Franklin Township (part 17 of 19)

The per diem of the members of the Convention had been fixed by the Territorial Legislature, at two dollars and a half; no provision, however, had been made for the pay of its secretary f printer, and other officers.

JSesolvedy That economy is an amiable trait in any government, and that in fixing the salaries of the officers thereof, the situation and reaonrces of the country should be attended to.

Besolved^ That ten shillings and sixpence, Virginia currency, per day to every member, is a sufficient compensaUon for his services in the Convention, and one dollar for every thirty miles they travel in coming to and returning from the Convention ; and that the members pledge

The second resolution was amended by substitating one dollar and fifty cents for ten shillings and sixpence, Virginia currency, and, thus amended, was unanimously adopted. On motion of Mr. Robertson, seconded by Mr. Ford, ** Resolved^ That the House proceed to appoint two members from each county, to draft a constitution, and that each county name their members." Messrs. Craig and Black were nominated for Blount.

** On motion of Mr. McMinn, the opinion of the House was taken, whether a Bill of Rights be prefixed to the Constitution ; and having decided that in the affirmative, the House directed the Committee to present as early as possible a Declaration or Bill of Rights, to be prefixed to the Constitution."

Mr. Smith, Chairman, presented to the Convention a draft of the Bill of Rights. It was considered in Committee of the Whole, Mr. Robertson in the chair. In like manner, a draft of the Constitution was, on the 27th of January, " delivered in at the Secretary's table and read." The next day it was taken up, referred to the Committee of the Whofe, and considered and amended until the Gth of February, when *' the engrossed copy of the Constitution was read and passed unanimously."

The debates of the Convention are not given in the Journal. They are not to be found elsewhere. A single member of that patriotic body survives. Accounts, therefore, of its more minute transactions are meagre, and the details of the views of members, and their position upon subjects about which a conflict of sentiment liad arisen, can be gathered only from the ayes and noes - as occasionally called for during the session - and from the recollections of the few surviving contemporaries of these sages of 1706.

The session of the Convention was short, extending to only twenty-seven days. Its deliberations are said to have been marked by great moderation and unusual harmony, ftnd to have been conducted throughout with singular courtesy, good feeling and liberality. The speeches of members were, therefore, probably few and short. They had met more with the purpose of deliberating for the public good, than f6r the exhibition of talents and eloquence. ' Early in the session, Mr. Outlaw presented a grave question to the Convention, viz : '' whether the Legislature consist of two Houses." In Committee of the Whole, it was decided in the affirmative. On motion of Mr. McNairy, seconded by Mr. Cocke, a question of equal gravity was next considered, viz : '^ whether the two branches in the Legislature shall consist of equal numbers and of equal powers, and if the whole number elected should be odd, then by ballot to determine to which House the odd member belongs.^' In Committee of the Whole, it was determined ** that the legislative power be vested in two Houses, of equal numbers and of equal powers ;" and so reported to the Convention. This report was, however, re-considered the next day, on motion of Mr. McNairy, and seconded by Mr. Rhea, and ** amended so as to read as follows : in lieu of the words, two Houses, insert one House of Representatives, and that no bill or resolution shall be passed, unless by two-thirds of the whole number of members present." This amendment was concurred in by the Convention, but the next morning a re-consideration was again ordered, on motion of Mr. Roddye, seconded by Mr. Fort, and " two branches, a Senate and House of Representatives,'^ again inserted. This amendment, too, was adopted by the Committee, on motion of Mr. Cocke, seconded by Mr. Jackson. " Mr. Anderson moved that the report of the Committee be amended, by striking oat the word Senate^ which passed in the negative.^'

Mr. Carter, that the report be amended as follows: thattlie Senate have only a qualified negative, and that a bill, notwithstanding their dissent, shall become a law, provided two-thirds of the House of Representatives concur in its passage, which passed in the negative."

Later in the session, ** it was moved by Mr. Outlaw, and seconded by Mr. Anderson, whether it is the sense of this House, that if we should not be admitted by Congress as a member State of the General Government, that we shonld continue to exist as an independent State." ** Mr. Cocke moved the postponement of the question, which was objected to ; the question was then put, and carried in the affirmative."

An ineifectual attempt was made by Mr. Hendersoo, to extend the right of suffrage to '' all persons who have done duty in the militia ;^ and by Mr. Outlaw, ** to all persons liable by law to do militia duty ;*' and by Mr. Anderson, to change the system of voting by ballot to the viva voce plan.

'* Article VIII, Sec. 1. - Whereas^ the ministers of the Gospel are, bf their professions, dedicated to God and tbe care of aoula, and oiurht noik to bo' diverted from the great duties of their functions ; thererore, no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any denomination whatever, shall, under any pretence or description, be eligible to or capable of holding anj civil or military ofBco, or place of trust, within this state." On motion of Mr. Carter, seconded by Mr. Jackson, this was amended, so as to read after the word ** eligible, to a seat in either branch of the Legislature."

It was through the efforts of William Blount, that the Convention adopted the 29th section of the Bill of Rights - ** That an equal participation of the free navigation of the Mississippi, is one of the inherent rights of the citizens of this State ; it cannot, therefore, be conceded to any prince, potentate, power, person or persons whatever.*

In section 31st of the Bill of Rights, adopted with the Constitution, it is provided - " That the people residing south of French Broad and Holston, between the Rivers Tennessee and Big Pigeon, are entitled to the right of pre-emption and occupancy in that tract." This right was secured to them by the fraincrs of the Constitution, in consideration of the value to the country of these settlements. These brave pioneers had extended themselves as a barrier between the older settlements and the Indians - maintaining their ground, without titles to their lands, from 1783 to 1790 ; living there, part of this interim, without the benefit of law, enduring trouble, encountering danger, and exposed to pillage, massacre and death. The privilege of pre-emption was richly deserved.

A further privilege was granted to these inhabitants. ** Until a Land Office shiall be opened, so as to enable the citizens south of French Broad and Holston, between the Rivers Tennessee and Big Pigeon, to obtain titles upon their claims of occupancy and pre-emption, those who hold land, by virtue of such claims, shall be eligible to serve in all capacities where a freehold is, by this Constitution, made a . requisite qualification.''

. It is tradition, that the beautiful name given to our State, in the Convention, was suggested by General Jackson. The members from the cou.ity of Tennessee consented to the loss of that name, if it should be transferred to the whole State. Its principal river still retained its aboriginal name, and the Convention adopted it, in preference to others that were spoken of. In euphony and smoothness, it compares well with those of her sister coterminous states, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri and Kentucky ; and, at the same time, is more American, less European, than her venerable mother, Carolina, or Virginia and Georgia.

** Mr. McCIung, Chairman of the Committee'appointed to draw up an estimate of the expenses of the Conyention, reported the following estimate of the wages of the Convention, clerks and door-keeper, began and held at Enoxville on the 11th day of January, and ending the 6th day of February, 1796, allowing one dollar and fifty cents per day for each member, and one dollar for every thirty miles' travelling to and returning from the same, agreeably to a unanimous resolution of the Convention of the 12th January; two dollars and fifty cents per day to the clerks, and two dollars to the door-keeper.*'

So small was the expenditure of a primitive people for the furniture of the Convention Chamber, and the covering of the President's and Secretary's tables. They were in exact correspondence with the room in which the session was held. It was the office of David Henley, Esq., Agent of the Department of War, a small building then in the outer part of Knoxville, and still surrounded by standing trees of the ancient forest. It was afterwards used as a school house. The older citizens can point out to the curious where the old Convention-house stood, but no vestige of it has been preserved. The vandalism of modern times has razed its foundation, and consigned it to oblivion.

The Convention had generously relinquished a large proportion of the daily pay of its own members, and they recommended the application of that amount to the following purposes :

^ Resolved^ That it is the unanimous wish of the members of this Convention, that the monies appropriated to their use by law, and not by them received, may be appropiated by the General Assembly to the payment of the secretary, clerk, printer and door-keeper, or so much thereof as will be sufficient to pay them for their services ; and that the printer be directed to print fifty copies of the Constitution, and ten copies of the Journal for each county, to be delivered to the members of this Convention, and by them to be distributed for the information and benefit of the citizens."*

The President of the Convention was instructed *' to take the Constitution into his safe keeping, until a Secretary shall be appointed and qualified to office under it, and then to deliver it to him," and also to " forward, as early as practicable, by an express, a copy to the Secretary of State for the United States." The President was further " authorized and directed to issue writs of election to Sheriffs of the several counties, for holding the first election of members of the General Assembly, and a Governor, under the authority of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, to bear test of this date."

* This small edition was, of course, soon exhausted, and at the time of this writing, a copy can scarcely be found. The writer is indebted, for the copy now befors him, to ihe politeness and research of the Hon. Chancellor Reeso, President oi tb« East Tennessee Historical and Antiquarian Society.

. Agreeably to these instructions of the Convention, the President promptly forwarded, on the 9lh of February, a copy of the Constitution to Mr. Pickering, as Secretary of State. It was sent by one of the members from Hawkins county, Joseph McMiHn, Esq., who was instructed to remain long enough at the seat of the Federal Government, to ascertain whether the members of Congress from Tennessee would be allowed to take their seats in the National Legislature. Mr. White, the Territorial delegate in that body, was urged by Mr. McMihn, to apply for the admission of the State of Tennessee into the Union.

The Constitution of the State of Tennessee, as formed by the Convention of 1796, need not be here given, as it is to be found at large in several political compilations. It is admitted to be one of the very best - Mr. Jefferson said, " the least imperfect and most republican" - of the systems of government adopted by any of the American States. For about forty years it was considered so unobjectionable, and 80 satisfactory to the people of Tennessee, that all efforts to amend it failed to receive their sanction till 1835, when it was changed, and the present Constitution substituted in its stead.

First Legislature Of Tennessee

Writs of election, bearing date the 6th of February, were issued by the President of the Convention to the Sheriffs of the several counties, requiring them to hold the first election of members of the General Assembly, and Governor of the State of Tennessee, and designating the 28th of March, as the day on which the new Legislature of the new State should assemble. The election was held accordingly, and the members elect were furnished by the returning officers of their respective counties with the necessary credentials. Upon the day appointed, the Legislature met at Knoxville. The following members constituted the

John Scties In A0Gt7Rated Goverhox. W9

The two Houses met in the Representative Chamber, for the purpose of opening and publishing the returns of the elections in the severaff counties for Governor. From these, ** it appears that citizen John Sevier is duly and constitutionally elected Governor of this State, which was accordingly announced by the Speaker of the Senate, in presence ef both Houses of the General Assembly.**

The same day, a Joint Committee, viz : Lewis, Ford and Kelly, of the Senate, and Outlaw, Blair, Cocke, Johnston, Newell and Fort, of the House, was raised, ** to wait on his Excellency John Sevier, and request his attendance in the House of Representatives, to-morrow, at 12 o'clock, to be qoalifled agreeably to the Constitution of the State of Tennessee.'*

Another Joint Committee was directed also to wait upon Governor Blount, to inform him of the time and place ap» pointed for the qualification of his successor in office, and to request his attendance there. By another Committee an oath of office was prescribed, to be administered to the Go- Temor elect. Some conflict of opinion existed between the two Houses, respecting the qualification of the Governor by the Judges, the Senate insisting that that duty devolved upon their Clerk. Upon a reconsideration, however, the Senate concurred in appointing a Committee ** to wait upon the Judges, and request their attendance to qualify the Governor.'*

March dOth. - *^ Both Houses having convened in the Representative Chamber, the several oaths prescribed were duly administered by the Honourable Joseph Anderson.**

^Gentienun of the Senate and Jffauee of Bepresentativee : - ^The high and honourable appointment conferred upon roe by the free Buftage of my oouDtrymen, tills my breast with gratitude, which, I trust, my future life will manifest I take this early opportunity to express, through yoo, my thanks in the strongest terms of acknowledgment I shall laboui to discharge with fidelity the trust reposed in me ; and if such ray exertioDB shomd prove satisfactory, the first wish of my heart will be gratified.

" (Gentlemen - accept of my beet wishes for jour it^diyidual and pubtio happiness ; and, relying upon your wisdom and patriotism, I have no doubt but the result of your deliberations will give permanency and ^success to our new system of government, so wisely calculated to secure the liberty, and advance the happiness and prosperity of our fellow citizens. John Sevisb.'*

The machinery of the new State was not yet fully in motion. Its Legislature was organized and in session - its Governor had just been inaugurated according to the forms prescribed by the Constitution - ^but its sovereignty was not represented in the councils of the Union. The duty remained unperformed, of electing Senators for the State of Tennessee to the Congress of the United States. The mode adopted, in 1706, was somewhat different from that which obtains in the present day.

^ Mr, Speaker and Gentlemen of the Senate : - ^This House propose to proceed to the election of the two Senators to represent this State in the Congress of the United States, and that the Senate and House of Representatives do convene in the House of Representatives for that

Jurpose to-morrow, at 10 o'clock, and do propose Mr. William Blount, [r. William Cocke and Mr. Joseph Anderson, as candidates for the Senate.''

" Mr, Speaker and Gentlemen : - W^ concur with your message as to the time and place of the election by you proposed, and propose Dr. James White* to be added to the nomination, as a candidate for the Senate.

" The Senate and House of Representatives having convened in the Representative Chamber, William Blount and William Cocke were duly and constitutionally elected."

A Joint Committee was then appointed *' to prepare an address to Messrs. William Blount and William Cocke, informing them of their being elected to represent this State in the Congress of the United States." Mr. White, Chairman of that Committee, reported the following address :

Sir: - Impressed with the grateful remembrance of your conduct during the time you was Governor of the Territory south of the River Ohio, now the State of Tennessee, the General Assembly of the said

State, in the name of the people thereof, over whom you formerly presided, embrace the earliest moment to testify to you their entire approbation of your conduct and attention to promote their happiness during your continuance in that office, the exercise of which was rendered more difficult and arduous, by the frequent inroads of the neighbouring na* tions of Indians. We recollect, with pleasure, that under your administration, we, as a people, have experienced growing energy and increasing power. That your exertions, in subordination to the Federal Government, have been the cause of the present peace, which for some time past, has existed between us and the adjoining Indian tribes, and which, we hope, will long exist, on the principles you have established.

The Territorial GU)vernment now being ended, we will only say, in respect thereof, that if the exercise, alone, of a Government, constituted on the principles it was, could render a people happy under it, we should have been so. We rejoice that while, the Territorial Government has dosed with honour to you, it has left us in a state of prosperity and peace.

You are now, sir, called by the unanimous voice of a free people, to represent them in the Senate of the United States of America - the highest proof in their power to offer, <^ their confidence in your integrity and ability to serve them.

Citizen \ William Cocke : - ^Your fellow-citizens have called you to represent them in the Senate of the United States of America. Impressed with recollections of your past conduct, from an early period of the settlement of our common country, they have given you this testimony of the confidence they repose in your integrity and abilities to serve them.

The entire approbation of the people, of my conduct in office, by you teatified, is the highest reward I could receive. Accept, gentlemen, mcf thanks for the prompt and warm manner in which you have been pleased to convey it to me.

With you I hope that the peace which exists between the citizens of the United States and the Indian tribes will long continue ; as in peace connmts the happiness and prosperity of both parties ; and thus impreased, it shall be my duty, in whatever situation I may be placed, tu use mj efforts to its preservation.

William Maclin was eleoted Secretory of State ; Jeia McNairy, Willie Blount* and Archibald Roane were eleoted Judges of the Superior Courts of Law and Equity.

. The condition of the eitisens of Tennessee inhabiting the section of the State south of French Broad and Holston, was peculiar. It had been settled partly under treaties witk the Indians, held under the authority of the State of Franklin. The inhabitants were yet without perfect titles to their lands, and holding them only by the right of occupancy, were apprehensive of future disturbance. Governor Sevier early brought the subject before the Legislature by the following message :

Permit me to remark to your honourable body, that, as our Senators are about to proceed to the Federal Legislature, it may not be inexpedient to remind them of the necessity of taking under consideration, the embarrassed situation, claimants of land are under, to those sonth of the line concluded on in the treaty of Holston, and now within the Indian boundary.

In my humble opinion, it is a matter of great public importance, and particularly interesting to the State and to individuids, to either have the

'John McNairy decliDed this appointment, and Howell Tatnm, Esq^ of Bafid- was oommiBsioned in hia place, May l2tli, 1*707. Willie Bloant also decUned* and his place was filled by W. C. C. Claiborae, of Sallivan county, oommiosioDed -September 28th, 1796. April 9Ui, 1796 - John C. Hamilton, Esq., was appointed Attorney for the State, vice Howell Tatum, appointed Judge.

Instruction To 8Knat0Ks

I have no doubt but you will take the premises under due deliberation, and give your Senators such instructions as you, in your wisdom, nay deem necessary and advisable.

Resolved^ That it be an instruction to the Senators and Bepresentatives of this State in the Congress of the United States, to state to that body, that it is essential to the preservation of peace, between the In* dian Tribes and the United States, that measures be by them takeJr to relieve and quiet the grantees of lands under the State of North-Carolina, the possession of which is guaranteed to the Indians by treaty, which claim we wish extinguished, and the claimants put in peaoeabto possession of their lands.

The bill to preclude persons of a certain description, from bdng admitted as witnesses, Ice, was then taken up, to which Mr. Gass proposed tibe following amendment : Be it enacted, by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee - That from and after the passing of this Act, if any person in this State shall publicly deny the being of a God, and a future state of rewards and punishments, or shall publicly deny the divine authonty of the Old and New Testaments, on being convicted thereof by the testimony of two witnesses, shall forfeit and pay the sum of dollars for every such offence, etc

The foregoing amendment being received, the question was taken on the passage of the amended bill, which was carried. Whereupon the yeas and nays were called for -

Teas. - Blair, Black, Conway, Clack, Crawford, Gass, Houston, Johnson, Looney, Montgomery, Newell, Outlaw, Peck and Weakley. Nays, - Cantrell, Co<^e, Fort, Henderson, Lewis, Menefee and Rhea. Mr. Lewis entered the following protest -

To this question we enter our dissent, as we conceived the law to be an inferior species of persecution, which is always a violation of the law of nature ; and also that it is a violation of our constitution.

Seth Lewis, John Cooke, William Fort, John Rhea, Stephen Cantrell, John Menefee, Thomas Henderson. The bill, with the amendment, was, upon its first reading in the Senate, rcgected.

not by the people, as now provided for in Tennessee and most of the other States. Joseph Greer, Daniel Smith, Hugh Neilson and Joseph Anderson, were elected.

Upon the same day, Hopkins Lacy wa^ elected Attorney- General for Washington District ; John Lowry for Hamilton, and Howell Tatum, for Mero District.

The day preceding the adjournment of the Legislature, Go- Yernor Sevier, by message, brought to the attention of the Legislature, the condition of the frontier, and recommended friendship with the Indians, as the principal mode of security and defence. He notices the large emigration to the State, and that the soldiers of the late campaigns were still unpaid for their services ; he proposes, with the leave of the Legislature, to attend in person at the next session of Congress, to urge upon that body the payment to the troops for their hazardous and toilsome services."

To which a Joint Committee, appointed for that purpose, replied - ^That while they were sensible of the necessity of preserving the existing peace, and were most solicitous that Congress should not only provide for the defence of the frontier, but also make full compensation for the payment of the troops heretofore employed in that service, yet they did not advise the visit of the Governor to Congress, and suggested that the duty he proposed to assume in that behalf, should be devolved on the members of Congress from Tennessee.

At this session, Tennessee county was divided, and the counties of Robertson and Montgomery established out of its territory. The former was so named in honour of General James Robertson, the patriarch of Watauga and the founder of the Cumberland settlements. He was a native of North-Carolina, and emigrated to Watauga in 1769. These Annals have abounded with incidents of his life, performed in the civil, political and military service of his country, in every period of difficulty, embarrassment and danger. His efforts, in a more private capacity, to benefit his fellowcitizens were disinterested, great and unremitted. "He treated the Indians, when known enemies, as the enemies of his country ; when known friends of peace, as its friends. His fellow men he treated as such, according to known merit - for the errors of the misguided, he exercised charity to a proper extent - those hardened in vice^he let the law punish. He practised virtue, and encouraged it in others ; vice he discountenanced, by precept and by example. His house, and all he had, were opened freely to the distressed of every condition. He loved his friends, and he held his enemies at defiance. To his wife he was indebted for a knowledge of the alphabet, and for instruction how to read and write. To his Creator he was indebted for rich mental endowments - to himself, for mental improvement. To his God was he indebted for that firmness and indomitable courage, which the circumstances that surrounded him, called so constantly into exercise,"* Besides the civil and political positions which General Robertson occupied, as already mentioned, in the Watauga Association, in the Legislature and Convention of North-Carolina, the Territory, and the State of Tennessee, he was Deputy Superintendent on the part f the United States, for the Chickasaw and Choctaw Tribes ; and was several times appointed to treat with the southern Indians, for a relinquishment of their claims to land in the South-west. Previous to and at the time of his death. Gen. Robertson was the United States Agent to the Chickasaw nation. A detail of his acts in behalf of his country, and an enumeration of his suflTerings, by personal exposure, in the wilderness, in the field<i«f battle, in the besieged fort and the assaulted station, in losses of relatives and of private pro perty, would fill a volume. He was faithful to his God, his country and his fellow men. The memory of no one is held in greater esteem and veneration, than that of James Robertson. #

William Johnston, Sen., James Norflet, John Young, John Donelson and Samuel Crocket, were Commisioners to lay off the county seat for Robertson County. The first court was held at the house of Jacob McCarty. The county was attached to Mero District. On the 20th of April, Springfield was established as the seat of justice for Robertson county.

and was oalled after Col. John Montgomery, a native of Virginia. He emigrated early to the West, and became a member of the North-Carolina Legislature, and also of the Convention of that State, which ratified the Constitution of the United States. Besides the civil appointments which he filled, he was colonel of the militia of his county, and led more than two hundred of his fellow soldiers in the Nickajack campaign. He was a patriot and a hero, and lost his life in giving protection to the frontier. Clarkesville, the county seat, was so called in honour of Gen. George Rogers Clarke. George Neville, Sen.t Francis Prince, Heyden Wells, Robert Edmonson and Robert Dunning, were appointed by the Legislature, to erect public buildings in Clarkesville.

April 9. - The Legislature divided, again, the mother county, Washington, and established Carter county. Landon Carter, Reuben Thornton, Andrew Greer, Sen., Zachar riah Campbell and David M cNabb, were Commissioners to select the site for the court-house, and to erect county buildings. The first court was held at the house of Samuel Tipton. Carter county was attached to Washington District. Carter county was thus named, in honour of General Landon Carter ; be was a native of Virginia, emigrated at an early day, with his father, Col. John Carter, to the wilds of Watauga. He was educated at Liberty Hall, Mecklenburg county, North- Carolina, and became qualified for the wide range of duties afterwards assigned him by his countrymen. He was brave, prompt and useful, in repelling Indian invasion and attack. He was a member of the Franklin Convention and Legislature, its Secretary of State, and Treasurer of Washington District under the Territorial Government He was a member of the Convention of 1796, and afterwards Treasurer of Washington District for the State of Tennessee.

April 23. - Additional Commissioners, for the regulation and management of the town of Jonesboro', were appointed, viz : David Deaderick, Sen., John Sevier, Jun., Christopher Taylor, John Tipton, Adam Reader, John Blair, John Adams,

Grainger county was laid off April 22, 1796. David Hayley, Major Lea, Benjamin McCarty, Hartley Marshall and James Blair, Jun., were appointed Commissioners, to lay off a town and erect county buildings. First court was held at the house of Benjamin McCarty. John Cocke and William* Payne were appointed to run the boundary line. October 28, 1797, the county seat was established, ai^d called Rutledge, in honour of George Rutledge, Esq., of Sullivan county.

Grainger county, was so called, for Mary Grainger, the wife of Governor William Blount. She was a native of North-Carolina, and arrived on Watauga at the commencement of the Territorial Government. After Knoxville beoame the residence of the Governor, many of the friendly chiefs paid frequent visits to the new capital ; and Mrs. Blount became much interested in them, and used her address and persuasion, to induce them to restrain their young warriors from further aggression upon the frontier people. With these she was a deserved favourite. Fort Grainger, at the mouth of Tennessee, was also called for Mrs. Blount. She was an accomplished lady, and she did much to soften and refine the manners of the first inhabitants of Knoxville. Under her administration, a grace and a charm was given to the society of the place - the more remarkable and attractive from the external circumstances under which they were, from the necessity of the case, exhibited in the new town upon a distant frontier.

George Rulledge was elected Brigadier-General, in place of General Sevier, jfnd James Winchester, Brigadier-General, in place of General Robertson ; and George Conway, Miyor-General. He was succeeded by Andrew Jackson.

F Tenne98Ek

10. Directing the mode of electing membere to Congrees. TliiBAet divides the State into two divisions, to be called the Holrton and th« Cumberland divisions ; each of which is entitled to one Kepresentatire to Congress,

17. Providing for the psymeut of the Governor, (gives bim, annually, Bcvcn hundred and fifty dollars,) and directing the place of his residence.

18, Uaking compensation of one dollar and seventy-live cents, for each day, to every member of the Legislature, and a like sum for evay twenty-five miles travel, ill going and returning; and to the clerks and otber officers, « corresponding amount

29. Amendatory of an Act for the establishment of Kashville. 1^ ninth section of this act authorizes the Trustees of ssid town to execute a deed to a religious society, for a site for a meeting-house, "with tha express limitations following, viz : said meeting-houae shall be and nmain to the use of the said society, so &r only as to give a right to th«ir ^ ministers to preach therein ; but shall not ext«nd to authorize them ta debar or deny to any other denomination of Christians the liberty of preaching therein, unless when immediately occupied by the said,

Governor Sevier, afler the establishment of the State Government, proceeded to issue commissions to all the civil and military officers in all the counties of the State. The names of the magistrates, in Washington county, at the first court after the State Constitution was formed, are James Stuart, John Tipton, John Weir, John Adams, John Strain, Henry Nelson, Joseph Young, Jdseph Crouch, William Kelson, Robert Blair, Jesse Payne, Isaac Depreve, CfaarleB

The first court held for Sevier county, under the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, was begun and held at the Court House in Sevierville, July 4.

Second Monday, May, 1796. - Court of Greene county met Daniel Kennedy was elected Clerk; George Conway, Sheriff; and James Donwoody, Register.

Soon after the rise of the Convention of 1796, its Presi* dent, Governor Blount, communicated a copy of the Constitution, to the Secretary of State, Mr. Pickering. His letter 18 dated

Sir: - Aa Governor, it is my duty, and as President of the Convention, I am instructed, hy a resolution of that hody, to forward to you, express, a copy of the constitution formed for the permanent government of the State of Tennessee, which you will herewith receive hy the hands of Major Joseph McMinn, of Hawkins county, who was himself a member of the Convention.

The sixth section of the first article will inform you that the first General Assembly to be held under this constitution is to commerce on the last Monday in March next. The object of the Convention, in determining on this early day, is a representation in the Congress of the Uni- ted States belbrt the tennhuUion of th» pnMBt iei^^ AndaeOiid lection of the schedule will inform yon how long it is coiitaii|ilAtedy the temporary form of Government shall continue. I have the honour to be, rery respeetAiliy,

On the eighth of April, the Preeideiit comaiimioaled thii letter, with its endoeares, to Congreee - ^eoomponying tfaem with the following message : '

By an Act (^ Ckmgress passed on the 26th of Mayi it90, kiiw de* ebured that the inhabitants of the Territory of the United fifcatea aoeih of the River Ohio^ should enjoy all the privileges^ benefits and advantages set forth in the ordinance cw Cbngress for tbs govenment of the Tsnitory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio^ and tkA theClo- Tsmment of the said Territonr sooth of theOhio^ should be aim3ar to tiiat which was then ezenased in the Territory northwest of the Ofaio^ eaeept so for as was otherwise provided in the conditions exprsseed iaaii JU* of Ooomss, pnMed Um ild of April, 17M, luititied "^ An. Act to ae^ n osHion cfthe daim of the State <rf Korth^OaroUna to n csttaindii^ trict of Western Territorr.**

Among the privileges, benefita and advantages thus seouied to the inhabitants of the Territory south of the River Ohio, appear to be the right of forming a permanent Constitution and State Gh>vemment, and of admission, as a State, by its ^delegates, in the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States, in ail respects whatever, when it should have therein sixty thousand free inhabitants : provided, the Constitution and Government so to be formed, should be republican, and in conformity to the principles contained in the articles of the said ordinance.

As proofs of the several requisites to entitle the Territory south of the River Obio, to be admitted, as a State, into the Union, Governor Blount has transmitted a return of the enumeration of its inhabitants, and a printed copy of the Constitution and form of Government, on which they have agreed, which, with his letters accompanying the same, are herewith laid before Congress.

The subject was referred to appropriate Committees. On the 12th of April, the House Committee, through its Chairman, Mr. Dearborn, reported the following :

Resolved^ That by the authenticated documents accompanying the message from the President of the United States to this House, on the 8th day of the present month, and by the ordinance of Congress, bearing date the ISth of July, 1787, and by a law of the United States, passed on the 26th of May, 1790, it appears that the citizens of that part of the United States, which has hoen called the Teititoiy of the United States, south of the River Ohio, and which is now formed into a State under a republican form of Government, by the name of Tennessee, are entitled to all the rights and privileges to which the citizens of the other States in the Union are entitled under the Constitution of the United States ; and that the State of Tennessee is hereby declared to be one of the sixteen United States of America.

Mr. King, from the Senate Committee, to whom the same subject had been referred, made a long report against the admission of the State of Tennessee into the Union, but recommending ** that leave be given to bring in a bill laying out the whole of said Territory, ceded by North-Carolina, Into one State." The report results in this conclusion - " That Congress must have, previously, enacted that the -whole of the Territory ceded by North-Carolina, and which is only a part of the Territory of the United States, south of the Ohio, should be laid out into one State^ before the inhabitants thereof, (admitting them to amount to sixty thousand free persons,) could claim to be admitted as a new State into the Union.'* The Senate report objects that the enumeration of the inhabitants of the Territory had not been .made by the authority of Congress, and that the guards against error had been omitted by the Territorial law ; and that, *' instead of confining the enumeration to the fVee inhabitants of the Territory, that law authorizes and requires the enumeration of a// the people within the said Territory, etc.***

Notwithstanding this unfavourable report of the Senate Committee, the Congress of the United States passed an Act in June, admitting Tennessee into the Union.

In the meantime, the Senators elect from the State of Tennessee, had repaired to the seat of the General Government; but having been elected before Tennessee was admitted into the Union, they did not take their seats in the Senate. The Act X, laying off two Congressional Districts in the State, when but one member of Congress was allowed for Tennessee ; and Act XI, providing for the election of four Electors of President and Vice-President, when the State was entitled to but three Electors, created unforeseen difficulties, which could be obviated only by repealing these acts, electing the Senators anew, and remodeling the legislation that had ta^ ken place, so far as the Federal relations of Tennessee were concerned.

Such was the political condition of the State of Tennessee in the summer of 1796. Governor Sevier acted piromptly, and adopted at once the only measure that could extricate the new State from the embarrassments by which her Federal relations had become unavoidably involved.

^ Wkerea8y I have lately received authentic information, that an Act of the Congress of the United States, passed at their last session, in- Yolved several Acts of this State in diflBculty, and renders the same incomplete ; to answer the purposes and salutary uses and effects intended to be obtained therefrom, by the Honourable the Legislature of this State :

'* I have thought it necessary and highly expedient, to summon the members of the General Assembly, to convene on the last Saturday in the present month : And do strictly request and enjoin them, and eadi of them, to be punctual and particular in giving their attendance accordingly, iu order to take under their due deliberation such matters as may be laid before them.

" Given under my hand and seal, at Bjioxville, this fourth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and in the twenty-first year of American Independence.

" Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representativet : - The short time in which I conceived it was necessary to convene the Legislature, compelled me to call you together on so short a notice. In the firet instance, it was necessary to give all the time the emergency of the occasion would admit of; and, in the second, from a circumstance that the election to be held for Representatives was approaching so near at hand, made it necessary, as I conceived, for the Assembly to have it in their power, by a timely meeting, (should they in their wisdom deem it proper) to make an alteration in the Act, directing the mode of electing Representatives to represent this State in the Congress of the United States, before the day of election should arrive, as directed in the aforesaid Act, otherwise it might be attended with disputes and contentions of a disagreeable nature ; for, by a late Act of Congress, the intended number of our Representatives is diminished, of course it proportionably lessens our number of Electors for President and Vice-President of the United States.

Reply Of Thb As8Emblt

" Our Senators not being recognized in the Senate of the United States, is another matter for your consideration and attention; and for your more ample information, the several Acts and communications ao^ company ing this address, will elucidate unto you the propriety of my calling the Assembly together at this time.

*^ I hope I may be permitted to observe, that it is of importance, and conducive to public happiness, to arrange your Acts comformably with those of Congress, so far as they shall respect this State.

^ The foregoing are the reasons why I liave thought proper to convene the Assembly, in session on the present day ; and I make no doubt you will, through your paternal care, wbdom and patriotic deUberations, adoyit such measures as will tend to promote the public interest and general utility of the State.

**' I have the pleasure of announcing to you, gentlemen, the admissioa of the State of Tennessee into the Federal Union, a circumstance pregnant with every prospect of peace, happiness and opulence to our infant State.

** The period has at length arrived, when the people of the South- Western Territory may enjoy all the blessings and liberties of a free and independent republic

'^ Permit me to wish you public, domestic atid individnal happinei8| while I have the honour to be, very respectfully, ^ Your devoted and obedient servant,

The usage at that day required a reply from the General Assembly, to every communication made to it by the 60- yemor ; and on the 8th, Mr. Rhea, as the organ of the two Houses, reported the following address :

Sir: - We are fully sensible, that the important objects by you laid befi>re this General Assembly, made it necessary for you to convene the Legislature at this time.

«We rejuice with you, in the event'ofthis State beinff formally admitted into the Federal Union ; and our minds are filled with the most pleasing sensations, when we reflect on the prosperity and political happiness to which we view it, as a certain prelude. Be assured, sir, it will be our first and greatest care, to adopt such measures as will promote the true interests of this State, as connected with the American Union.

With respect to our representation, in the Senate of the United States, in particular, we flatter ourselves, such steps have been taken, that no reason now remains, sufficient to justify that body in refusing any longer to recognize our Senators.

The measures here alluded to, as having been adopted by the Legislature, were, the election, again,Cof the Senators ffom Tennessee to the United States Congress - the repeal of the act of its last seesion, providing for the election of two Representatives, and the enactment of a law for the election of a single member from the State - and lastly, the aonulment of the legislative election, April 21, of four Electors of President and Vice-President, and provision for the election of three.

Williitm Blount and William Cocke were again elected Senatoi^. To the address of the Legislature, informing Mr. Cocke that be was again elected to represent the State of Tennessee in the United States Senate, and re-assuring him, en behalf of the citizens of the State, of the entire confidence reposed in his fidelity and integrity, that Senator replied in terms, and with a spirit, that probably reflected truly, the feelings and temper of the people. He said:

C«i(femen: - Nothing can be a higher reward for faithful Bervicea, tkan the approbation of a free people - I call my country free, becaioa by their Conslitntion, ihey are so.

I cannot help mentioning to you, I feel the deepest concera to »ee our dearest rights invaded by the eupreme legislature of the nation. Wo are by tbein made subject to the payment of tases, nhile we have been nnjuatiy deprived of representation.

Wo have been deprived of the use of our property for public convenience, without any compensation being made ; anil acts in the style of laws liave passed, declaring it highly penal to enjoy the free use thereof; mch mde attacks on our cotutitataooal rights ahonld be remonatntod maitist with freedom and finnneM.

I hope our opponents in the Senate of tlie United States, will be imi- Ue to 6nd another quibble whereby to deprive us of an eqnal sbue of the representation that shall ma^e the lam by which we aie to be go- TMtiea. i am, with great respect, your obedient Bervant,

. August 3. - An act was passed providing for the eleetioD of one Representative to Congress, and repealing the act irf 98th March, anthortzing the election of two.

Aug. 8th. - An act was passed, providing for the election of tbise Electors of! President and Vice-President At the previetu wssion, four electors had been elected by joint ballot of the two Houses. The mode of electing, in this instanee, Is still more anoroalona. The State is divided into three - Washington, Hamilton and Mero Districts ; and in the words of the aot, "that the said electors maybe elected with as' fittle ^ tli»rtkt>o the oMt(l)»«a |KMirible--4« U eoMted.mrJt^i

Carter, John Adams and John McAllister, of Washington, John Scott, Richard Gammon and James Gains, of Sullivan coanty/' and three others for each of the remaining counties of Washington District, and, in like manner, three others, for each of the counties in Hamilton and Mero Districts, ^ are appointed electors to elect an elector for their respective Districts.'* The electors named in the act were to meet at Jonesboro', Knoxville and Nashville, and elect an elector for each District. The three electors thus elected, were to convene on the first Wednesday of December, at Knoxvillet and ** proceed to elect a President and Vice-President of the United States, pursuant to an act of Congress."

August 9. - Mr. White, from the Committee appointed to draw up a remonstrance to Congress, presented, for the consideration of the Assembly, an address and remonstrance to the Congress of the United States. In this document, which is of great length, the remonstrants recapitulate : That Tennessee is admitted into the Federal Union, on an equal footing with any of the original States ; that the United States, at the beginning of the Revolution, guaranteed to each State its sovereignty, according to its chartered limits, and that that sovereignty was acknowledged by Great Britain, by the treaty of Paris ; that, acting on these principles, North-Carolina had opened land offices, for the sale of land within her chartered limits; and in agreement with her laws, entries had been made, warrants issued, and grants had been made for lands in her territory ; that North-Carolina had ceded her western territory to Congress, under certain express conditions - one of which, as provided for in her Deed of Cession, was, that the Governor of North-Carolina, for the time being, shall be, and is required, to perfect land titles in such manner as if the Cession had not been made ; that, as the Constitution of the United States confirms all engagements made by Congress, previous to its adoption, the enterers and grantees of lands thus ceded, expected that they were secure, as to their right in fee, and of possession of the land by them purchased and paid for; that, at the treaty of Hopewell, William Blount, as Agent of North- Carolina, had protested against one of its articles, respecting the boundary of the Cherokees ; that, by an act of the last

Congress, fines, forfeitares and imprisonment are enacted against claimants and grantees of lands lying beyond said boondary ; by "which, th^y are much injured - being prohibited from any act of ownership of lands, long since bona fide contracted and paid for, and > for which, in part, grants have already issued by North-Carolina, under the good faith of the United States ; and that

*^ This Legislature, ever Tvilling to support the Constitution and Laws of the United States, made pursuant thereto, being impressed with a lense of the injury and grievances sustained by the citizens in consequence of the line of the treaty of Holston, and the act before mentioned, do earnestly request, that the prohibitions preventing them to possess the lands before alluded to, may be removed ; that provision, by law, be made, for extinguishing the Indian claim to said lands ; that the owners and grantees of said lands may enter upon, occupy and possess the same in a full and ample manner, and have every riffht, privilege and advantage, which they are entitied to by constitutional laws ; which justice being done to the citizens of this State, the oflBcers of will be enabled to execute the constitutional laws <^ the United States with ease and convenience."

It was afterwards further resolved, by both Houses, ** that it shall be a duty of the Senators and Representatives of this State, in the Congress of the United States, to lay the remonstrance of the Legislature before Congress, and endeavour that the object thereof be ob«*iined."

At the election held under the; \ct of this called session, Andrew Jackson, of Davidson ct mty, was elected Representative from the State of Tennt see in the Congress of the United States. That body assembled December 5th, 179G, at Philadelphia, when Mr. Jackson was qualified and took his seat.

In accordance with the law passed for that purpose, Gov. Sevier wrote, April 25, to the Tennessee Senators, requesting them to have a suitable seal of the State made by " ingenious mechanics in Philadelphia - such an one as will be elegant, comprehensive, and sufficiently expressive of the purposes and uses intended. Under their direction, the present Great Seal of the Slate of Tennessee was engraven. It has upon it : the cotton plant, the sheaf of wheat, and, as *' comprehensive," the plough, to represent agriculture ; and a sailvessel, there then being no steamboats in the West, nor elsewhere, to represent commerce. The XVI at the head of the seal, designated Tennessee as, numerically, the six* teenth at the date of its admission into the Union.

The Senators and Representatives in Congress from Ten* nessee, brought to the attention of the Secretary of War, the claims of the militia of that State for their servicec against the Indians, on the Etowah campaign. The Secre* tary made an unfavourable report to the House. General Cooke, in a letter to the Gazette, says : *^ Your representative, Mr. Jackson, has distinguished himself by the spirited manner in which he opposed the report. Notwithstanding the misrepresentation of the Secretary, I hope the claim will be allowed ; if it is, a principle will be established for the payment of all services done by the militia of the Territory."

^ The rations found for the troops on this expedition had been paid fbT%Y the Secretary of War, and he could see do objection to the pa/r menl of the whole expense. As the troops were called out by a supe* nor officer, they had no rieht to doubt his authority. Were a contrary doctrine admitted, it would strike at the very root of subordination. It would be saying to soldiers - ' Before you obey the command of your superior officer, you have a i ght to inquire into the legality of the service upon which you are abo t to be employed, and until you are satis-' fied, you may refuse to take le field.' This, he believed, was a prind* pie which could not be act \ on. General Sevier, said Mr. Jackson, was bound to obey the ordet he received to undertake the expedition. The officers under him were bound to obey him. They went with foil confidence that the United States would pay them, beueving they had appointed such, officers as would not call them into the field without proper authority. If, even^the expedition had been unconstitutional| (which he was far from believing,) it ought not to affect the soldier, since he had no choice in the business, being obliged to obey his superior* Indeed, as the provision had been p^d for, and as the ration and pay* rolls were always considered as checks upon each other, he hoped no objection would be made to the resolution which he moved."

The winter of 179S-7 is chronicled as the coldest ever experienced by the oldest inhabitant. On the evening of the ^d December, the river was entirely free from ice* On the morning of the 23d, the ice was moving down the river in great quantities ; on the 24th, the river was frozen over, and was crossed by horsemen upoa the ice. On Ihe 25thf a Christmas dinner was given upon the ice, by the Federal officers, at Tellico Block-house, to a large company of gentlemen and ladies. "Contiguous lo the place of entertainment, two quarters of a bear were barbecued, where the ice was found to be, in thickness, sufficient to bare fire enough to have roasted an ox, without being materially weakened by the heat."*

Early in this year, disturbances of a seriotis nature prevailed among the Upper Cherokees. Edward Mitchell and William Livingston went to the camp of some Indian hunters, where they were informed, by Lame Will, that Red Bird had gone to the camp of some white people. On his return he was met by Mitchell and Livingston, who fired upon and killed him. They then returned to the Indian camp, when Mitchell fired at, but missed. Lame Will, who, with a knif« in one hand and a crutch in the other, made towards Mitchell, who ran off. Livingston then coming up, encountered Will, and, after several unsuccessful attempts to shoot him, drew his tomahawk and killed him.f

Jan. 31. - An Act was passed by Congress giving effect ( to the laws of the United States within the State of ( Tennessee. By the second section of this Act, the State was made to embrace, one District, to be denominated the Tennessee District. A District Court was established, foar sessions of which should be holden alternately at Knoxville Nashville. By the fourth section of this Act, the State was made one Collector's District, whose office should be held at Palmyra, which was the only port of entry, or delivery of any goods, wares or merchandize, not the growth or manufacture of the United States. The salary of the collector at Palmyra was one hundred dollars.

Federal Tboops At Kvoxvills

Two companies of United States troops, commanded by Captain Richard Sparks' and Captain John Wade, were stationed at Knoxville. The object of the Secretary of War, in placing them there, was to enforce an ** Act of Congress to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian Tribes, and to preserve peace on the Frontier." South of Holston, some settlements had been formed on lands ceded by the Chero* kees, under the Dumplin and Coyatee Treaties ; but across the Indian boundary, as fixed by the Treaty of Holston, and in Powell's Valley, settlers were opening their farms under grants from North-Carolina, but upon lands to which the Cherokee title was not yet extinguished. To these settlers Captains Sparks and Wade issued their manifesto, informing the intruders of their powers, and of the extent of the provisions of the Act of Congress which it was made their duty to enforce.

*^ It is Dot our wish, said ihey, to enter rashly npon the duty assiffned OS, nor do we conceive there willJbe a necessity for it ; and, in order, therefore, to give you fall time to prepare your minds for the event, we hava deemed it proper to notiiy you that on or about the 20th instant, we Aall meet you at Tocum's Station, where we hope your numbers will be full and respectable, and your tempers calmly disposed to argue on a subject which involves in itself consequences of material magnitude to the Union at large, and to you in particular. We are assured that the reflection of a moment will evince to you how much better it is to observe a strict obedience to the laws, than by 4i refractory disposition to involve your fellow-dtizens in the tumults of anarchy, and probably in the horrors of war, and create in your own minds a self-reproach which will be forever felt

^ Fellow-Citizens : - At our meeting we will not scruple to read to you the instructions we have received, and by which we are to be governed ; and after your hearing them, we cannot admit of a doubt, but that in a given time you will remove to that side of the line to which we have a just chum, and save the necessity of any unnecessary altercation."

The influence of the authorities of Tennessee assisted in promoting x)bedience to the law of Congress. The Gazette^ already an organ of admitted potency in the new State, also contributed its weight, in support of the Federal enactment. Commenting upon the circular addressed by the two United States captains to the intruders, and published in its columns, the Gazette says : - '* It is so replete with mildness and moderiLtion, that the most obstinate disposition cannot but concur wiili ihvm in npinion, that it is better to meet the wiohes of these gentlemen, than by a perverse conduct compel tbcm to mcAsurea which may terminate in unkappy coo- -equcnces," etc.

A communication to the sumo purport from " Mant/," dated Jetlerson county, also appeared in the Gazelle. In ibis the writer earnestly dissundos the intruders trom rushing, "without consideration, into the horrors of civit confusion, and thereby involve the innocent with the guilty."

But there were not wanting, on thisoocasion, writers, who, while they did not advise resiBtance to, or disobedience of the Federal authority, stated emphatically the argument on behalf of the settlers. One of these, in a reply toCapts. Sparks and Wade, remarks :

" It was not from refractory or disorderly dispositions we were infln- «noed to take posseasioQ of the lands ne now oceupy. We bad f^ard to the laws of nature, of nations, tha statutes of North-Carolina, and to our own civil code. The Constitution of the State of Tennessea, in the 81st Article of the Bill of Rights, guiirantces to the people residing fouth of French Broad and Holston, between llie Rivers Tennefsee aod Big I^geoa, the right of pre-emption and occupancy in that tract. Congress recognized that Constitution in all its pnrts by recciTing the State into the Federal Union. Miiny of us bold grants for our lands, legally obtained from North-Carolina whilst under her jurisdiction. Under theae plausible claims wo settled ourselves on Uie lands from which you oommand us to remove." . . . . " LegislatorB of the great American Republic I is it nothing to you to see our wives and children, who by their industry have hitherto lived in affluence on their own farms, be^ gared by your unconstitutional laws) We say your laws are uneonttitntional, because they deprive us of propwty, for which we had a l^al li^ht before the Truty of Holston, Do you feel no reniorM at onr impendii^ rum ) Are you callous to our sufferings! Accustomed to wallow in luxury, you cannot feel for the distreeses of the poor." .... " We have now, gentlemen, delineated to you the outlines of our claima We have also stated in miniature, the wrongs we are about to sustain fiom the operations of the General Government, A volume would not contvn the reasonings we could advance on the justice »f our daiina. The earth vrae created for the use of man. We could plead purchaso, occupancy, conquest and relinquishment by the Abongitaes ; but aJI these reasonings, we suppose, would be in viuo. Power ia in ibe hands of the General Government, and we are disposed to obey her will fir tlu presmt."

Tenne»see^*^ appeared soon after. In this the writer pre* mises that redress for the grievances inflicted on them by the act of Congress, concerning the intruders upon Indian territory, should be sought only in the mode which the Constitution and the genius of the Government point out Speaking of the act of May, 1796, the writer sayj

" We conceive that law to be an invasion of our natural rights ; we claim it as a power inherent in us, and derived from the author of our existence, to cultivate and to convert to our use, any unappropriated part of the hal^itable globe, and to make it bring forth the fruits of the earth. This general position we assert to be of divine right, and acknowledged from age to age, by all the nations of the christian world, and recognized by the laws, customs and usages of the people of America, from its* discovery to the present day." .... "We submit the justice of our claims to the laws and constitution of our country - we ask from whence does the Federal Government derive the power, to exerdse legal jurisdiction over the land on which we are settled f We claim the right to settle these lands under the laws of North-Carolina, made previous to ceding this country to the United States, and the laws made subsequent thereto." . . . . " If we are not now permitted to take possession of these lands, the consideration paid for them is violated ; and it is a distinction new and incomprehensible to us, that a grant from a sovereign and independent State, can convey a right without the power to enjoy it. We then assert, that our claims are founded on the act of that very body, whose successors, at the expiration of less than five years, have thought proper to deprive us of those rights pro* perly vested in us." . . . . ^' Why has a law been made to oblige us to the observance of this bargain, Tthe treaty of Holston,) which has been cancelled with the blood of our lellow-citizens ? We acknowledge to feel the force in all its various powers, which binds the members of a community to respect its laws, and pay to them a necessary submission; but we hope, that we or our posterity, to the latest generation, will never lose sight of the point to which these obligations ought to go, 'and beyond which it is our province, as men, to restrain their progress. It is, therefore, with pain we contemplate the infractions of our unalienable rights, made by the law of 1796 - a law which we protest against, as unconstitutional, because it invades the rights of our property." . - " Is this the tribunal before which we are to argue ? and can a law be binding which places the scales of justfce in the hands of a troop of soldiers ? However virtuous that soldiery may be, the original principles of our national compact forbid it. Let it not be said we wish to fan the coals of sedition in our country. As menj we are bound to assert our rights ; as citizens of a free and enlightened State, we claim attenUon to our grievances. Instead of meeting at our doors the soldier, who is ordered to sound the din of war in our ears, we would call on the guardians of our country to defend us in the possession of our rights^ We lely on the justice of Congress, and we assure our fellow-ciUzens of the

Another writer, overthe signature of "Cam/>AcW," addresses " Tbe citizens of Tennessee, who are about to be alienated and dismembered by the acts and proceedings of the Federal Government." In this address be examines the question, whether Congress bas a right to alienate any part of tbe State of Tennessee, and what are the rigbts of those wbo nay be dismembered from it. Establiishing the principle that North-Carolina bad tbe right to open a land otHce vrithio her chartered limits, be argues that the State of Tennessee, in consequence of that right, may guarantee to her cilizens, the settlement and occupancy of the lands on which it is alleged tbey are intruders. Tbat the parent State, previous to tbe act of Cession, possessing then, as she did, sovereign power over them, bad granted these lands, and tbat Tennessee and Congress itself, by accepting its constitation, had recognized tbe validity of the grants; and that, of course^ the occupants cannot be considered to be in a stale of rebellion against their own, or intruders on any other nation. He advises deliberation, deprecates hasty action, and urges the intruders to depend upon tbe legaiiiy of their claims. " They are founded on facts, principles and laws which eannot be controverted. That as tbe lands in dispute are held by legal titlesi Congress has no right to declare war or resort to force for the purpose of expelling the occupants. Tbe civil law ought to decide the contest in the District or Federal Courts." Knlarging upon these and similar topics, "Campbell" closes his second number with these patriotic and wise remarks : " Let us piu^ue order and acquiesce in the laws, QDtil we can make a constitutional appeal to Congress. Let us act as if we were only one entire harmonious family, and let the spirit of concord be kept up in tbe State of Tennessee forever. Friendly, true and pathetic applications to Congress, through our representatives, will have greater weight with them, than hostile threats and preparations."

In his third number, addressed to the United States Commis- Hawkins, Pickens and Winchester, about to hold further negotiations with the Chirokeesi " CampbtlT" aayn: "het

Which Is Oovtivukd Bt Amothkr Writeb

US hope then, that you will not, by a strained construction of the words of the treaty, in favour of the Indian claim, force those citizens who have the right of property and the right of possession, to engage in a litigious controversy with the military who may be ordered to dispossess them. Justifiable opposition to the illegal orders of tl^e Executive, might extend its influence to that which would not be legal, and those whose claims are not fully sanctioned by law, follow the example - an evil which we deprecate or pray may not happen. But we should think it treason against the government we live under, and which we admire - treason against ourselves, and high treason against posterity - were we to suflfer ourselves to be tamely deprived of our lawful property, by military force or diplomatic authority.**

Col. Arthur Campbell is thought to be the writer of these pieces. These extracts from them are meagre, and do not present, in their full force, the weight of his argument and the legitimacy of his reasoning. The subject, soon after, received attention in every part of the Union, and " CampbelP* may be considered as a pioneer writer in the backwoods of Tennessee, investigating ft subject that, soon after, was embraced in the ^ Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions,*' of 17d8 and 1799.

" We are here, settled on our own lands, granted to us by our mother State, North-Carolina ; the rights are, in fee simple, ratified by a solemn has paid little attention to our rights, by the manner in which it has communicated its will to us, or otherwise it has adopted the method of reasoning made use of by Louis ' XIV., of France, who inscribed on the muzzles of bis cannon - ^^ Thit U the logic of Kings ;" and with the same propriety may say - ^^ This is the logic of the United States,^

'^I would have him to know that we not only call on the State of Tennessee, but upon every State in the Union, to assist us in obtaining our rights and privileges as secured to us by law, and doubt not of their assistance, if necessary ; and I would refer him to this clause in the Constitution, that government being instituted for the common benefit^ the doctrine of non-resistance to arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish, and destructive to the good and happinets of mankind.

" One of tbe usual methods of arbitrary govemmenta, is to indada forfeiture of estate, under the preteDoe of a punishment of some erioM. Our Constitution has wisely guarded against such, that even for treason, it has forbidden corruption of blood or confiscation of property, and yet, in sec five of this law, ^ That if any citizen shall make a settlement on any lands granted, by treaty, to any Indian tribe, such offender shall forfeit all his right, title and claim, if any he hath, of whatsoever nature or kind the same shall be, to the lands aforesaid whereupon he shall make settlement or otherwise.' Sudi a law is cruel, tyrannical and oppressive. The punishments inflicted by it do not stop here. ' He shall also forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding one thousand doUam, and suffer imprisonment not exceeding twelve months.' . . . The Constitution of Tennessee is admitted into the Union, by Congress, and it prohibits the courts here from inflicting a fine exceeding fifty dollan, address the members of Congress fix>m this State to use their industiy to have this act repealed. Such an act might look tolerably well in a proclamation from Britain, but I beg you to erase it out of the records and existing laws of a republican government. Let it be wiped away, and never one more of tbe sort be seen - an enemy to liberty, nature, good policy and humanity."

Mr. Blount and Mr. Cocke, Senators, and General Jackson, the Representative, of Tennessee, were, in the meantime, active in relation to the affairs of the State they represented, and with whose interests they were so familiar. On the third day of March, this resolution was introduced in the Senate :

" liesolved, Tbat the President of the United States bo requested to cause a treaty or treatie^s to bo beld, as speedily as may be, with such of the Indian tribes as may liave claims to certain western lands, ceded by North-Carolina to the United States, for the purpose of obtaining an extinguishment of their claim to so much thereof as lie to the north and east of the River Tennessee, within the Stato of Tennessee."

" Resolved^ That provision ought, by law, to be made for opening a land office for the sale of lands lying within the limits of the State of Tennessee, belonging to the United States, to which the Indian title has been extinguished, providing that the occupants shall have a priority in the location of such of the said lands as are now in their actual possession and improvement, upon such reasonable terras as may bo fixed by law."

house, chairman of a committee to whom the whole subject had been referred, and to whom the Tennessee Senators had fully explained the situation of the people to be affected by it. The session of Congress terminated on the third, and there was not time to act upon it. It was, therefore, laid over till the next session.

On the same day, Mr. Hillhouse, from the committee to whom was referred the letter and enclosures from the Governor of North-Carolina, relative to the extinguishment of the Indian title to lands granted to T. Glasgow & Co., by the State of North-Carolina - the address of the Legislature of the State of Tennessee on the same subject, and also the petition of J. Glasgow and others, relative to the land entered in the office of John Armstrong, and since ceded to the United States, made an elaborate report, and recommended the following resolution :

'' Resolved^ That as soon as the title to the said lands shall be eztinguisbed, under the anthoritj of the UDited States, by purchase, or otherwise, provision ought, by law, to be made, to secure to such of said cbumants, as by conforming to the laws of North-Carolina, have secured to themselves a title to the right of pre-emption under such laws, the occupancy and possession of such lands.'^

It is worthy of remark, that in a contest of this kind, involving, as it did. State pride. State sovereignty - the right of property - in which, many of the citizens of Tennessee felt a direct personal interest, not a single appeal is made to the passions of (he occupants, nor one exhortation made to insubordination or resistance. Most of the writers advise a contrary course. In his last number, examines the question involved, at great length. He closes thus : '' I have not hesitated to speak the truth, even when it compelled me to charge the Executive of the United States with a violation of the rights of the individual States, and of the people. You have heard my reasonings as a citizen ; hear my advice as a friend. Acquiesce m the operations of Government ; submit to the legal transactions of her ministers ; petition Congress for .negotiations, to be set on foot with the Indians, to secure your settlements ; countenance no irregularities ; commit no outrages. *I have announced you to the world as regular and orderly citizens. Let year condnot prove, to the latest ages of posterity, that I have pronoanced the truth. Let us attribute our misfortunes to the true sources whence they originated ; to the misunderstanding of the words of the treaty, and to the narrow and contracted policy of the General Qovernment."

No outbreak followed - no conflict between the military and the citizens. A rash and imprudent procedure on the part of the United States troops, like a spark in a powder magazine, would have ended in their annihilation. But the conciliatory tone of the circular - ^the good temper and wise discretion of the officers - ^the force of general public sentiment and the disposition of the State authorities, prevented a collision. Legislative action and negotiations followed, and the difficulty was settled without violence.

Feb. 27. - Commerce, by means of the river, began to reach Knoxville. On that day, the Gazette notices the arrival of two boats, carrying five tons each, from the South Fork of Holston, in Virginia - the distance estimated to be, by water, above three hundred miles. The pioneers in this navigation were Messrs. Russell and Barry, the owners. The cargo consisted of flour, salt and whiskey.

March 4. - Thomas Shields was killed by the Indians in Sevier county. They cut his bead nearly off, ripped open his body, took out his bowels, and otherwise shockingly cut and mangled him.

April 30 - ''Arrived in Knoxville, three sons of the Duke of Orleans ; and on the next day, set out on their journey to the westward, by Tellico, Fort Grainger, Nashville, &c. At the age of fourteen, the eldest of those gentlemen commanded one of the wings of Dumourier's array at the famous battle of Jenappe ; and the two younger were imprisoned fortythree months, by the French Government, at Marseilles."*

Mail facilities were necessarily small and exceedingly inadequate, at this time, in Tennessee. .There was a postoffice at Knoxville, of which George Roulstone was the

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Postmaster. To this office, letters were sent, for much of the country east, and for' all the country west of it. In the list of letters published, as remaining on hand, January 1, 1797, are letters sent to Noliichucky, to Sumner county, to Buncombe, to Jonesboro\ to Blount, to Davidson, to Jefferson, to North Fork, to Bledsoe's Lick, to Nashville, to Haysboro', to Powell's Valley, to Palmyra and to Dixon's Creek. The mail to Knoxville was at first bi-monthly. To remedy this infrequency and consequent inadequacy of mail facilities, different expedients were adopted. The publisher of the Gazette, wishing to extend the circulation of that journal, engaged Mr. Munford Smith to ride post for him. Mr. Roulstone advertised in the Gazette -

^ His route will be as follows, provided a sufficient number of sub* Bcribers can be obtained. He will set out every other Monday, and go by Mary ville to Sevierville ; from thence, by Dandridge, to Hugh Neilson's, Esq., on Lick Creek ; fix>m thence to Hawkins' Court-House ; and from thence, by Haine's Iron Works, crossing at McBee's Ferry, to Knoxville. The route will be extended, as subscribers may enable him ; and as soon as a. sufficient number of subscribers are obtained, he will start the post once a week. Each subscriber is to pay one cent a paper, in addition to the subscription, which is three dollars per annum."

Besides this private post of Mr. Roulstone, every emigrant and traveller, who came to the country, was a self-constituted letter-carrier. Every horseman had, in his saddle-bags or portmanteau, a small wallet, in which he carried letters from citizens of the old States to the settlers in the new. This was carefully opened and examined at the several stations or places where he lodged ; the letters were then delivered, distributed or re'tnailed, as the case required. The inhabitants conscientiously and cheerfully performed, gratuitously, the duty of forwarding, sometimes to distant points, letters thus brought into their care and possession. OfiBcial despatches were sometimes received and forwarded in the same way. An endorsement, ** on the public service,** secured the transmission of a letter by a volunteer express, if not with the celerity and despatch of the present United States mail, certainly with as much certainty and fidelity.

September 23. - la his message to the Legislature, 6tfremor Sevier begged the members to express to the people, in the liveliest terms of sensibility, bis gratitnde for the faonour they had again conferred upon him. He noticed the rapid increase of the population of Tennessee and the prosperous condition of its agricultnre. " But this bright prospect of afTaire," he continues, " is considerably darkened by settled and well improved land is said to be within the botmdary guaranteed to the Cherokees by treaty i" uid '* that if the people are compelled to abandon their possessioiis, great il^ury must result to individuals and to the public." He in- Tites the early attention of the Legislatare to thja asGiJaot, and suggests the necessity of memorializing Congress, ^from whose authority adequate relief can only be obtained/' He congratulates the country on the continued peace with the Indians. Referring to the threatening aspect of European affairs, he urges early '' provision for holding in readiness the quota of troops ajssigned to this State,'' and recommends further improvement in its militia laws.

Hon. Joseph Anderson was commissioned Senator from State of Tennessee, for remainder of the term for which the late Senator, William Blount, had drawn* '

At this session, Jefferson county was divided and the county of Cocke laid off. Henry Ragan, William Job, John Caffee, Peter Fine, John Keeney, Reps. Jones and John M c- Glocklen, were appointed to select a place for the court-house and erect the county buildings. The first court was held at the house of Daniel Adams.

Cocke county was named for Gen. William Cocke, a native of Virginia, and an emigrant to Holston. He has been repeatedly mentioned as having participated in the military, civil, legislative and judiciary services of Virginia, North- Carolina, Franklin and Tennessee, where he was known as an efficient and zealous officer, from his debut at Long Island, to his seat in the United States Senate, which he held for twelve years. He will be seen, thereafter, as one of the Circuit Judges for Tennessee. A member of her Legislature at the commencement of the Creek war in September, 1813, after assisting to pass an act to authorize an augmentation of the forces to march against the Creeks, and to protect the defenceless settlers in the most exposed part of the Mississippi Territory, and repel invasion, he, at the rise of the Legislature, though above sixty years of age, and before visiting his home in East Tennessee, volunteered his services as a private in that war, and acted therein most bravely and usefully. He was afterwards appointed United States Agent to the Chickasaws. He afterwards settled in Mississippii

To encourage commerce, promote industry, and advance the agriculture of the country, the legislature established a public inspection of tobacco in Waynesboro', Davidson county.

Coxe still entertained the design of occupying the Muscle Shoals purchase. The boat to transport the troops, guns and provision necessary to carry into effect the settlement at the Muscle Shoals, was built at the mouth of Chucky. It was of immense dimensions, and was, at that day, from its size and structure, called a ship - having, on all sides, such barricades as would make it impregnable to small arms. It was well provided with howitzers and small ordnance, and constituted a good floating battery.

To prevent the descent of this boat down the river. Col. Thomas Butler, of the United States Army, issued orders to the troops under his command at South- West Point and Bell Canton, to exercise the utmost vigilance, and to fire upon and sink it. It was believed that the most suitable plan for defeating the expedition, was to allow it to pass unmolested, as far as Bell Canton.*- There the Ilolston was narrow, and the position otherwise favour«iblc. Standing orders were issued on the 2nd November, 1797, to the officer in charge of the battery, to '* have his ordnance in perfect order, and the implements judiciously arranged, to prevent confusion, when it may be necessary to man the works." A look-out boat was to be detached nt proper intervals, to make discovery of the approach of Coxe's party, and signals were arranged, to prepare for the attack. Sliould any boat belonging to the expedition, approach within one mile of the battery, the commander was directed to fire one shot wide of it. Should this notice be disregarded, he was directed to fire on it, and, "if possible, sink nil boats that may dare to pass your works.''

-Tins fort wns above the former residence of the late Major Lon i*, and it» ruins are yet to be Fecn on the farm heretofore occupied by Colonel R. A. Ramecy,now of Georgia.

It appears to be a matter of importance to this Government, to be informed of your intentions and place of destination. I flatter myself you will have no objections to communicate, and lay before the Execa* tive of this State, the plan of your intended operations and movements ; at what place you intend making a stand or settlement ; and by what authority you conceive yourselves at liberty to prosecute the same.

No answer to this communication has been preserved in the Execative Journal. By a special message, September 2dd, 1797, the Governor's letter and Coxe^s reply vrere communicated to the legislature, and referred to a committee, who, on the 10th of October, reported, that from **the papers they have had before them, it appears that no expe* dition of a hostile nature, or plan inimical to the Govern* ment, is intended or contemplated.'*

The execution of the Act of Congress of 1706, heretofore mentioned, had produced uneasiness among the people. The legislature sympathizing in that feeling, adopted the follow* ing preamble and resolution :

Whereas, official information has been laid before the General Aa* aembly of this State, contained in an order from Colonel Butler, addressed to the people who are within the Indian boundary, and, forasmuch, as it is conceived, great and irremediable injury would arise^ should the inhabitants be reduced to the necessity of a compliance with that mandate, at a season when their crops are not fit for transportatioo, or storing up; also, putting it entirely out of their power to secure their forage. These evils will be rendered doubly distressing, by the gloomy horrors of famine, which threaten to pervade a great part of the country, . Seeing, then, the favours of heaven have, in some degree, been with* held, humanity and justice cry aloud for the legi2»lative interposition, in behalf of those of our fellow-citizens, with the executive power.

It is there/ore Resolved, That the Governor of the State of Tennessee be requested to. lay before the President of the United States, by the earliest opportunity, the true state and condition of those citizens resi* dent within the Indian boundary, agreeable to the line lately run, setting forth, that their request for the present is, that the execution of the order to Colonel Butler, for their removal, be suspended until the next session of Congress.

A copy of these was sent to the Governor, accompanied by a communication to him, urging his official application to the President, to obtain a suspension of the order for the moval of the intruders.

Oeorge WaltoD, Alfred Moore, and John Steele, Esqs., are appointed GommisBionere to hold a treaty with the Indians. Walton is from Georgia, Moore from North-Carolina, and Steele from Virginia ; gentlemen of high respectability, and from their known patriotism and abilities, I have every reason to believe that the interest of tho western country will be dehberately and duly considered.

The Federal Legislature has appropriated twenty-five thousand eij^t hundred and eighty dollars for the purpose of the negotiation - a sum, I hope, that will be fully commensurate and adequate to the object, and evince to our fellow-citizens the good disposition of the Federal Execative and Legislature towards the interest and welfare of this State, and particularly in the relief of our unhappy fellow-citizens, who have been compelled to remove from their homes and plantations. It is expected the treaty will commence about the middle of next month ; the Commissioners have not, as yet, arrived, but are expected in a few days. With resi)ect to the intended treaty, I presume it will be readily conceded that the State of Tennessee is very much interested in the event, and, perhaps, more so than may happen in any future period. On this important occasion, it will be particularly useful and beneficial to tho Executive, to have the aid and instructions of the legislature ; but as that body cannot, with conveniency, be convened, and it is at all times attended with considerable expense, and, at tho present, would be embarrassing to the local circumstances of many of the members, and also our public funds, the Executive will, therefore, bo under tho necessity of resorting to such measures as to him may appear most likely to promote the public interest, assuring his countrymen that nothing shall be lacking that may tend and lead to their present and future advantages, so far as ho may be enabled under existing circumstances.

The boundary between the Cherokees and the whites had not been run and marked ; some of the settlers had crossed what has been known as the experimental line, and to prevent further difficulties, the Federal Government ordered a removal of these trespassers, and proposed a further treaty of limits, &c. The Commissioners appointed for that purpose, were George Walton, Alfred Moore and John Steele. The Agent of the United States, Silas Dinsmore, was directed to convene the Indians at the shortest notice, and the commandant of the Federal troops in Tennessee was directed

Sir : - BeiD^ arrived at this placp, with powers to bold a treaty with the Cherokee Indians, on bebalf of the United States, and being inlomied, by divers persons, since our arrival in the State of Tennessee, that the persons who were removed from the settlements on the Indian lands, do frequently cross the line, and cultivate the soil, in violation -f the law and the orders to Colonel Butler, and much against the will and consent of the Indians - we, therefore, have thought it our indispensable duty to interfere, and admonish the persons so trespassing, of the bad effects a perseverance in such conduct may produce ; assuriog the people so concerned, that we very sensibly feel lor their condition, and that we will do everything in our power for their most speedy relief; but, at the same time, we warn them that they, by persisting in the conduct so complained of, may put such relief entirely out of onr power.

We wish you to make this communication as extensively known as possible, and that you will impress the importance of our advice upon the minds of the people as much as possible.

' June 21. - Preparatory to the treaty, the Agent of the United States, Mr. Dinsmore, was instructed to request the Indians to convene at such place as he might think most convenient for them to assemble, and which, at the same time, would most facilitate the obtaining the necessary sappiies of provisions. With these objects in view, be was desired, by the Commissioners, to remonstrate against meeting the Indians at Oostinahli, on the 14th, as they had profK)sed, and to invite them to assemble at their beloved town, Chota, or any other place on the banks of the Tennessee convenient for them. They abandoned the idea of meeting at Oostinahli, and determined to assemble at Tuskeegee, on the 25th. The place of meeting was afterwards changed to Tellico, where they met the Commissioners.

June 20. - Governor Sevier having named General Robertson, James Stuart and Lachlan Mcintosh, as Agents to represent the interest of Tennessee, at the treaty about to be held at Tellico, proceeded to give them minute instructions on some points of special importance to the State. These were -

2d. - All unimpeded cammunicalion of Uolaton and Clinch Rivers with ihe Tennessee, and the surrender of the west bank of the Clinch, opposite South-West Point.

3d. - To secure from future molestation, the settlemeota &s far as they have progressed on the northern and western borders of the Stair, and the coivjcollon of Hamilton and Mero Districis. then separated by a space of unextinguished hunting ground, eighty miles wide.

4th. - To examine into the nature and validity of the claim recently set up by the Cherokecs, lo lands north of the Tennessee River. Does it rest upon original right 7 Is it derived from Ireatics ! Is it founded only upon a temporary ose or occupancy ?

He further advises that, acting as they were with Commissioners of Ihe United States, they might yield, for the sake of harmony, everything but the interest and dignity of Tennessee.

The gentlemen thus appointed and instructed, met July Sd, at Knoxville, and having appointed John Smith, Esq., their Secretary, and Joseph Sevier, Interpreter, rcpaire'I to 'the treaty ground, nearTellico Block-house. On the scTenth, '^y made known to the United States Comminioners the ^ot^ect of their appointment, and theirdesire of forwarding bj the means in their power, the object of the mission, and ^DCcasionaDy to state the ground on which Tennessee rests Jwr expectation of such efieotual interference on the part of An Union, as shall consolidate her detached settlements, and afford to her inhabitaots the nninterrupted Qse of streams destined by nature for their aocommodation." '- Col. Butler, the commandant of the post, treated the Agents with marked attention^ and offered to convey them,' from time to time, during their negotiation, in his bargc^ from their place of encampment to the Cooncil House. The Commissionera informed them, " that a seat in the Council would be provided for tbeir accommodation, but any proposals you may have to make or information to give, will be

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I faced the subject, delivered a paper which he stated to contain their final resolutions, which were a peremptory refusal to sell, and an absolute denial to permit the inhabitants to return to their homes."

Monday, July 0. - ^The State Agents feeling considerable doabt of the favourable result of pending negotiations, in the manner they had been and were likely to continue to be conducted, transmitted to the Commissioners a communication in writing, prepared with great care and exhibiting much research and familiarity with all the principles involved in the matter of their agency. It covers eight closely written pages of the Journal of the Agents now before this writer. It is worthy of a careful reading, and should be preserved, but its great length forbids its insertion on these pages.

To this elaborate communication, the Commissioners replied verbally, that though an able paper, much of its contents was irrelevant to the subject of present negotiations and that it would be their duty to forward it to the Government.

The chiefs manifesting the same determined opposition to a relinquishment of territory, the Agents of Tennessee made an effort to secure from them and the Commissioners, leave to the inhabitants who were beyond the experimental boundary, to harvest and remove the crops of small grain, then ripe and liable to injury and loss. The Commissioners considered this application to be ** wholly without the objects of their mission."

Further negotiation was postponed until the Ensuing fall. James Stuart, Esq., having resigned, his place was filled hy Gen. James White, of Knoxville, and the negotia^ tions were resumed at Tellico, on the 20th of September. The commission to Gen White, is thus expressed on the Executive Journal - power to atUnd tbe treaty which the President of the United States has authorized to be held with the Cherokees, and there to state the oblietions of the United States to extinguish the Cherokee claim to such ids as have been granted to individuals by the State of North-Carolina, and in all things to represent the interests of the State of Tennessee.^

During the progress of the treaty, it was found impracticable to eiTeet the primary objects had in view, in the appointment of the State agents. Gen. Robertson failed to attend, and Mr. Mcintosh resigned. It became necessary for the Governor^ himself, to attend. He did so. The Commissioners succeededy at length, in effecting a treaty. It was signed by Thomas Butler, George Walton, and a long list of Cherokee chiefs.