April 26, 1783: Date When N.C. Granted Charter For Forming Greene County

By TOM YANCEY

Staff Writer

Greene County's 225th anniversary was celebrated Saturday with a small parade, speeches, a congressional proclamation, and a musket volley fired over the resting places of notable pioneer settlers.

Nearly 140 people gathered at 10 a.m. in Bicentennial Park near the Big Spring, behind the replica of a cabin that served as the capitol of the short-lived State of Franklin.

Then, led by period reenactors, including members of the Overmountain Victory Trail Association, the group marched up College Street, passed Town Hall and continued to the Old Harmony Cemetery.

Saturday's event was hosted by the Greene County Heritage Trust.

Its president, Tim Massey, dressed as Robert Kerr, who is considered the founder of Greeneville, welcomed the crowd.

Bagpiper Will Clark, of Limestone, provided music for the march and afterwards played "Amazing Grace" during the musket volley. The volley followed a prayer by the Rev. Don Alexander, chaplain of the Heritage Trust, and concluded the ceremony.

Massey spoke briefly, welcoming the crowd on behalf of the representatives of the Children of the American Revolution, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Sons of the American Revolution, as well as Heritage Trust members.

"As we gather on this day and in this place to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the formation of our county by the North Carolina legislature, it is only fitting and proper that we should begin here -- honoring those men and women who came across the mountains and made what was to become Greene County their home," Massey said.

"Some moved on, some stayed, some are known, some not, and it is they -- born of places such as Scotland, Ireland, Germany and England; Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas, to name a few, who rest today in the soil across this county. It is they that we remember on this day," Massey said.

"Though long gone, their spirit remains with us. Today, they remind us who we are as a people. Today, we remember them. As long as we remember them, they shall never be forgotten."

Massey then introduced U.S. Rep. David David, R-1st, of Johnson City. Davis mentioned his own "love of the history and heritage" of this region.

Davis also mentioned the special regard he has for those frontiersmen who fought the British forces at Kings Mountain. Their descendants "and their values are still here, across these mountains," Davis said.

Congressional Proclamation

Rep. Davis then read a proclamation, which he had read into the Congressional Record on Friday. (See accompanying article.)

After the ceremony, Rep. Davis presented framed copies of the proclamation to Greene County Mayor Alan Broyles, Greeneville Mayor Darrell Bryan, and to state Rep. David Hawk, R-5th, of Greeneville.

Hawk said after the ceremony that he intends to present his copy to the Heritage Trust's board.

Donahue Bible's Remarks

Local historian Donahue Bible, speaking next, noted that Greene County, North Carolina, was created in 1783, carved from Washington County.

At the time, Greene County extended west to the Mississippi River, except for Davidson County, where Nashville is located. Greene County later became Greene County in the State of Franklin, Bible said, then it became Greene County in the Territory South of The Ohio River for a time, before becoming Greene County, Tennessee in 1796, Bible said.

"We have a long and colorful history," he said. By the time Greene County was officially chartered in 1783, Bible said, "settlers had been living in the northern and eastern parts of the county for about 10 years," many of them Revolutionary War veterans who received land warrants or grants for their service.

In the spring of 1783, veteran Daniel Kennedy and Joseph Hardin, who both lived in what is now Greene County, traveled to Hillsborough, N.C., (near Durham) a distance of about 250 miles, to be seated as delegates to the legislature representing Washington County.

Landon Carter, who lived in what is now Elizabethton, also claimed one of the two seats for Washington County. Bible said Waightstill Avery, of Morganton, N.C., was an influential attorney (and the the first attorney general of North Carolina) and a friend of Kennedy's.

When problems over the election surfaced, Avery (who speculated in western lands) helped his friend Kennedy get a new charter for the southern portion of Washington County through the legislature, creating Greene County on April 26, 1783.

Bible said that while Kennedy has been called "the father of Greene County," the late local historian, Richard Doughty, referred to Avery as its "foster father" in his book "Greeneville -- One Hundred Year Portrait 1775-1875."

Bible noted that Greeneville was established as the county seat, at the Big Spring, on land owned by Robert Kerr, another Kings Mountain veteran, who is buried at Old Harmony.

Massey portrayed Kerr during the ceremony.

Bible pointed out that the cemetery is the resting place of veterans of four wars, from the Revolution to the Civil War. Four known Revolutionary War veterans are buried there: Thomas McAmis, James Wright, William Brown and Richard Woods. Kennedy is buried at Zion Presbyterian Cemetery near Greystone.

Reeneactors Camped Here

Many of the reenactors camped Friday night in Centennial Park. Massey said several members of the Heritage Trust and the Overmountain Men spent Wednesday afternoon and evening cleaning the cabin.

Artie O'Neal and his wife, Diana, who are members of the Overmountain Victory Trail Association, spent Friday night in the cabin. Members of the Nolachuckey Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution helped decorate the cabin.

Massey said Greeneville offiicials had a chimneysweep check the cabin's stone fireplace and chimney for safety, before approving its use.

The O'Neals built what appears to have been the first fire in the fireplace since it was constructed. They said the fireplace and the cabin served the event very well.

Massey said several people asked if the birthday will be celebrated again next year. "We want to do something" next year, he said, though plans are indefinite at this point.

"The reenactors are enthusiastic" about using the cabin and Bicentennial Park as a drilling ground for a Revolutionary War militia group, he said.

Members of the Overmountain Victory Trail Association told the story of the battle of Kings Mountain in period costumes twice on Saturday, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Each of the presenters was thoroughly familiar with the story, and interpreted it "first person," as if they were the person they were portraying, recalling telling details and conveying a great deal of the emotions the participants must have experienced.

Tom Holmes, of Flowery Branch, Ga., served as narrator. Mike Dahl, of Johnson City, said the Overmountain Men should be considered among the "Founding Fighters" of this country.

Daniel Kennedy, who obtained a North Carolina charter for Greene County on April 26, 1783, was one of the "Overmountain Men" who mustered at Sycamore Shoals in the fall of 1780, in what is now the town of Elizabethton.

Pioneer settlers from what is now East Tennessee, southwest Virginia and western North Carolina, marched across the mountains under the leadership of Col. Shelby to Kings Mountain, N.C. and defeated a "Tory army" in a battle that has been called a turning point in the Revolutionary War.

Avery County, N.C., is named for Waightstill Avery, a noted North Carolinian.