In a message dated 06/13/2001 5:04:38 PM Central Daylight Time, FTht98@aol.com writes: > There are other commissions for individuals from "Mero District" and I am > uncertain why they are so designated Many of the individuals named were among the first settlers who came to the French Lick with James Robertson or, in the case of Peter Looney and some others, with John Donelson in the flotilla that came down the Tennessee River, up the Ohio, and then up the Cumberland. Most of the earliest settlers were Virginians, and just prior to coming to Tennessee, many of these men lived in the Powell Valley in present-day Lee County, VA. Don Estevan Miro was the Spanish Governor of New Orleans. The Cumberland settlements were designated the Mero District -- a misspelling of his name -- a bit of flattery hopeful of keeping the Mississippi River open to American navigation. The political situation was much too complicated to be explained in a few sentences, but keeping the Mississippi River open to American navigation was a life or death matter. The only route to markets for area produce was down river to New Orleans, and if the Spanish closed the river to Americans, the Cumberland settlements would die. It was a continuing concern to the settlers until the Louisiana Purchase. The Mero District was made up of Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee Counties. In 1796 Tennessee County gave up its name to the State and became Robertson County with the western part becoming Montgomery County. Joyce