The first county created in Tennessee that withstood the Sevier-Tipton battles of the old State of Franklin, was Washington County, erected by the General Assembly of North Carolina in November 1777. Washington County was formed from Washington District, which had been detached from Wilkes and Burke Counties and included in the present State of Tennessee. Washington County consisted of all the territory west of the North Carolina line.
In 1799, the State of North Carolina created a second county called Sullivan. This county was named for General John SULLIVAN. With the exception of a small strip, Sullivan County was not, therefore, a part of Washington District when this district was created, but at that time was claimed by Virginia and recognized as part of that state.
In April 1783, the State of North Carolina created Greene County naming it in honor of General Nathan GREENE. North Carolina had given General Greene a grant of 25,000 acres of land located in Maury County (present Maury County). This grant was registered in Greene County, as at that time the land was a part of the present Maury County.
The next county created was from Sullivan County and was formed by the enactment of the State of North Carolina in 1786, while the state of Franklin was concurrently functioning. This county, called Hawkins, was named for Benjamine HAWKINS, who, as a United States Senator, with Senator Samuel JOHNSTON, executed, on February 25, 1790, the deed transferring what is now Tennessee to the United States.
On June 11, 1792, Knox County was erected out of Greene and Hawkins Counties.
On November 6, 1801, Knox gave a portion of territory for the formation of another county that was named for Judge ROANE, Governor from 1801–1803. After the Hiwassee Purchase, Roane County was extended on the south side of the Tennessee River and Morgan County taken from it.
On November 30, 1793, a blockhouse was completed by John SEVIER, at Southwest Point, a station established in 1791, near Kingston, which was of great service to travelers and settlers against Native Americans. The county seat was established and called Kingston on lands of Robert KING, near Southwest Point, in Knox County.
Among the earliest settlers of Roane County were: Robert KING, David MILLER, Alexander CARMICHAEL, George PRESTON, John SMITH, William L. LOVELY, and Thomas N. CLARK. Captain WALKER who had commanded the Light Horse Harry Lee bodyguard was an early settler. Dr. Daniel RATHER, Thomas C. CHILDRESS, Robert ALLISON, William FRENCH, David PATTON, Thomas BROWN, William WHITE, Samuel MILLER, Hugh NELSON, Paul HARLSON, Zacheus AYER, George PRESTON, William CAMPBELL, James PRESTON, Isham COX, William BARNETT, George McPHERSON, and Abraham McCLELLAND were among the first to settle in the county.
The Oliver Springs Community originated from a 5,000-acre grant issued to Stockley Donelson, owner of Donelson Land Speculator. Donelson recieved other grants that today constitute much of the land around the Oliver Springs region. Some of these include: 1,500 acres that are now downtown Oak Ridge, 1,000 acres on East Fork in Roane County about 1.5 miles west of the Anderson County line, 3,000 acres in the Old Wheat Area (including the Mill Site), and a 50,000-acre grant in 1795 for the land between the Tennessee and Clinch River's conflux.
Stockly Donelson's success in attaining so many grants was partially due to being born into a wealthy family, and as a result of gaining powerful connections. His father, John Donaldson, ran a successful flotilla of boats up and down the Mississippi River in the 1780s. John Donaldson settled in what is now the Nashville area as one of the wealthiest men in the region. One of John Donelson's daughter's, Rachel, married a Revolutionary War officer named Captain Louis Robards. They later separated and before they had divorced, Rachel had married Andrew Jackson. It is interesting to note that this marriage caused Jackson to get in several duels, and created trouble for him the remainder of his life.
As well as being a lawyer, Jackson was also a land speculator on a limited scale, which turned out to be good for Stockley Donelson because Jackson helped him write out land titles, including the title for the Thomas Gallaher farm located on the East Fork. A second noteable connection is that another sister of Stockley's, Catherine, married an old business partner of Andrew Jackson's named Captain Thomas Hutchings, who had once lived in Nachez, Mississippi.
Stockley himself married Elizabeth Glasgow Martin, widow of John Martin. She was the sister to James Glasgow, the Secretary of State for North Carolina during the height of the "land speculation period." It was the Secretary of State's responsibility to issue land grants, so it was no coincidence that the grant process for Donelson went smoothly. For example, he was often permitted extra time to pay off grants to the state. However, things were not always easy for Donelson, as he ended up losing some of his land due to failure to pay taxes.
In 1776, Stockley sold the 5,000 acre-grant and a 1,200-acre adjoining tract to Charles McClung of Knox County. The Donelson 5,000-acre grant then became known as the "McClung Survey." Charles McClung was also rich and powerful. He married Margaret, the daughter of General James White, the founder of Knoxville. Margaret's brother, Hugh Lawson White, was a U.S. Senator from Tennessee. McClung obviously had help along the same lines as Stockley Donelson.
Besides being a land surveyor and speculator, Charles McClung was also a public official and helped write Tennessee's first constitution in 1776. McClung eventually sold much of the original 5,000-acre Poplar Creek tract to various individuals in the late 1790s through the early 1800s. These purchases formed the basis and beginning of Oliver Springs development.
Excerpted from: The Roots of Roane County, Tennessee 1792–, by Snyder E. Roberts, 1981
The Brashear(s) families are of French origin and have been researched extensively on a national scale. The Brashear family's contribution to Roane County may be restricted mainly to ROBERT SAMUEL BRASHEAR and his clan who settled in Sugar Grove Valley in 1794. His story is of importance because he, his sons, and sons-in-law were the first to settle in present-day Roane County according to documentary proof thus far produced.
On 11 August 1794, ROBERT SAMUEL BRASHEAR, "of Hawkins County, Tennessee, "registered a deed from Reed and Swagerty for 640 acres on Poplar Creek and Clinch River, in a section of Knox County that would later become Roane County (Knox County Deed Book C, pg. 15). Witnesses to the deed were PHILLIP BRASHEAR (son), ROBERT GILLILAND (son-in-law), and ELIAS ROBERTS (son-in-law). The land was on the west side of the Clinch river, where Cherokee title was not "extinguished" until 1806.
Robert Samuel Brashear, the son of ROBERT and CHARITY DOWELL BRASHEAR, was born 20 Aug 1731 in Prince George County, MD. About 1754, he married PHOEBE NICKS (1738–1811), daughter of JOHN AND MARGARET NICKS.
In 1794 Roane, their nearest neighbor would have been the troops at Fort South West Point 5 miles away. Certain soldiers from South West Point came courting, and Robert S. acquired at least one son-in-law in 1797, DANIEL MASON, and, probably in 1801, NATHANIEL MASON. The nearest neighbor to the northeast would have been THOMAS FROST SR, the first known settler in Anderson County.
ROBERT SAMUEL died 15 January 1816 at the age of 84, and was buried beside his beloved Phoebe in the Brashear Graveyard. He left both a will and a bible, which name his children. However, there is some confusion about one child. His will names "my daughter ELIZABETH SATTERFIELD" but mentions no MARGARET. His bible lists MARGARET as born 17 May 1758, but does not mention an ELIZABETH. Some researchers believe this daughter was named MARGARET ELIZABETH and had married JEREMIAH SATTERFIELD and was living in Giles County in 1815.
The children of Robert Samuel and Phoebe Nicks Brashear follow:
Also on the petition are relatives and in-laws of Brashear family: JOSEPH HANKINS, STEPHEN RICE, BASIL BRASHEAR, JOHN BRASHEAR, ROBERT SAMUEL BRASHEAR, DANIEL MASON, NATHANIEL MASON, JOHN GILLILAND, and STEVEN RICE.
Jamey McLoughlin - jameym@roanetnheritage.com
TNGenWeb Project - Roane County
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