James Robertson (June 28, 1742 – September 1, 1814) was an American explorer, soldier and Indian agent, and one of the founding fathers of what became 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 ...

. An early companion of explorer

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 ...

, Robertson helped establish 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 ...

in the early 1770s, and to defend

Fort Watauga Fort Watauga, more properly Fort Caswell, was an American Revolutionary War fort that once stood at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee. The fort was originally built in 1775–1776 by the area's front ...

from an attack by

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

in 1776. In 1779, he co-founded what is now Nashville, and was instrumental in the settlement of

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the ...

. He served as a brigadier general in the

Southwest Territory The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States a ...

militia in the early 1790s, and as an Indian Commissioner in later life.

Early life and education

Robertson was born in 1742 in Brunswick 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 Scots-Irish and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

descent. Around 1749, his father relocated the family to

Wake County, North Carolina Wake County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most-populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake County was the 9th-fastest growing county in the U ...

. Robertson worked with his siblings on their family farm and had limited formal education, but he learned to track and hunt animals and know his way in the woods and waterways.

Marriage and career

Robertson returned to North Carolina and married Charlotte Reeves in 1767. They started farming. In 1769, Robertson accompanied explorer Daniel Boone on his third expedition to lands beyond the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

. The party discovered the "Old Fields" (lands previously cultivated by generations of Native Americans) along 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 ...

valley, where

Elizabethton, Tennessee Elizabethton is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the Watauga Association, created in 1772) located west of both t ...

later developed. Robertson stopped here to plant corn while Boone continued on to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. After returning to North Carolina, Robertson became involved with the

Regulator movement The Regulator Movement, also known as the Regulator Insurrection, War of Regulation, and War of the Regulation, was an uprising in Provincial North Carolina from 1766 to 1771 in which citizens took up arms against colonial officials, whom they v ...

. They recruited a group of settlers to return to the Watauga River valley, which they believed to be in Virginia (at that time including present-day West Virginia). In 1772, Robertson and the pioneers who had settled in Northeast Tennessee (along the Watauga, Doe, Holston and Nolichucky rivers) met at

Sycamore Shoals The Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, usually shortened to Sycamore Shoals, is a rocky stretch of river rapids along the Watauga River in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Archeological excavations have found Native Americans lived near the shoals s ...

to establish an independent regional government known as the Watauga Association. However, in 1772, surveyors placed the land officially within the domain of the

tribe, who had long occupied this area. They required the settlers to negotiate a lease to cultivate and settle on their land. As the signed lease was being celebrated, a Cherokee warrior was murdered by a white man. Robertson's skillful diplomacy made peace with the irate Cherokee, who threatened to expel the settlers by force if necessary. In 1775, a treaty meeting was held between the Cherokee and a delegation of the

Transylvania Company The Transylvania Colony, also referred to as the Transylvania Purchase, was a short-lived, extra-legal colony founded in early 1775 by North Carolina land speculator Richard Henderson, who formed and controlled the Transylvania Company. Henders ...

, headed by Richard Henderson. Under the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals (or the Treaty of Watauga), the Transylvania Company purchased a vast amount of land from the Cherokee, including most of present-day Kentucky and part of

. The treaty was technically illegal since only the government could have formal transactions and purchase land from Native American tribes. (The British, the colonial governments of Virginia and North Carolina and, later, the United States, all forbade private purchase of land from Indians). During the treaty process,

Dragging Canoe Dragging Canoe (ᏥᏳ ᎦᏅᏏᏂ, pronounced ''Tsiyu Gansini'', "he is dragging his canoe") (c. 1738 – February 29, 1792) was a Cherokee war chief who led a band of Cherokee warriors who resisted colonists and United States settlers in the ...

, son of Cherokee chief Attacullaculla, made a speech condemning the sale of any Cherokee land, which the tribe held in common for the use of all. He broke from the general Cherokee tribal government to form a band that the pioneers called the

Chickamauga Cherokee The Chickamauga Cherokee refers to a group that separated from the greater body of the Cherokee during the American Revolutionary War. The majority of the Cherokee people wished to make peace with the Americans near the end of 1776, following se ...

or Chickamauga, for their settlement, although the people never had a separate tribal identity. After Henderson's Transylvania Company had bought Kentucky (although other tribes such as the

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

also claimed it), Daniel Boone was hired to widen the Indian path over

Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It is famous in American colonial history for its r ...

to facilitate migration by Anglo-American pioneers. This road became known as the Wilderness Road. Robertson's group lived at Watauga in peace until July 1776, when Chief Old Abraham of Chilhowee led a Cherokee contingent that attacked Fort Watauga (a defensive log fort built by the Watauga Association). A 40-man contingent commanded by John Carter, with Robertson and

John Sevier John Sevier (September 23, 1745 September 24, 1815) was an American soldier, frontiersman, and politician, and one of the founding fathers of the State of Tennessee. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he played a leading role in Tennes ...

as lieutenants, withstood a siege of about two weeks. After the Cherokee were subjugated later that year, the governor of North Carolina appointed Robertson as Indian agent to reside at the Cherokee capital. He was to prevent them from forming an alliance with the British to fight as their allies against the rebels during 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 Revoluti ...

Fort Nashborough

In the spring of 1779, during the Revolutionary War, Robertson and

John Donelson John Donelson (1718–1785) was an American frontiersman, ironmaster, politician, city planner, and explorer. After founding and operating what became Washington Iron Furnace in Franklin County, Virginia for several years, he moved with his family ...

founded

Fort Nashborough Fort Nashborough, also known as Fort Bluff, Bluff Station, French Lick Fort, Cumberland River Fort and other names, was the stockade established in early 1779 in the French Lick area of the Cumberland River valley, as a forerunner to the settl ...

, later to become Nashville. It was then part of the

Washington District, North Carolina The Washington District of North Carolina was in a remote area west of the Appalachian Mountains, officially existing for only a short period (November 1776 – November 1777), although it had been self-proclaimed and functioning as an independent ...

. He represented Davidson County (home of Fort Nashborough in present-day Tennessee, not to be confused with the modern

Davidson County, North Carolina Davidson County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,930. Its county seat is Lexington, and its largest city is Thomasville. Davidson County is included in the Winston-Salem, ...

), in the North Carolina legislature and had the settlement established as a town. He also established the first school there, the historic Davidson Academy for male students. The

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

governor of former French territory west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

offered Robertson peace and the free navigation of the Mississippi in exchange for his leaving the United States and establishing — along with the Watauga settlement and Kentucky — an independent government. He refused to consider the matter. In 1790, Robertson was appointed brigadier-general of the territorial militia by U.S. President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

, serving until 1796. He shared with Sevier the honor and affection of Tennesseans. He was appointed as Indian commissioner, serving until his death in 1814. Robertson died near Memphis and was buried there. His family had his remains moved and re-interred in 1825 in the

Nashville City Cemetery Nashville City Cemetery is the oldest public cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. Many of Nashville's prominent historical figures are buried there. It includes the tombs of 22,000 people, 6,000 of whom were African Americans. Overview Nashville ...

, to memorialize his contributions there. His son, Felix Robertson (1781-1865), served as Mayor of Nashville from 1818 to 1819. Robertson's great-granddaughter, Medora Cheatham, married Telfair Hodgson Jr., the treasurer of Sewanee: The University of the South and a developer of

Belle Meade, Tennessee Belle Meade is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee. Its total land area is , and its population was 2,912 at the time of the 2010 census. Belle Meade operates independently as a city, complete with its own regulations, a city hall, and police f ...

. She was the honorary president-general of the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...

(UDC).

Centennial Park, James Robertson memorial

Legacy and honors

* Robertson County, Tennessee was named in his honor in 1796 *A memorial obelisk was installed in his honor in the Nashville City Cemetery. *In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

''SS James Robertson'' was named in his honor. *A memorial plaque is installed on a large rock that gives directions to where his family home in Wake County NC was. This plaque is located at the intersection of Battle Bridge Road and Auburn Knightdale Road. And can be seen here

References

External links