six years after Dandridge.
A
town's establishment date is a point of triviality.
For example, Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I live in the settlement
of Corryton (or “Corrytonvegas,” as I call it). “John
Sawyers, a Revolutionary War veteran, settled in the vicinity of what
is now Corryton in 1785. . . . In 1887, a developer named Corryton
Woodbury purchased property surrounding the rail depot to grow the
community into a suburban town.”
Source: “Corryton,
Tennessee,” Wikipedia, which references (on Google Books): Miller,
Larry (2001), Tennessee Place Names; Indiana University Press, page
51; ISBN 0-253-33984-7; retrieved 7/25/2020. I
have seen the highway markers that confirm Corryton was settled in
1785, two years after Dandridge. The little town of Corryton does
exist. It simply has not yet been “established” or “founded.”
If “the gang” members from Jefferson County can prove that Dandridge was settled before Rogersville (1775), then I will retract my victory. Otherwise, my victory is settled (pardon the pun), in a joking manner, of course.
Either way, Rogersville and Dandridge have both been around longer than Tennessee has been a state! On that, both towns have bragging rights!
We will see y'all (“the gang”) this afternoon! Love y'all! Mean it!
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2 comments:
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I'm just a well-educated country boy, with international experience. I hope that I have educated you. Stop by to read a while, with a cup of coffee – anytime that you are not trying to figure out a way to make money from my readers or me!
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