John Sevier - State of Franklin

State of Franklin

In 1783, North Carolina, bowing to pressure from the Continental Congress and eager to be rid of an expensive and unprofitable district, ceded its lands west of the Appalachian Mountains to the federal government. However, Congress did not immediately accept the lands, creating a vacuum of power in what is now Tennessee. In August 1784, Sevier served as president of a convention held at Jonesborough with the aim of establishing a new state. In March of the following year, he was elected governor of the proposed state, which was named "Franklin" in honor of Benjamin Franklin.

In 1784, North Carolina rescinded the cession and reasserted its claim to the Tennessee region. Sevier initially supported this, in part because he was offered a promotion to brigadier general, but was convinced by William Cocke to remain with the Franklinites. Though Sevier had popular support, a number of Washington Countians, led by John Tipton (1730–1813), remained loyal to North Carolina, creating a situation in which two parallel governments– one loyal to Franklin and one to North Carolina– were operating in Tennessee. Both elected public officials. Relations between the two governments were initially cordial, though a rivalry developed between Sevier and Tipton.

As North Carolina and Franklin competed for the loyalties of the residents of the area, Sevier became involved in intrigues with Georgia to gain control of Cherokee lands in what is now northern Alabama, where Sevier had taken out claims on several thousand acres of land. He even considered an alliance with Spain, whose Governor Esteban Rodríguez Miró, attempted to sway Sevier, though Sevier eventually abandoned the idea.

In June 1785, Sevier negotiated the Treaty of Dumplin Creek, in which the Cherokee gave up claims to lands south of the French Broad River as far as the Little River–Little Tennessee River divide. The following year, the Treaty of Coyatee extended the boundary to the Little Tennessee River, and the State of Franklin created three new counties (modern Cocke, Sevier, and Blount counties). The United States never recognized these treaties, however, and the fate of the settlers who moved into these areas remained in limbo for years.

In February 1788, the rivalry between Sevier and Tipton came to a head in what became known as the "Battle of Franklin." While Sevier was away campaigning against the Cherokee, Tipton ordered some of his property seized for taxes supposedly owed to North Carolina. In response, Sevier led 150 militia to Tipton's farm, which was defended by about 45 loyalists. Both sides demanded the other surrender, and briefly exchanged gunfire. On February 29, two days after the siege began, loyalist reinforcements from Sullivan County arrived on the scene and scattered the Franklinites. Sevier retreated, though not before several were killed on both sides. Two of Sevier's sons were captured, but subsequently released.

In the Summer of 1788, a family of settlers was killed by renegade Cherokees in Blount County in what became known as the Nine Mile Creek Massacre. In response, Sevier invaded and destroyed several Cherokee towns in the Little Tennessee Valley. Several Cherokee leaders met with Sevier under a flag of truce to discuss peace, and a member of the murdered family, John Kirke, attacked the delegation and killed several chiefs, among them Old Tassel and Old Abraham of Chilhowee. This action enraged the Cherokee, and many of them threw their support behind Dragging Canoe.

Following the Battle of Franklin, support for Sevier and the State of Franklin collapsed in areas north of the French Broad River, and Governor Samuel Johnston issued a warrant for his arrest in July 1788. In October, after he attacked Jonesborough store owner David Deaderick for refusing to sell him liquor, the Tiptonites managed to apprehend Sevier. He was sent to Morganton, North Carolina, to stand trial for treason, but was released by the Burke County sheriff, William Morrison (a Kings Mountain veteran), before the trial began.

In January 1789, Sevier defeated a large Cherokee invasion led by John Watts at the Battle of Flint Creek near Jonesborough.