Place Information
|
Rhea County (pronounced "ray") is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee which in 2004 voted to ban homosexual behavior within the county. As of 2000, the population was 28,400. Its county seat is Dayton6.
History
The county is named for Tennessee politician and Revolutionary War veteran John Rhea. A portion of the Trail of Tears ran through the county as part of the United States government's removal of the Cherokee in the 1830's. During the American Civil War, Rhea County was considered to be one of the counties in eastern Tennessee that was the most sympathetic to the cause of the Confederate States of America. Rhea raised up seven companies for the Confederate military, compared to just one company for the United States. Rhea raised the only female cavalry company, on either side, during the Civil War. The unit was made up of young women in their teens and twenties from Rhea County and was formed in 1862. The girls named their unit the Rhea County Spartans. Until 1863, the Spartans simply visited loved ones in the military and delivered the equivalent of modern day care packages. After Union troops entered Rhea in 1863, the Spartans may have engaged in some scouting for Confederate forces. The members of the Spartans were later arrested in 1865 under orders of a Rhea County Unionist and were forced to march on foot to the Tennessee River. From there they were transported to Chattanooga aboard the USS Chattanooga. Once in Chattanooga, Union officers decided that the young women were not a threat and ordered them released and returned to Rhea County. The women were forced to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. The Spartans were disbanded and have drifted into near obscurity. The Spartans were not an officially recognized unit of the Confederate Army. In 1890, the county seat was moved from the Washington community to its present location in Dayton. The move was a result of Cincinnati-Chattanooga railroad being completed and running through Dayton.
The Scopes Monkey Trial, which resulted from the teaching of evolution being banned in Tennessee public schools under the Butler Act, took place in Rhea County in 1925. The Scopes Trial was one of the first to be referred to as the Trial of the century. William Jennings Bryan was to play a role in trial, and he died in Dayton shortly after the trial ended. A statue of Bryan was recently placed on the grounds of the Rhea County courthouse. In 1954 the laws were changed to allow teaching of evolution alongside Bible studies in school. On June 8, 2004, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling preventing further Bible lessons as being violative of the First Amendment principle of "Separation of church and state". On March 16, 2004, Rhea County commissioners voted 8-0 to ask that state law allow a ban on homosexuals, and allow the county to charge them with "crimes against nature." Rhea County commissioner J.C. Fugate's reasoning: "We need to keep them out of here."[1] It should be noted that several of the commissioners who voted for the resolution chose not to run for reelection or were voted out of office. The resolution was withdrawn on March 18. In protest, a "Gay Day in Rhea" was held on May 8, 2004 with about 300 participants. Timeline
Population History
Research Tips
|
