In 1971, Snyder E. Roberts was asked to write a history of Clinton
Senior High School in Clinton, Tennessee (Anderson County). Mr. Roberts was then
a history teacher there, and a noted local genealogist and historian. In the
first chapter of the book, he wrote a sketch of early Anderson County, with some
mention of early settlers, and slanted somewhat toward educational movements.
Available in local libraries, the book is out of print. The following has been
copied by his daughter, Pat (Roberts) McDONALD, of Spring, Texas. [All the works
of Snyder E. Roberts are now the property of C. S. Harvey and are available in
the Roberts-Harvey Archives in Oliver Springs, Tennessee.]
The
first white men to enter present-day Anderson County were a group of hunters
headed by a man named WALLEN, or WALDEN, who was accompanied by SCAGGS, COX,
BLEVENS, and others in 1761. Walden's Ridge, named in honor of the leader, is a
very important landmark. It extends from Cumberland Gap to Chattanooga, and is
the geological dividing line between the East Tennessee Valley and the
Cumberland Plateau. The south side foot of this ridge was once the Indian
boundary. Today Walden's Ridge divides Anderson County into the mountainous
portion and the valley portion. The mountainous portion is Anderson County's
contribution to Appalachia, whereas the valley portion of the county includes
the City of Oak Ridge.
Another
landmark of importance in Anderson County is the Clinch River which was called
"Pellisipi" by the Indians. The story is told that a group of early
explorers, which included one Irishman, was fording the river by wading. Each
man clasped the hand of the man in front of him and the hand of the man
following so as to form a chain that would lend the most aid to the man in the
swiftest part of the stream. On this occasion, the Irishman's hand slipped as he
reached the swift portion. As he felt himself in danger of being swept
downstream, he became quite excited and yelled, "Clinch me! Clinch
me!" Thereafter, the beautiful Pellisipi has been called the Clinch River.
After
the explorers, Long Hunters, and traders, the settlers made their appearance in
present-day Anderson County. The names of these first settlers are not
recoverable from the records. A blockhouse was built in present-day Blockhouse
Valley, which gave some protection from Indian incursions.
On
November 30, 1792, Gen. John Sevier reported to Gov. William Blount the fort at
South West Point had been completed. This fort at present-day Kingston [Roane
County] was garrisoned with regular U.S. Army forces which patrolled into parts
of present Anderson County providing greater protection from the Indians.
Among
the first known settlers in Anderson County were Thomas FROST, Joseph BLACK,
David HALL, Isaac COWARD, John CHILES, and John GARNER. [see History of
Anderson County by Clifford Seeber]. These men settled in Raccoon Valley,
Chestnut Ridge, and Wolf Valley. Their names have been perpetuated in the county
to the present by numerous descendants. The FROST family provided the guiding
hand that established the Baptist denomination in Anderson County. The HALL
family has been well-known in medicine. The BLACKs have namesakes such as
Black's Ferry and Black's Ferry Road. The CHILES family established outstanding
military records. The virility of the COWARDs and the GARNERs has helped to
populate Anderson County.
The
territory south of Walden's Ridge was obtained from the Cherokee Indians by the
Treaty of Holston made in 1791 and the First Treaty of Tellico negotiated on
October 2, 1798. With the extinguishing of Indian title to the land together
with the increased protection offered by military forces, the settlers increased
to the point where it seemed practical to petition the Tennessee General
Assembly to divide Knox and Grainger counties and form two new counties. After
ineffectual petitions had been filed, effectual petitions were filed in 1799
that resulted in the erection of the twin counties of Anderson and Gallatin
(quickly changed to Roane) in 1801.
The
original of the petition heading is written in almost perfect handwriting. The
petition heading is followed by approximately 270 signatures. Robert HALL's name
heads the list, and Lazarus CHITWOOD's name the last. Although some of the
signers were not conversant with the rules for the capitalization of proper
names, most of the names are legible; and many of them, including the
SCARBROUGHs and WORTHINGTONs, are signed in beautiful handwriting. Contrary to
common opinion, these Anderson County forefathers were literate in a
surprisingly large percent of the cases.
The
petition resulted in the passage of a legislative act November 6, 1801 that
provided for the creation of Anderson County. The new county was named for
Joseph ANDERSON (1757-1837) who was one of the judges of the Territory South of
the Ohio River (1791-1796), United States Senator from Tennessee (1797-1815),
appointed first Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury, and who helped frame the
Tennessee Constitution.
The
General Assembly authorized seven commissioners: William LEA, Kinza JOHNSON,
William STANDIFER, William ROBERTSON, Joseph GRAYSON, Solomon MASSINGALE, and
Hugh MONTGOMERY to purchase land for a county seat. The commissioners were
further instructed to supervise the selection of a Court of Pleas and Quarter
Session (a body now known as the County Court) to conduct the judicial and
business affairs of the county.
In
1802, the county was organized for civil and military purposes into ten
companies commanded by Captains LINVILLE, JEOFFERY, HAILE, WILSON, ROBBINS,
McKAMEY, STELLES, CLOUD, MEDLIN and DAVIS. This organization provided a system
for tax collecting and protection from incursions by Indians. Men between 21 and
50 years of age were enrolled. No records exist as to the literacy of men
enrolled in these companies for Anderson County, but the same type organization
in Roane County and at the same date, shows that of 275 enrolled only eight were
illiterate or could not sign their names [see History of Roane County,
Tennessee by Wells]. Anderson County enrollees would probably have compared
with Roane Countians regarding literacy.
The
above-named seven commissioners selected to choose a site for the county seat
were authorized to purchase land not exceeding 50 acres on the Clinch River,
"between the Island Ford, and where Samuel WORTHINGTON now lives, and lay
off a town with necessary streets and alleys, reserving two acres near the
center for the courthouse, jail, and stocks." The new town was named
Burrville in honor of the then popular Aaron BURR. When Burr killed Alexander
HAMILTON in a duel and later became involved in a plot to establish a separate
government west of the Mississippi, he was discredited and the people of
Burrville asked the Legislature in 1809 to change the name of the town to
Clinton. The record is not specific as to whether Clinton was named for George
CLINTON, a Revolutionary War patriot, or for his nephew, Dewitt CLINTON, who
later became Governor of New York and helped build the Erie Canal. The
Commissioners followed their legislative instructions and purchased 40 acres
from John LEIB for the town site. LEIB was the son-in-law of John CLODFELTER, a
German immigrant by way of Pennsylvania who, with his eight sons-in-law, settled
Dutch Valley. The 40 acres sold by Leib had been included in a purchase of 640
acres from William BLACK and Charles McCLUNG. BLACK had received a grant for the
same tract from the State of North Carolina September 20, 1787.