-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 1998 7:13 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TNWILSON-L] Granville County, NC > Wilson County TN It appears that much of the impetus for the rapid settlement of Wilson Co., TN, was due to several things: (!) the State of North Carolina made generous grants of land to soldiers in the Revolutionary War and these were sold and resold until settlers finally took up residence; (2) the "pacification" of the Middle Tennessee region by the first decade of the 19th century; (3) the period of relative peace from 1783-1800, which increased the population which in turn spurred the search for new land; (4) the decision to build Avery's Trace and Walton Road, which made migration easier; and (5) inheritance laws which either gave the entire estate to the eldest son or divided land equally among all the heirs....which resulted in many families receiving insufficient or unfertile acreage to support themselves. According to Dixon L. Merritt, HISTORY OF WILSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE (1961), p. 19, "It is a bootless task to say that Hickory Ridge -- or Spring Creek or Drake's Lick or Smith's Fork -- was the first settlement. All of them were 'waiting to be born'. And all were born at nearly the same time." "Hicory Ridge -- A short distance west of Lebanon rises a ridge of high ground, forested, drained by the headwaters of Spencer's, Cedar, and Barton's Creeks. It is Hickory Ridge and in this beautiful setting was established one of the most prosper- ous and flourishing settlements existing in Wilson county before 1800." [ibid.] "Into the wilderness came men and their families, chiefly North Carolinians such as JOHN K. WYNNE and CHARLES KAVANAUGH. [caps are mine] There was JOHN HARPOLE, already noted as a frontiersman, and JOHN B. WALKER. One historian (J.V. Drake) dates their coming in 1794; another (Goodspeed's History) as 1799. The former date appears too early, as Indian troubles discouraged settlement at that time; the latter is proven incorrect by existing records. The most likely date for this settement is the autumn of 1797." [p. 20] "Three well-known North Carolinians, BENJAMIN SEAWELL, the REV. GREEN HILL, and SETH MABRY, related by marriage, moved to 'the new country' together some years after the close of the Revolution. GREEN HILL had visited Middle Tennessee in the summer of 1796, according to his Journal, settling in Wilson County. The home of Col. BENJAMIN SEAWELL, built near Horn Springs 'before 1799,' according to records, stood until recent years. JOHN WYNNE, a Virginian who had moved to North Carolina, and his son, JOHN KNIBB WYNNE, were the first of a large family to settle in Wilson County." [ibid.] JOHN KNIBB WYNNE was in Franklin County, NC, as late as June Court, 1796, when he is listed as a buyer in the estate sale of JOHN KITCHEN, decd. Other Wilson County families named in the sale are: (JOHN )PRIMM, (BURRELL) PERRY, (JOSIAH) JACKSON, (JORDAN) HILL, (JOHN) GHOLSON. [Bradley, WILL BOOK B, Franklin County, North Carolina, 1794-1804, p. 16.] Others listed in FRANKLIN CO., NC, were: WILLIAM POWELL (first husband of RUTH ANN TAYLOR and father of JOHN POWELL of the 3rd Civil District) and WILLIAM BABB (second husband of RUTH ANN), whose log cabin is preserved as a historic site by the Tennesssee Conference of the Methodist Church at Bethlehem M. Church, just west of Lebanon on US 70; HARDY and HENRY HUNT, brothers-in- law of RUTH ANN; FERRELLS, MASSEYS, MABRYS, WILLIAMS, and a host of others. Some came from Granville: HARRIS, GILLIAM, TARVER (originally Nortampton Co), SMITH, HEARN, and others. Hope this helps. Bob ye olde professor ==== TNWILSON Mailing List ==== Wilson County Genealogical Sources at the TSLA http://www.state.tn.us/sos/statelib/pubsvs/factwils.htm