This past year, I have spent a lot of time researching my adopted son's biological maternal grandfather. I have used DNA and DNA matches to predict who this man might be and who his ancestors might be. I think I am close to identifying his biological grandfather, but, there is still work to be done.
If I am right about this man, he comes from a family who has deep roots in "Beginnings"! The particular line I am going to talk about today is the Robertson line. I believe that my son's great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was James Randolph Robertson, 1742-1814, and he was a man who began, over and over, again.
James Randolph Robertson was born June 28, 1742 in Brunswick County, Virginia to James Randolph Robertson [Sr] and Mary Gower. When he was young, he moved with his family to Orange County, North Carolina. Because of the political unrest in North Carolina in the days before the Revolution, he determined to move out of the reach of the British empire. In the spring of 1770, he went west, across the Allegheny mountains and settled in an area called The Watauga Settlement, part of the Territory South of the Ohio River, and later known as eastern Tennessee. His leadership and character, and the important role he played in much of early Tennessee history, he has become known as "The Father of Tennessee".
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| Photo from "History of Tennessee, Its People and Its Institutions" by William Robertson Garrett and Albert Virgil Goodpasture, 1900, Nashville, TN, page 53. |
He was an important part of the establishment of the first independent government body in the colonies and was instrumental in negotiating a treaty with the Cherokees to lease the land from them, so they could continue to live there. As the colonies began to move toward independence from England, the people of the Watauga Settlement sought recognition by North Carolina, their officially recognized neighbors to the East. As a recognized entity, they changed their name to the Washington District, the first geographical location named for George Washington. When the Declaration of Independence was signed, the leaders of the Washington District created a Committee of Safety.
As early as July 21, 1776, James Robertson, now a Captain of the garrison at Fort Watauga, led the troops to a victory over attacking Indians. On July 21, 1777, another Treaty was made with the Overhill Indians, a small segment of the Cherokee nation, and Captain James Robertson was appointed the first Indian Agent by the Commissioners.
By early 1779, Indian hostilities had increased and on February 6, 1779, James Robertson, "and a party of eight white men and one negro" left their homes to investigate the possibility of establishing a permanent settlement at French Lick on the Cumberland River. Traders had already established a trading post and a few log cabins in the surrounding area. While they were there, Robertson and his party "erected a few log huts and forts on the high ground near the Lick and also put in a crop of corn there." This was done so that families could be brought into the area in the fall and would have a place to shelter and could make their own bread. A few men were left to protect the crop and buildings and the rest returned home to prepare for their next journey. On their way back home, James Robertson met with George Rogers Clark (of the Lewis and Clark expedition).
The amazing stories of the journeys of James Robertson, John Donelson and their parties moving their families from the Watauga area to the French Lick (now known as Nashville) are amazing. Robertson led a group of men by land and took goods, horses and other livestock. I have not been able to find an exact date of departure, but they left Fort Patrick Henry "in the fall" and traveled through the Cumberland Gap (recently marked by Daniel Boone in 1775). They then traveled west across southern "Kentucky" as far as the Red River, then turned south toward the Lick. They arrived on the north side of the Cumberland River, across from the Lick on December 25, 1779. They crossed over into the Lick on January 1, 1780, and proceeded to build more cabins and forts, waiting for the Donelson party to arrive. James Robertson named this settlement Nashborough, although the name was soon changed to Nashville. James Robertson was, then, a founder of Nashville - another amazing Beginning!
John Donelson led his fleet of about 30 boats traveled by the water ways. He documented the journey in an amazing Journal (see sources: "Tennessee, the Volunteer State" article starting on page 104). He took the women and children and many household goods. They left Fort Patrick Henry on December 22, 1779 and immediately ran into difficulties with the weather. They sheltered until February 20, 1780 and then proceeded down the Holston River, the Tennessee River, down through northern Alabama (Spanish Territory) all the way to the where the Ohio River meets the Tennessee. Then they went UP river a short distance to the the place where the Cumberland River joins the Ohio River and proceed UP stream on the Cumberland River to the French Lick. It was a very difficult journey with several being lost on the way. (I must also note that one family which made this journey with Col. John Donelson was an ancestral family of my late dear friend, Miriam Butler Sloan. Their names were John and Polly (Crosslin) Cotton.)
On May 1st of that year, just 6 days after the Donelson party arrived, the men of the new settlement joined together to establish a new Constitution to govern themselves. It was signed on May 13, 1780, and immediately a militia was established with James Robertson as Colonel and John Donelson, Lieutenant-Colonel. Not long after, Col. Robertson solemnized the first marriage in the area. Indian attacks, from the north and the south began immediately and Col. Robertson "made a perilous journey to the East to procure ammunition." He returned on January 11, 1781 to a grateful community. That night, he was staying with his family at Freeland's Station, where his son, Felix Robertson, the first male child born in Nashville, had been born that day. As he was falling asleep, he heard noises outside and it was another Chickasaw attack. It put down, with Col. Robertson leading the response. Shortly thereafter, Col. Robertson worked out another treaty/alliance with the Chickasaw tribe and this peace lasted for some time. The Chickasaw also aided the new settlement against the Cherokee tribe.
Meanwhile, the War of the American Revolution was being waged and on October 7, 1780, the Battle of King's Mountain, South Carolina, was fought and many of the Watauga community fought in this battle. Col. Robertson does not appear in the narrative, since he had already moved to the Nashville area.
The Indian attacks from the enemy tribes became so severe that in 1782, a general council of the men of Nashborough met to consider abandoning the Cumberland settlement. It was the spirit and determination of James Robertson that convinced them to stay where they were and continue the fight.
In 1783, Col. Robertson was sent by the Nashborough leaders to Hillsborough, the capitol of North Carolina to ask the General Assembly to establish a regular Land Office in Nashborough. On April 14, 1783, North Carolina established Davidson County to include Nashborough and the entire area west of the Cumberland Mountains. The Land Office was opened shortly after.
The inhabitants of Nashville petitioned the General Assembly of North Carolina to establish a "public seminary" in their town. In 1785, the Assembly passed "an act for the Promotion of Learning in the County of Davidson" for the education of their youth, created Davidson Academy. Trustees were named and among them were James Robertson and Ephraim McClaine (McLean - who is an ancestor of mine!) In 1806, this institution became Cumberland College, the Universty of Nashville in 1825 and in 1923 became The George Peabody College for Teachers. It is now one of the ten colleges of Vanderbilt University.
In December 1786, James Robertson was a member of the North Carolina Legislature. He procured the passage of an act that allowed for 300 men to protect Davidson County and build a road into Nashville from the Clinch River.
Indian invasions continued through 1787-1789, killing many inhabitants of Nashville including a son of Col. Robertson. In June 1789, Col. Robertson was wounded in the foot during an attack on him and his workers in the field near Robertson Station.
On April 2, 1790, North Carolina became a state in the United States and June 8th, William Blount was commissioned Governor by President Washington. Governor Blount appointed county officers, one of which was James Robertson. Judicial Districts were created and soon, President Washington appointed Brigadier General James Robertson as the principal officer of the Cero District (western counties of the Tennessee area including Davidson County, where Nashville was located.)
July 2, 1791, James Robertson engineered another treaty with the Cherokees, the Holston Treaty, which was confirmed by the President of the United States November 11, 1791.
On January 11, 1796, Governor Blount called together a constitutional convention to create a constitution to govern a new state, Tennessee, when and if it was accepted into the United States. Brigadier General James Robertson was one of the five representatives from his county. On approval of the US Congress and President Washington, on June 1, 1796, Tennessee became the 16th state and the first to be admitted having previously been a Territory.
July 23, 1805, James Robertson continued in his role with the Indian nations and helped create another treaty with the Chickasaw and Creek Indians. He led another treaty on September 11, 1807 called the Robertson and Meigs Treaty.
James's "final mission took him to the Chickasaw Agency at Chickasaw Bluff [now Memphis]. In his seventies, Robertson made the trip during heavy rains that forced him to swim several swollen creeks along the way. As a result, he became ill and died on September 1, 1814. His remains were later returned to Nashville, where he received a formal burial in the City Cemetery." (Tennessee Encyclopedia)
This man began again and again. And we, his descendants, are grateful for all of his contributions to his family, his community, his state and his country.
The links below contain a wealth of information about General Robertson. They are the basis for this article and I hope you will follow them and read more about this amazing man!
James Robertson Article in "History of Tennessee" by Garrett and Goodpasture, page 53+. This content downloaded from 69.236.122.51 on Mon, 11 Jan 2021 23:31:49 UTC. All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms.
Tennessee, the Volunteer State, 1769-1923 – John Trotwood Moore, Austin Powers Foster
Family Bible listing Robertson Family, including John McNairy Robertson
James Robertson article from Tennessee Encyclopedia
Map of Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap
TN Map showing Red River; Nashville on S side of Cumberland River
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