A Decision in 1819 (Part 1)
“Hidden History”
Joe Guy
On February 27, 1819, a group of Cherokee Indians met with Secretary of War John C. Calhoun and signed a much negotiated land cession treaty. It became known as the Calhoun Treaty, and in the agreement the U. S. Federal Government bought from the Cherokee Indians all the land between Hiwassee, Little Tennessee and Big Tennessee Rivers lying west of Starr Mountain and the foothills of the Smokies. Quite suddenly, East Tennessee was opened for white settlement in what became known as the “Hiwassee Purchase”.
The Cherokees present, mostly a group of affluent mixed-bloods, knew that this agreement would not be popular among their people, but these men also knew that such a land cession was both practical and necessary. Already there were whites living in the area in question. One of the Cherokees, Chief John Walker, operated a farm, store, and ferry on the Hiwassee River. A small settlement had sprung up around him, which was called “Walker’s Ferry”, and it seemed to Walker and many other Cherokees that whites were in the habit of crossing the river as much as the Indians were. This was true all across the area, for even in a place named Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains a family known as the Oliver’s had built a cabin and started a farm. He and the other Cherokees marking the treaty papers that February day believed that if there were already whites on the land, the Cherokees might as well sell the property and at least get paid for it.
Walker had known John C. Calhoun for several years, and whole-heartedly admired the feisty statesman. To Walker, Calhoun had a fire in his heart that reminded the Chief of the Cherokee warriors he had known in his younger days. Walker’s role in negotiating the treaty, along with his admiration for the Secretary of War, caused Walker to rename his settlement on the Hiwassee. Once back home, he began calling the place “Calhoun”.
By the following summer, more and more whites were staking claims to what had once been Indian hunting ground. Some of the man had been soldiers in the Revolution twenty years earlier, and had seen the rich land already. Each day a new family arrived, seeking either a place they had purchased legally or some hidden valley or cove they could squat on, hoping to acquire deed and title later on. Several Cherokees decided to move west, across the distant Mississippi to lands that they had been given as part of the Calhoun Treaty. But many remained, having adopted white culture. Many farmed or operated businesses like Walker, and lived peacefully with their white neighbors.
It became clear by the end of the summer that new counties would need to be formed out of this new land. Tennessee Governor Joseph McMinn, a man always interested in land himself, began to express his support for the development of new counties and the appointment of county government.
And so, the new settlers waited through the summer, talking among themselves about what needed to be done. When the legislature convened in the Fall, there would be much business to attend to.
“Hidden History”
Joe Guy
The Tennessee Legislature was still Meeting in Murfreesboro that November day in 1819, when several items of interest were brought before the elected officials. Earlier in the year, a vast amount of land had been opened up for white settlement in what became known as the Hiwassee Purchase. What was once rolling hills that the Cherokees hunted over was now prime farmland and forests. So many new residents had entered the territory, both legally and illegally, that it had become clear that new counties were needing to be created out of the lands.
For six days in the legislature, discussion of lines and county names ensued. In Southeast Tennessee, two counties were decided upon, and lines drawn out from the existing Roane County. These two new counties would cover the territory of the entire southeast corner of the state, where Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia came together.
The northeastern most county was considered for a name, and after some discussion, it was decided to honor past President James Monroe by calling the county Monroe County. This county’s line would run from Roane County up the Tennessee River to the mouth of Cowee Creek, then west to North Carolina, then Southwest along the Carolina line to Georgia, then north along the line that would be set for the second new county.
Discussion then ensued regarding this other county. What would it be called? Already a US President had been honored. What about the present Governor of Tennessee, Joseph McMinn? Such a name would indeed honor the man who had supported this land acquisition in the first place, and so it was done.
The new county would be known as McMinn County, and its line would run southwest from Roane County to a point equally distant from the Cherokee town of Tillassee on the Little Tennessee and the town of Hiwassee on the Hiwassee River, then along Monroe County south to Georgia, then west to the Tennessee River, then north along the river to the Roane County line.
Under the Acts of 1819, Chapter Number 7, this legislation was approved by the Tennessee Legislature on November 18, 1819. That day, McMinn County was born. Places for county government were also designated, which for McMinn County would be the home of Major John Walker in the little hamlet of newly-named Calhoun on the Hiwassee, at least until a more suitable seat of county justice could be designated. The sheriff’s of the counties were ordered to elect officers from the militia districts, with the able-bodied men from McMinn to compose the Sixty-Seventh Regiment of the Tennessee State Militia.
So now, 185 years later, McMinn County celebrates its birthday. Over time, other counties called Polk, Meigs, and Bradley were borne of her. From “furs to factories” as the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association says it, McMinn County has come a long way from its humble beginnings as Cherokee hunting lands. From wilderness cabins and dirt trails to multi-million dollar industries, modern roads, and debt-free government that is the envy of many other counties in the state, McMinn is the “little county that could.”
While the official birthday is November 13, the actual “party” will occur November 18, in the Courthouse Blue Room. Like any solid southern matriarch, she has gotten only more beautiful with age, and her people still gather around to celebrate and honor her.
Because like her people, she endures