THE GREENEVILLE SUN GREENE COUNTY GUIDEBOOK
GreenevilleSun.com
2021-2022 •
PAGE 5
AN OVERVIEW OF GREENE COUNTY HISTORY
A History Of Greene County Greeneville and Greene County are both named in honor of General Nathanael Greene, a Rhode Island Quaker who joined the revolutionary army under General George Washington. Greene, a protégé of Washington and one of his most trusted officers, became an outstanding American general who led in the defeat of British forces in the South. After the Revolutionary War, Greene died at age 45. He never visited this area. Water from the spring that brought settlers to this area still runs quietly into Richland Creek, behind the Greeneville-Greene County Public Library on North Main Street. Before the settlers came to what is now Greene County, the Big Spring was a water source for Native Americans who lived in the area. The spring continued to serve as the leading local water source for more than 150 years after the Town of Greeneville was established in the early 1780s. DATES FROM EARLY 1780S What initially began as a tiny frontier village on a 300-acre tract of land thought to have been a Revolutionary War grant to Robert Kerr, Greeneville has grown into a modern, thriving community of approximately 15,000 residents. According to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates, Greene County had 69,069 inhabitants in 2019. The approximate founding date for Greene County is 1783 — the year the Greene County Court, predecessor of today’s Greene County Commission, first met in Kerr’s home, which stood near the Big Spring. According to the book “Greeneville: One Hundred Year Portrait, 1775-1875,” authored by the late Richard Harrison Doughty, Greeneville is believed to have become the county seat (instead of other Greene County communities such as Rheatown or
Admirers often referred to General Morgan as “The Thunderbolt of the Confederacy,” a reference to his lightning-fast raids deep into Union-dominated territory. His men were known as “Morgan’s Raiders.” On the morning of Sept. 4, 1864, Morgan was shot to death on the grounds of the Williams home during a surprise attack by federal troops. He had spent the previous night at the Williams home. The brick residence, a famed showplace THE GREENEVILLE SUN home from the early 1820s through the This photo of the corner of Main and Depot Street, featuring the General Morgan Inn, is the Civil War, has been restored as a house background of the virtual tour page of the State Department of Tourism’s website. museum and now is called the Dickson-Williams Mansion. (Daily 90-minute Warrensburg) because Kerr offered to grant his downtown tailor shop, the latter of tours start at 1 p.m. from the lobby of The property for use as a seat of the county which became an informal center for politi- General Morgan Inn.) government. cal debates in Greeneville during Johnson’s The present-day General Morgan Inn, The formal layout plans for Greeneville time, are open to the public and maintained a one-time railroad hotel formerly named were created in 1786, according to Dough- as a National Historic Site by the National Grand Central Hotel and then Hotel Brumty’s book. The town was incorporated in Park Service. Furniture from the period is ley, which closed in 1981, stands not far 1796, when Tennessee became the 16th displayed in the home’s interior. The tailor from the site where Morgan was shot. state, and was reincorporated in 1817, acshop is enclosed within the site’s Visitor The century-old hotel was renovated in cording to the late Tom Siler’s book, “Ten- Center and Museum. the 1990s and re-named in the slain Connessee Towns: From Adams to Yorkville.” federate general’s memory. Another historic site pertaining to Greeneville also served as the capital of Johnson is his earlier Greeneville residence, The hotel was the key element of a $15 the short-lived state of Franklin from 1785 located across College Street from the million public-private downtown revitaluntil 1788. The “Lost State of Franklin” Visitor Center and tailor shop. This “Early ization project known as Morgan Square. fell just short of congressional approval for Home,” as it is called, is also now open for The new General Morgan Inn opened in statehood. public view. 1996. Further renovations occurred in CROCKETT, JOHNSON A replica of the house in Raleigh in 2007. David “Davy” Crockett, frontiersman, which Andrew Johnson was born sits direct- BOTH SIDES HONORED congressman and folk hero, was born in the ly across the street from the 1830s home. Greeneville is thought to be one of the Limestone area of eastern Greene County GENERAL JOHN HUNT MORGAN few towns that honor both Union and Conin 1786. He died in Texas in 1836 among During the Civil War, Greeneville federate forces on government property. fellow defenders of the Alamo during the changed hands numerous times between Two monuments relating to the Civil war for Texas independence from Mexico. Union and Confederate forces. War period stand on the lawn of the Greene Andrew Johnson, 17th president of the Although the state as a whole had voted County Courthouse. United States, was born in Raleigh, North to secede from the Union, East Tennessee One, a statue of a standing Union soldier, Carolina in 1808, but he called Greeneville was an island of predominantly Unionist is dedicated to local troops who served in his home from 1826 until his death in 1875. sentiment within the South. the Grand Army of the Republic (Union Johnson and his family are buried in the At times during the war years, colorarmy). Andrew Johnson National Cemetery in ful but controversial Confederate cavalry The other, a granite slab with engraved Greeneville. The location is also referred to leader General John Hunt Morgan was an text dealing with General Morgan’s life and as Monument Hill. overnight guest of Dr. and Mrs. Alexander death, memorializes the fallen Confederate Johnson’s South Main Street home and Williams, of Greeneville. cavalry leader who died only a block away.
