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Gen. James White, Founder of Knoxville, TN
b.8 Aug 1747 Rowan County, North Carolina
d.14 Aug 1821 Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee
Family tree▼ (edit)
m. Abt 1740
(edit)
m. 14 Apr 1770
Facts and Events
[edit] About James White
James White (1747 – August 14, 1821) was an American pioneer and soldier who founded Knoxville, Tennessee, in the early 1790s. Born in Rowan County, North Carolina, White served as a captain in the county's militia during the American Revolutionary War. In 1783, he led an expedition into the upper Tennessee Valley, where he discovered the future site of Knoxville. White served in various official capacities with the failed State of Franklin (1784–1788) before building White's Fort in 1786. The fort was chosen as the capital of the Southwest Territory in 1790, and White donated the land for a permanent city, Knoxville, in 1791. He represented Knox County at Tennessee's constitutional convention in 1796. During the Creek War (1813), White served as a brigadier general in the Tennessee militia. White had a reputation for patience and tactfulness that was often lacking in his fellow Euro-American settlers on the Appalachian frontier.[1] As lieutenant colonel commandant of the Knox County militia, White managed to defuse a number of potentially hostile situations between the settlers and the local Native Americans. He donated the land for many of Knoxville's early public buildings, and helped establish Blount College (now the University of Tennessee). White's descendants continued to play prominent roles in the political and economic affairs of Knoxville into the twentieth century.[1]
[edit] Information on James WhiteFrom "Tennessee Cousins", by Worth S. Ray, pg. 247: Moses White and Mary Campbell were the parents of Moses White, Rowan County, North Carolina, who married Mary McConnell and became the father of Gen. James White, whose wife was Mary Lawson, and who was the founder of Knoxville, Tennessee. (23) James3 WHITE, Gen, (Moses2 WHITE, Moses1) was born Aug 8, 1747 at Rowan Co., NC, and on Apr 14, 1770 at Rowan Co., NC, married (34) Mary LAWSON, daughter of Hugh LAWSON, who was born in 1742. James died on Aug 14, 1822 at Knox Co., Tn. Mary died on Mar 10, 1819 at Knox Co., Tn. Notes for James WHITE Gen: James White was a soldier, public offical, Founder of Knoxville, born in Rowan Co., NC now part of Iredell Co. NC. His parents were Moses and Mary White. During the American Revolution, James White was a Captain of the N.C. Militia, he was entitled for his military services to a grant of land. In that year he with Robert Love, Francis A. Ramsey, Alexander McMillan and others made a tour of exploration to select desirable tracts of land in East Tennessee. They traveled as far down the Holston (Now the Tennessee) river as the present Lenoir City. The next year Capt. White moved from N.C. to Fort Chiswell, Va, whre he remained about one year. In 1785, he helped organize the State of Franklin, & was member of the General Assembly and its Constitutional Convention that met at Greenville. That same year he removed with his family to what is now Knox County and settled on the North side of the French Broad, near the present Riverdale, the same place that Alexander Campbell, who established Campbell's Station later, had lived on in 1790. The next year, 1786, Capt. White and some other families settled on White's Creek, built a cabin and cleared lands. 1789 he was representative from Hawkins Co. in the Legislature of N.C. and a member of the convention that ratified the Constitution of the U.S. In 1790 he was appointed by Wm. Blount Major of militia and Justice of the Peace of Hawkins Co. Oct 3, 1791 the town of Knoxville was laid out and Knox Co. created from Hawkins and Greene Co., and Major white was appointed lieutenant-colonal commendant. Was member of the territorial H. of R. and Knox Co. member of the Constitution convention & Senator & resigned his seat for William Blount, etc.
[edit] About James WhiteJames White (1747 – August 14, 1821) [a] was an American pioneer and soldier who founded Knoxville, Tennessee, in the early 1790s. Born in Rowan County, North Carolina, White served as a captain in the county's militia during the American Revolutionary War. In 1783, he led an expedition into the upper Tennessee Valley, where he discovered the future site of Knoxville. White served in various official capacities with the failed State of Franklin (1784–1788) before building White's Fort in 1786. The fort was chosen as the capital of the Southwest Territory in 1790, and White donated the land for a permanent city, Knoxville, in 1791. He represented Knox County at Tennessee's constitutional convention in 1796. During the Creek War (1813), White served as a brigadier general in the Tennessee militia.[2] White had a reputation for patience and tactfulness that was often lacking in his fellow Euro-American settlers on the Appalachian frontier.[2] As lieutenant colonel commandant of the Knox County militia, White managed to defuse a number of potentially hostile situations between the settlers and the local Native Americans. He donated the land for many of Knoxville's early public buildings, and helped establish Blount College (now the University of Tennessee). White's descendants continued to play prominent roles in the political and economic affairs of Knoxville into the twentieth century.[2] Early Life Brigadier General James White was born in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina; what is now Iredell County, North Carolina. He was born to Moses White and Mary McConnell White, who were of Scots-Irish descent.[3] In 1770, White married Mary Lawson. White served as a captain in the Rowan County militia during the American Revolution, which would subsequently entitle him to a tract of land as payment for his service.[2] As a result of North Carolina's Land Grab Act, which opened up lands in what is now East Tennessee to settlement, White and several others explored the Tennessee Valley as far west as what is now Lenoir City in 1783. White eventually obtained a grant for a 1,000-acre (400 ha) tract of land at what is now Knoxville, and in 1784 he was elected to the senate of the new State of Franklin, a position which kept him preoccupied for the next two years. White relocated to what is now Knox County in 1785, initially building a simple cabin at what is now the Riverdale community east of modern Knoxville. Within a year, however, he had moved to his 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) tract along the confluence of First Creek and the Tennessee River, and built what became known as White's Fort.[3] Later LIfe In 1800, White moved to his country estate east of Knoxville, perhaps having grown weary of the city, which had developed into a rowdy frontier capital.[7] He was again elected to the state senate in 1801 and 1803. White served as an elder in the Lebanon-in-the-Forks Presbyterian Church, and later served as an elder in the First Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, which stood on land White had set aside for a church in the 1790s. White died in 1821 at his country estate, and was buried next to his wife in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery.[2]
James White (1747 – August 14, 1821) was an American pioneer and soldier who founded Knoxville, Tennessee, in the early 1790s. Born in Rowan County, North Carolina, White served as a captain in the county's militia during the American Revolutionary War. In 1783, he led an expedition into the upper Tennessee Valley, where he discovered the future site of Knoxville. White served in various official capacities with the failed State of Franklin (1784–1788) before building White's Fort in 1786. The fort was chosen as the capital of the Southwest Territory in 1790, and White donated the land for a permanent city, Knoxville, in 1791. He represented Knox County at Tennessee's constitutional convention in 1796. During the Creek War (1813), White served as a brigadier general in the Tennessee militia. White had a reputation for patience and tactfulness that was often lacking in his fellow Euro-American settlers on the Appalachian frontier.[1] As lieutenant colonel commandant of the Knox County militia, White managed to defuse a number of potentially hostile situations between the settlers and the local Native Americans. He donated the land for many of Knoxville's early public buildings, and helped establish Blount College (now the University of Tennessee). White's descendants continued to play prominent roles in the political and economic affairs of Knoxville into the twentieth century.[1]
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