William Bean (December 9, 1721-May 1782) was an

American pioneer American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Nati ...

longhunter A longhunter (or long hunter) was an 18th-century explorer and hunter who made expeditions into the American frontier for as much as six months at a time. Historian Emory Hamilton says that "The Long Hunter was peculiar to Southwest Virginia onl ...

, and Commissioner of the

Watauga Association The Watauga Association (sometimes referred to as the Republic of Watauga) was a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee. Although it lasted only a few ...

. He is accepted by historians as the first permanent

European American European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...

settler 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 ...

Biography

William Bean was born December 9, 1721 in St. Stephens Parish, Northumberland County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

of William Bean Sr. and Margaret Hatton Bean. In 1744, Bean married Lydia Russell of Northumberland County (b. September 29, 1726). William was of

Scottish descent The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

, and Lydia was of

English descent The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of Anglo-Saxon origin, when they were known in ...

Settlement in the Watauga Association

In 1762, Bean set camp close to the junction of Boone's Creek and the

Watauga River The Watauga River () is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is long with its headwaters in Linville Gap to the South Fork Holston River at Boone Lake. Course The Watauga River rises from a spring near the base ...

, near present-day Johnson City during a longhunting excursion with fellow pioneers and friends

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

and

Richard Callaway Richard Callaway (June 14, 1717 – November 8, 1780) was an American frontiersman, military officer, politician, and hunter who was one of the first white settlers in modern-day Kentucky. Born in Essex County, Virginia, Callaway joined Daniel B ...

, on behalf of Richard Henderson, a land surveyor who played an important role in the early settlement of Tennessee.Hamer, ''Tennessee: A History'', 64. In 1769, he constructed a cabin at this site and relocate his family. Shortly after the cabin's completion, Lydia Bean gave birth to a son, Russell Bean, who would be historically accepted as the first European American born in present-day Tennessee. The Bean family encountered aggressive confrontations with the inhabiting Cherokee tribes, and found distaste in the growing popularity of the

. Nevertheless, William Bean pursued a career in politics and be elected as a commissioner of the Watauga Association in 1772, serving a crucial role in the absorption of the settlement into the state of

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 ...

by 1775.

American Revolution and establishment of Bean Station

East Tennessee Crossing - The Lakes of the Crossing from Clinch Mountain - NARA - 7718101

In 1775, William Bean collaborated with Daniel Boone on a new longhunting excursion, as Bean wanted to move west with the Watauga Association gaining popularity, and Boone was wanting to expand his

Wilderness Road The Wilderness Road was one of two principal routes used by colonial and early national era settlers to reach Kentucky from the East. Although this road goes through the Cumberland Gap into southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee, the other (mo ...

southward towards the

Great Indian Warpath The Great Indian Warpath (GIW)—also known as the Great Indian War and Trading Path, or the Seneca Trail—was that part of the network of trails in eastern North America developed and used by Native Americans which ran through the Great Appala ...

. The duo crossed the gap on top of

Clinch Mountain Clinch Mountain is a mountain ridge in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Virginia, lying in the ridge-and-valley section of the Appalachian Mountains. From its southern terminus at Kitts Point, which lies at the intersection of Knox, Union and G ...

after traversing the Powell and

Clinch Clinch may refer to: * Nail (fastener) or device to hold in this way * Clinching, in metalworking * Clinch fighting or the clinch, a grappling position in boxing or wrestling, a stand-up embrace * Clinch County, Georgia, USA * Clinch River, near T ...

rivers in present-day Claiborne and

Grainger Grainger may refer to: Places *Grainger, Alberta, a locality in Canada *Grainger County, Tennessee, a county located in Tennessee, United States *Grainger Falls, a waterfall in Chalky Inland, Fiordland, New Zealand *Grainger Market, a covered mark ...

counties in Tennessee. After surveying the valley below, Bean and Boone descended the southward slope of Clinch Mountain and set camp along the German Creek tributary of the

Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee ...

and the Great Indian Warpath. Finding appreciation for the vast wildlife, timber, fertile soil, and access to navigable waters, Bean chose this site as the permanent site of his new home and to establish a community with Boone planning to extend the Wilderness Road to the campsite location. During the Revolutionary War, Bean served as a captain for the Virginia militia, and was awarded over 3,000 acres in the German Creek valley where he surveyed and camped at previously with Boone in 1776. In the same year, Bean constructed a four-room cabin with the assistance of his sons. The cabin served as his family's home, and as an inn for prospective settlers,

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

rs, and longhunters, named Bean Station, establishing the first reportedly permanent settled community in present-day Tennessee. In 1780, Bean served in his position of captain in the

Battle of Kings Mountain The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took plac ...

Death and legacy

In May 1782, Bean died of unknown causes at the age of 60 in his cabin at Bean Station. Bean’s settlement of Bean Station grew substantially following his death in 1782. By 1787, Bean’s sons constructed a fort, blacksmiths shop, and a trading outpost at the community’s crossroads of the

and the

. Bean Station emerged as an important stopover, due to its strategic location on the crossroads of present day

U.S. Route 25E U.S. Route 25E (US 25E) is the eastern branch of U.S. Route 25 from Newport, Tennessee, where US 25 splits into US 25E and US 25W, to North Corbin, Kentucky, where the two highways rejoin. The road, however, continues as US 25E for roughly 2 mi ...

and

U.S. Route 11W U.S. Route 11W (US 11W), locally known as Bloody 11W, is a divided highway of US 11 in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Virginia. The U.S. Highway, which is complemented by US 11E to the south and east, runs from US 11, US 11E, and US 70 in ...

, between

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

for early travelers through Tennessee into the 18th century. The town and cabin established by Bean were lost following the flooding of the Holston River valley for the construction of the

Cherokee Dam Cherokee Dam is a hydroelectric dam located on the Holston River in Grainger County, Tennessee, Grainger County and Jefferson County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The dam is operated and maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authorit ...

by the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

in 1942. Bean Station unofficially relocated to the new crossroads of US 25E and US 11W, and incorporated into a town in 1996.

Biography

Settlement in the Watauga Association

American Revolution and establishment of Bean Station

Death and legacy

References

Further reading