More about John Sevier...
He became the clerk of the Watauga
Association, and rose quickly to leadership not only in
governmental affairs but also in military defense. April 1775,
the Revolutionary War began. The Watauga Association changed
its name to the Washington District and replaced its court of
five with a Committee of Safety of thirteen members, of which
(General John) Sevier was one of the most prominent.
Sarah Hawkins Sevier died shortly after the birth of
their 10th child, Spring 1780. John married Catherine
"Bonny Kate" Sherrill, August 14, 1780.
September 25, 1780, John Sevier, two of his
sons, his younger brothers Robert and Valentine, and more than
300 of his neighbors gathered at Sycamore Shoals in what is now
Tennessee. These Overmountain men mustered there with patriots
and soldiers from Virginia and North Carolina, about a thousand
in all. They intended to fight for the newly formed
United States, and to answer a message sent by British Major
Patrick Ferguson, "that if they did not desist from their
opposition to the British arms, and take protection under his
standard, he would march his army over the mountains, hang
their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and
sword." On October 7th, they met Ferguson and his loyalist
forces at King's Mountain South Carolina, where the patriots
won an overwhelming victory. It was a turning point in the
Revolutionary War. Moved to the South bank of the
Nolichucky River a place he called "Mount Pleasant,"
Fall 1783. The Nolichucky River is within the bounds of present
day Greene County. It's from this river that John Sevier
acquired the nickname "Chucky Jack." Many of
the North Carolina citizens living on the western side of the
Smoky Mountains and south of the Ohio river (Tennessee Valley)
gathered to organize this territory as the State of Franklin
and petitioned Congress for admittance to the United States of
America. John Sevier was elected Governor of "the
proclaimed" State of Franklin in March 1785. The Franklin
Legislature held their final meeting in Sevier County in 1788.
Sevier was elected as a Democrat from North Carolina to
the First Congress. During this year, George Washington began
his two term tenure as President of the United States, serving
until March of 1797. Appointed as Brigadier General of
militia for the Washington District of the Territory South of
the Ohio, February, 1791. First Governor of Tennessee,
1796-1801. Appointed Brigadier General of the Provisional
Army, 1798. Governor of Tennessee (again) from 1803-1809.
General John Sevier was elected to the House of
Representatives, from Tennessee, serving from March 4, 1811
until his death. General John Sevier dies near Fort
Decatur, Alabama while fulfilling a presidential appointment as
commissioner to determine the boundary between Georgia and the
Creek territory in Alabama. He is buried at Fort Decatur
(Sevier and Madden).
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