It's good to be back again, and it's great to be with you all once more. I only wish that the reunion time was not so short, so that I could have a better chance to really know you. I also feel very honored to be asked to give this talk--you've had me up here so many times that I'm running low on things to talk about.
At one of our meetings, I urged all those present to bring in stories about the Dillards, their ancestors and relatives. I said that surely there must be some choice anecdotes that have been carried down in the family, perhaps for generations. For example, did anyone here ever hear talk about what kind of man old John Dillard was? Didn't anyone ever talk about his wife?
I think that telling those stories would make a most fascinating part of this reunion, and so I'm thinking of passing around or posting a sign-up sheet, where those who have stories could let us know about them. You could tell the stories to the reunion yourself, or if you're a bit bashful, you could tell them to someone like me and I'll relay to the reunion session.
Let me add that it would be a splendid addition to the Dillard collection forming in the Rabun County Library if those stories were on deposit there too--either written, or in tape recorders.
Think about it!
So, after all that, I thought I'd better come up with a story myself. I can't tell you one about anyone actually named Dillard, for I'm a Dillard only through a great-great-grandmother and I never really knew my Dillard kinfolk.
But I do have a story about my great-grandmother Eliza E. Snow Freeman. She's half a Dillard, for her mother was Mary Love Dillard, a granddaughter of old John Dillard. The story is that when grandmother Freeman came to live with my grandparents, she had taken to smoking a pipe -- she said It was for her "dyspepsia", and she carefully sewed a pocket in her skirt to carry her pipe and tobacco. Even if medicinal, smoking, she thought, was not something to do in the presence of men.
So, one fine day, grandma Freeman was puffing away at her pipe, when suddenly her son-in-law, my grandfather, came in from the fields unexpectedly. Grandmother quickly ditched her pipe into her pipe pocket and looked very innocent. However she did not have time to put the pipe out, and a few minutes later, she suddenly called out to grandfather, "Laws-a-me Emmet, I'm on fire!."
Apparently, they were able to put out grandmother's pocket without further difficulties, and no one was hurt--although I am sure that grandmother was deeply embarrassed. But she lived on to a reasonable age although not as long as her father. However, she might have lived longer if she had not gone riding bareback in the rain and caught a cold which turned into pneumonia. So, she died at the age of 75.
For my main topic today, I thought I'd tell you a bit of American history, a rather interesting story, I think, and one in which John Dillard and family were probably involved--although I can't prove it. Certainly one of their close relatives was deeply involved.
So, we're going to start back at the year 1783, and we're going to visit what was then Washington County, North Carolina.
The Dillards have recently moved here from Pittsylvania County, Virginia, for reasons unknown. There's quite a family cluster present, probably headed by Capt. Thomas Dillard, Jr., his wife Martha Webb Dillard, and nine of their ten children -- the eldest son, Benjamin,
However, along with that family of Dillards is also our John Dillard, with his wife, and several small children. Remember that years earlier, John Dillard had been bound out to Thomas Dillard Jr., apparently creating a stronger bond between the families than might be expected from their blood relationship -- John was probably first cousin to Thomas.
Still another boy had been bound out to Thomas Jr., and that was William Gregory, who also was part of the family cluster, married (his first wife soon to die), and with seven children, all young.
It's through William Gregory that the major family player in our story enters the family cluster. Robert Love later said that he came to this area with William Gregory, and lived with him a year until his marriage. How or why he came with Gregory is one of those mysteries, especially since he describes Gregory as a "near neighbor, when the Loves lived in Montgomery County, something over a hundred miles from the Dillard-Gregory settlement in Pittsylvania County. Did the Gregorys leave early from Pittsylvania and live for a time in Montgomery County? If so, were any of the Dillards with them? We have no answer.
At any rate, when Robert Love married, in our year of 1783, he married Mary Ann Dillard, daughter of Thomas Jr. When his father-in-law died soon afterwards, Robert Love became one of his executors and from the records, pretty much managed the estate thereafter. In the next few years, he also brought down siblings and got them married too others of the Dillard clan -- Winniesophire Dillard married James Love, and Martha married Thomas Love. Thomas Dillard III married Dorcas Love, who may be a sister.
Robert Love seems to have been a very energetic young man (he was only 23 in 1783), very much on the make, and destined to be very successful. He had already seen military service ever since he had gone north to join Washington's army in 1776, and at the end of the war, he was a lieutenant-colonel despite his youth. As we will see he got into politics early, and his whole career is filled with action, adventure, and much prosperity.
In fact, some have raised an eyebrow at Robert Love's handling of the Thomas Dillard estate. Thomas had been a prominent man in Pittsylvania County, and presumably was very well off, so that his estate should have been a considerable one. It is interesting that in later years, the sons of Thomas Dillard Jr. seem to be very poor, while the Loves, Robert and also his brothers, prosper most mightily. Bad management by the Dillards? Or too expert management of the estate by the Loves?
So there is the cluster of Dillards, Gregories and Loves living in Washington County, North Carolina, in an area with the not very attractive name of Greasy Cove. They are about to be in the middle of quite a bit of activity.
It is 1783, and the Revolutionary War has ended, successfully. The former colonies have become states, and are loosely, too loosely, tied together under the Articles of Confederation, which leaves each state very much sovereign, and proud of it.
One of the questions for the new country which came up was what to do about the western lands claimed by some of the states. The original grants which established the colonies had been without a very sound knowledge of American geography -- e.g. Connecticut could claim a strip of land right across New York State and including even some counties in northern Pennsylvania.
The southern states of Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia were particularly central in this problem, for all three had grants which extended their western borders "to the South Sea (the picture of a North Carolina stretching from sea to sea is a fascinating one). Of course, nearly all the land west of the mountains was still unsettled and still the property of the Indians, However, the land-locked states were jealously inclined towards having the national government take over the lands beyond the mountains, to create new states when the population warranted It.
As of 1783, there were not very many settlements beyond the mountains. Kentucky probably was the largest, especially if we count southwestern Virginia. There was also the Cumberland settlement, the people in the area of present day Nashville, and then, of course, the Watauga Settlement, which was in North Carolina in what later was the northeastern corner of Tennessee. Washington County and Greasy Cove were part of this settlement.
The people in these western settlements were not enormously happy with the states to which they allegedly belonged. There were complaints about tax money draining eastward with no benefits for the counties of its origin, about having to travel too far to do official business--in particular, court business, and about being neglected by the easterners, particularly in matters of defense and dealing with the Indians. Not publicly specified was another argument for separation: the lucrative disposal of the public lands, constantly expanding as the Indians were pushed back by force or by treaty (or both).
By 1783, there was plenty of talk along the frontier about setting up new states, but the old states were in no rush to give up their potentially profitable western reaches.
In April, 1784, the North Carolina legislature passed an act of cession, in which they offered to give up their western lands, but only with a lot of conditions. Congress would have to accept all these within one year, or the cession would be off.
When the news came out to the Watauga settlement, the westerners were thoroughly happy. Most of them came from Virginia and had little loyalty to North Carolina from the
So, in August, 1784, a convention of delegates from Washington, Greene and Sullivan Counties met at Jonesborough. The convention declared independence from North Carolina and formed an Association to be their temporary government. A second convention was to follow in September (it actually did not meet until November).
During the summer of 1794, there had been much politicking through North Carolina about the cession issue, and a newly elected state legislature met in August (without much representation from the western counties, who considered themselves independent after all -- and whose convention met in the same month).
The legislature promptly repealed the act of cession, and rejected a bill to allow the west to become a state. The only concession was to form a new judicial district in the west.
Nothing daunted the westerners. They had their second convention in November and December, and once again moved to form a "separate and distinct State independent of North Carolina at this time." They also passed a temporary constitution for the new state, which was named the State of Franklin.
How did the Dillard cluster feel about all this? The only indication we have is that Robert Love, who may have sat in the first convention and certainly was in the second convention, later was much against the establishment of Franklin. But nothing is recorded of his views at this time.
In March, 1785, the first state assembly of Franklin met at Jonesborough. John Sevier, who had been chosen temporary governor, was elected again. Sevier, born in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1745, was an early settler in Washington County, and had a considerable career already as a soldier, with special praise for a major role at Kings Mountain. He also was famed as an Indian fighter. The Assembly also established a judiciary, and a set of laws passed to replace the laws of North Carolina. The second session, in August, continued the work and called a convention to adopt a permanent constitution, which met in November, 1785.
Robert Love was a member, and a follower of a major leader of the anti-Franklin forces, John Tipton, also a Virginian and with a previous career in the military. Tipton had supported the State of Franklin at first, but changed soon, some said because of jealousy. He and John Sevier soon became bitter enemies.
During 1785 and on into 1786, there was a paper war between the Franklinites and the government of North Carolina -- proclamations and manifestos page after page -- but without conspicuous result. Both sides stood firm, and what resulted was often two governments in the counties.
County courts were held in the same counties under both governments; the militia were called out by officers appointed by both; laws were passed by both Assemblies and taxes were laid by the authority of both States.
When a county court was sitting at Jonesborough in this year, for the county of Washington, Colonel John Tipton with a party of men entered the court house, took away the papers from the clerk, and turned the justices out of doors. Not long after, Sevier's party came to a house where a county court was sitting for the county of Washington, under the authority of North Carolina, and took away the clerk's papers and turned the court out of doors.1
(We don't have any record of the land John Dillard must have had in Greasy Cove. Maybe the record got lost in this scramble).
In July, 1786, elections were held. Franklin held its election, but Tipton arranged for a North Carolina election instead.
Violence would probably have come sooner, except that both sides were concerned with possible Indian troubles. In 1786, the national government had concluded the Treaty of Hopewell with the Cherokees, a treaty which gave to the Indians a good deal of land in Franklin, including the site of the capital, Greeneville. The Franklinites were able to negotiate their own more favorable treaty soon afterwards, but there was still much tension along the frontier (John Dillard was commissioned an ensign in May, 1787, probably in preparation for a campaign against the Indians which did not take place).
Although in May, 1787, Franklin authorized a commission to negotiate peace terms with North Carolina, all efforts to compromise were rejected, and the August elections in Franklin were marked by disorder and strife.
There is no need to detail all the continuing problems of his situation. The Franklinites came close to being recognized by the national congress at one point only to be thwarted because under the Articles of Confederation, it took a three fourths majority of the states to pass anything. The Franklinites sought help from Georgia and Virginia, but never got it. They probably also intrigued with Spain, whose control of the mouth of the Mississippi made her an actor in affairs of the people beyond the mountains.
One of the most famous episodes of this tangle came in 1788. Col. John Tipton held North Carolina authority as colonel of Washington County, and he was endeavoring to destroy the state of Franklin by in effect closing down its courts--moving in and confiscating the records. He had also seized a number of John Sevier's slaves and was holding them.
1Samuel Cole Williams, History of the Lost State of
Franklin, 108, quoting Ramsey's History of Tennessee.
Therefore, Sevier decided to capture Tipton and put a stop to his activities . With a force of something over 150 men, Sevier went to Tipton's house, near the present Johnson City, on February 27th, 1788 and summoned Tipton to surrender. Tipton, with a guard of some 45 men, in turn ordered Sevier to surrender.
Sevier then, as it were, besieged the house, attempting to cut off all entrance or exit from it. However, Col. Robert Love managed to escape under cover of darkness and headed for Greasy Cove for reinforcements. En route, he met his brother Thomas with a dozen or so men, and they returned to the Tipton house, easily eluding Sevier's guards, who had returned to camp because it was too cold to stay out in the open.
Negotiations the next day led to no results, and the Sevier forces were alarmed to hear that the militia of Sullivan County would soon arrive to rescue Tipton. An attempt to block the Sullivan County forces failed when Sevier's troops refused to go further in the cold.
The Sullivan troops arrived and the Tipton forces sallied out of the house and a real battle began. The Sevier troops were expelled from their camp, leaving behind a small cannon with which they had threatened the Tipton house. A few people were killed, a few more were wounded, but it was noted that some men where firing in the air -- probably it was all right to yell at each other over the politics of Franklin, but quite another matter to kill people. Then a blinding snowstorm came up, the battle fizzled out, and the Sevier forces, uncertain as to how big the Tipton forces now were, finally beat a retreat,
In the confusion, Tipton captured some Franklinites, including some young members of Sevier's family. On the intercession of Robert Love, they were permitted to leave, on parole, and later, when Tipton wanted to hang them, he was dissuaded by a delegation which included Thomas Love.
In July 1788, Governor Johnston of North Carolina issued an order for the arrest of Sevier on charges of treason, but the local authorities took no action at first. In October of that year, a council of militia officers was held in Jonesborough to discuss a campaign against the Chickamaugas (Robert Love was there). Sevier came into Jonesborough late in the day, after the council had broken up. Sevier stayed in the home of the widow of a friend, but when the news came to Tipton of his presence, Tipton gathered some men and went to arrest him. Sevier surrendered to Col. Love, and Tipton ordered him taken across the mountains to North Carolina, over the objections of Col. Love. Love escorted him with much politeness and courtesy as far as Greasy Cove. Sevier was taken on to Morganton, but nothing came of the arrest, since a group of his friends and relatives came to Morganton and took him back across the mountains without opposition.
However, these events to some extent mark the end of the State of Franklin.
The government of Franklin continued on into 1789, with Sevier still as governor,
but the steam behind the movement was gone. North Carolina ceded the territory
to the United States
So, that is a brief summary of the history of the State of Franklin, and as promised, Robert Love, whose wife was a near relative of our John, was prominent in the activities which accompanied the state's brief history. I cannot believe that John Dillard, William Gregory, and perhaps others of their families were not involved too. Perhaps John Dillard was one of those who came to rescue John Tipton when he was besieged in his home.
One wonders if perhaps the involvement with Franklin may have been a reason for the Dillard-Gregory-Love move to Buncombe County at the end of the 1780's. We might ask whether life in Greasy Cove became uncomfortable because of lasting animosities stirred up by the conflict, even though our people were on the winning side.
However, the answer more probably is that our people just saw a better land deal in Buncombe County. After all, Martha Webb Dillard stayed in Greasy Cove the rest of her life, and her children moved out at varying times, clearly not part of any mass migration.
Robert Love had a nose for profit and perhaps he was the instigator of the move to Buncombe Co. He prospered there too; founded the city of Waynesville, served in all sorts of positions, political and otherwise, until his death in 1845.
One story about him makes a good close for this discussion. Col. Robert Love, a lover of horses and horse racing, made a half-circle, half-mile racing track near his home in Greasy Cove, in what is today Erwin, Tennessee. His famous horse, "Victor of All", had a huge reputation, which caught the attention of 21 year old Andrew Jackson, newly arrived across the mountains in 1788 to establish a law practice. Jackson, also a lover of horses, challenged Love to a race.
News of the event spread all through the area, a large crowd began to gather early in the morning and there was much drinking, betting, and general celebrating until the contestants arrived in the afternoon, Jackson with a group of friends from Jonesboro, Love escorted by followers from Greasy Cove.
At the last moment, Jackson's jockey was unable to ride. One version has it that he had fallen sick some days earlier; another, that Col. Love had seen to it that he had a plentiful supply of liquor the night before (whereas Love's jockey was locked up under guard). Jackson chose to be his own jockey.
The race apparently was extremely exciting, neck and neck most of the way. However, towards the end, Victor By All forged ahead and won by a length.
Jackson was a sore loser, perhaps with some knowledge that his jockey had been
tampered with. He became furious with Love and called the Loves a band of land
pirates. Robert Love, then called Jackson "a long, gangling, sorrel topped soap
stick". A duel was
If so, I imagine that there was some profit in it for Robert Love, our cousin by marriage, and a close companion to John Dillard of Rabun County.
in 1790, and six years later, it became part of the new state of Tennessee. It is worth noting that John Sevier was elected governor of Tennessee no less than six times.
narrowly averted. One story has it that Jackson heard of Love's
formidable reputation as a fighting man and conscious of his own inexperience,
withdrew. It is said that later on the two men became friends.
E-mail Howard V. Jones at:
Howard.Jones@uni.edu.
DILLARD ANNUAL, Vol. 3; Jan., 1996, pages 3-11.