Alexander Outlaw (1738–1826) was an American frontiersman and politician, active in the formation and early history of the State of
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
. A veteran of the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, he settled on the Appalachian frontier, in what is now
Jefferson County, Tennessee
Jefferson County is an exurban County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 54,683. Its county seat is Dandridge, Tennessee, Dandridge. Jefferson Coun ...
, in the early 1780s. He served simultaneously in the assembly of the failed
State of Franklin
The State of Franklin (also the Free Republic of Franklin or the State of Frankland)Landrum, refers to the proposed state as "the proposed republic of Franklin; while Wheeler has it as ''Frankland''." In ''That's Not in My American History Boo ...
as well as the legislature of its parent state,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. He was a delegate to the North Carolina convention that ratified the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
in 1789, and to the Tennessee state constitutional convention in 1796.
[Samuel Cole Williams,]
Alexander Outlaw
" ''History of the Lost State of Franklin'' (1933), pp. 324-325.
Outlaw represented Jefferson County in the
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.
Constitutional requirements
According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...
during the First General Assembly (1796). He represented Jefferson in the
Tennessee Senate
The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.
The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...
during the Third General Assembly (1799–1801), and was elected
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
.
Tennessee Blue Book
' (1890), pp. 197-198. After his senate term, he focused primarily on
land speculation
In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.)
Many s ...
and law. He died in
Dallas County, Alabama
Dallas County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, its population was 38,462. The county seat is Selma. Its name is in honor of United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander J. Dall ...
, in 1826.
Rural Mount, a house built by Outlaw for his son-in-law, Joseph Hamilton, still stands near
Morristown, Tennessee
Morristown is a city in and the county seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee, United States. Morristown also extends into Jefferson County on the western and southern ends. The city's population was recorded to be 30,431 at the 2020 United States cen ...
, and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. Outlaw was the grandfather of U.S. Senator
Alexander Outlaw Anderson.
References
People from Jefferson County, Tennessee
People from Duplin County, North Carolina
Tennessee state senators
Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives
People of Tennessee in the American Revolution
People from the State of Franklin
1738 births
1826 deaths
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