> From: ncwataug-request@rootsweb.com> Subject: NCWATAUG Digest, Vol 2, Issue 183> To: ncwataug@rootsweb.com> Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:01:04 -0600> > Thank you.> > Today's Topics:> > 1. Re: Watauga information and James Robertson (Michelle Ligon)> > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------> > Message: 1> Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:07:52 -0500> From: "Michelle Ligon" <mich9118@bellsouth.net>> Subject: Re: [NCWATAUG] Watauga information and James Robertson> To: <ncwataug@rootsweb.com>> Message-ID: <016101c80ff5$8fe2aaa0$0801a8c0@MediaManager>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"> > Thank you John! I've been lately looking for ancestors in Orange Co., NC> ca1760 or so. As an adult, James Robertson was from Johnston and Orange> Co., and many people from that area came with him to the Watauga Settlement.> > See the second half of this page for "Tracing James Robertson's Scot-Irish> Origins and Youth in Colonial Virginia and North Carolina," which mentions> Daniel Boone and is continued on the next page as well:> http://www.wnfoundersmuseum.org/jamesrobertson.htm > > Michelle> > -----Original Message-----> From: ncwataug-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:ncwataug-bounces@rootsweb.com]> On Behalf Of John Meyer> Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 9:48 PM> To: ncwataug@rootsweb.com> Subject: [NCWATAUG] Watauga information.> > > Watauga Association> > >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia> > > ? Have questions? Find out how to ask questions and get answers. ? Jump to:> navigation, search> > > Wikisource has original text related to this article: > Watauga Petition> The Watauga Association (sometimes referred to as the Republic of Watauga or> the Watauga Settlement) was a semi-autonomous government from 1772 to 1777> in what is now Northeast Tennessee. The settlers negotiated a ten-year lease> of the land from the Cherokee in 1772 and, being beyond the jurisdiction of> any existing government, established their own. The Articles of the Watauga> Association are sometimes called a "constitution" and noted for being> strongly democratic.[1]> > The first permanent settlement south of the present Virginia line was made> along the Watauga River in what is today the city of Elizabethton located in> Carter County, Tennessee. Andrew Greer (father of Joseph Greer, later known> as the "Kings Mountain Messenger"), an Indian trader, and Julius C. Dugger> came to the area from Virginia around 1766. In 1770, after the collapse of> the Regulator movement in North Carolina, sympathizers from that colony> under James Robertson fled and established homes farther west on the Watauga> River, effectively beyond the reach of the colonial authorities. In 1772> these settlements, along with settlements along the Holston and Nolichucky> Rivers united and formed the Watauga Association government.> The Watauga Association was not intended to be a sovereign and independent> of any existing state, although such a claim is sometimes made. The> government adopted the existing laws of Virginia and set up a five-man court> to handle local affairs such as lawsuits, marriages, wills, deeds,> negotiations with Indians and colonial governments, and the establishment of> a local militia for defense.[2] In 1771, North Carolina sent a surveying> party into the region and reached a settlement with the Cherokee. The land> agreement with the Cherokee placed the Watauga Settlement within Cherokee> territory, and North Carolina?s government ordered the Wataugans to vacate> the valley.[citation needed] Unwilling to leave, the settlers appointed a> team of negotiators who met with the Cherokee, resulting in the 1772 lease> the Watauga Valley.> At first the Watauga Association was thought to be within the bounds of> Virginia, but a later survey determined it was in North Carolina, although> neither colony had established any jurisdiction over the region. Shortly> after the survey, the Watauga Association drafted the "Watauga Petition",> pledging to assist North Carolina in the American Revolution and asking> North Carolina to "annex" them and establish a regular government. The> Watauga Association formally accepted North Carolina?s jurisdiction in> October of 1775. In 1775 they organized as Washington District, and in 1777,> were incorporated as Washington County in North Carolina. The Watauga> Association, no longer needed, was dissolved in 1778.> In 1784 the Wataugans were part of another new, short-lived government, the> State of Franklin, which collapsed by 1790, reverting to North Carolina.> Shortly thereafter Washington County became part of the new state of> Tennessee.> James Robertson remained in the Watauga area until 1779, when he led a> settlement party to the banks of the Cumberland River in the Nashville Basin> and founded Fort Nashborough, which later became Tennessee's capital,> Nashville. Valentine Sevier, Sr., the father of Gen. John Sevier,> Tennessee's first governor, came at about the same time as Robertson.> One of the first forts built in this region was Fort Watauga in the Sycamore> Shoals area, said to be erected upon land owned by John S. Thomas, about> half a mile northeast of the mouth of Gap Creek in today's Carter County.> The Watauga Association also erected a crude building housing both a> courthouse and jail nearby the Watauga Fort. The location of Fort Watauga is> subject to dispute and there may have been several fortifications and> blockhouses built for defense during the Revolutionary War and the related> Chickamauga Wars[3] There are many stories about Fort Watauga and the> Cherokee attacks on the Watauga settlements. While sometimes told as factual> histories, the stories are closer to folklore and legend. The stories often> contradict each other and contain self-contradicting or impossible details.> The various stories, primary sources, and secondary histories are examined> in detail by Brian P. Compton.[4] One such story has it that on the early> morning of July 21, 1776, several women who had gone outside Watauga Fort to> milk the cows were fired upon and soon all occupants of the fort were> attacked at daybreak by a large body of hostile Cherokees. Fort Watauga was> defended at the time by Robertson and then-Lieutenant Sevier with about> forty men and some 150 additional settlers, including the entire garrison> from Gillespie Station on the Nolichucky River below Jonesborough. The> warring Cherokees were twice repulsed from Fort Watauga, but remained before> the fort for six more days, at the end of which time the approach of> reinforcements from other settlements along the nearby Holston River put> them to retreat.> _________________________________________________________________> Boo!?Scare away worms, viruses and so much more! 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