Chapter 11
WILLIAMSON
COUNTY, TENNESSEE
1813-1814
In 1812, westward expansion was
surging in Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky and settlement was gradually
transforming these lands from wilderness in to farms and towns. After the
Revolutionary War ended, with the Treaty of Paris, in 1783, much of North
Carolina’s vast western lands, which encompassed the future state of Tennessee,
had been awarded as payment to veterans for their service during the war. Many
North Carolina veterans immigrated to this wild and unsettled territory to
claim their lands. Other veterans sold their land grants to speculators or
pioneers. In 1789, the State of North Carolina ceded its ‘Southwest Territory’
to the federal government. By 1793, the territory held the required population
of 5,000 settlers to qualify it for statehood; and three years later,
‘Tennessee’ was admitted to the Union by President George Washington as the
sixteenth state. To assist in settlement, in 1787, North Carolina commissioned
a road to be cut from their eastern boundary into middle Tennessee, known as
the ‘North Carolina Road’ or the ‘Wilderness Road.’ Raids between the Indian tribes
of Tennessee and the early settlers were a real threat during the 1780s and
1790s, however, by 1795, the Indian treat had been quelled and settlers
advanced to Nashville. Between 1798 and 1806, treaties were signed with the
Indian Nations which acquired additional lands in Tennessee, further removing
the Indian threat. By 1810, 250,000 settlers had migrated to Tennessee due to
the availability of inexpensive fertile lands for farming and opportunities
within newly settled towns.
By
early March of 1813, Lewis and Martha Shapard had finalized their preparations
to leave the comforts and familiarity of Caswell County for the allure and
opportunities developing out west on the Tennessee frontier. In the spring, the
Shapard family loaded their wagons with all their possessions and provisions,
gathered their slaves and livestock and set out on their epic journey which covered a distance of
over 500 miles. The Shapard family would not have traveled alone, and there is strong
evidence to suggest that they traveled with Martha’s brother Solomon Paine and the
family of Dr. William S. Webb.
After traversing the Appalachian
Mountains of eastern Tennessee, they traveled due-west along the old western
thoroughfare (North Carolina Road) via Jonesboro, Knoxville,
Carthage, Gallatin and Nashville, before veering south to their destination in
Williamson County. Just before Knoxville, the Shapard family and all their
wagons and livestock crossed the Holston River by ferry. At Kingston they
crossed the Clinch River at the garrison, being only two miles north of the
Choctaw Indian Nation. Then they crossed the Cumberland Mountains emerging near
Sparta into the flatter lands of middle Tennessee. Near Carthage they crossed
the massive Cumberland River by ferry. Solomon Paine parted ways with the party
at the town of Carthage in Smith County where he would settle. After a
heartfelt farewell, the rest of the families pushed on towards Gallatin.
Numerous shallow creeks and tributaries were forded by hoof and wagon along the
way. At Nashville, the Cumberland River was exhaustively crossed again in order
to veer south, finally reaching Williamson County, being only 60 miles east of
the Chickasaw Indian territory.
The whole trip took over a month to
complete, traveling at a typical four mile-per-hour pace for a horse team and
wagon along the rough dirt roads and through the rugged and perilous mountain
passes of North Carolina and Tennessee. Lewis and the older boys would have
taken turns piloting the wagon or riding horseback alongside it. The younger
children and girls rode with their mother in the covered wagon. The slaves
would have assisted with chores and cooking and caravanned in steer wagons
filled with provisions for the trip. The Shapard’s livestock and wagons would
have filled the road as a meandering procession. On Sundays the Shapard family
rested, observing the Sabbath, and each night after supper they would gather
around the campfire under a canopy of stars listening to the sounds of bears,
mountain lions and wolves and all the wild creatures that flourished on the
untamed frontier. During the day, the older boys would ride ahead and hunt for
rabbits and birds to supplement their meals. They would stop periodically at
the infrequent homestead taverns or ‘ordinaries’ they encountered to gather food,
fresh water and gain information on where they were and what lay ahead. Periodically,
a town would emerge from the wilderness as a small glimpse of civilization
between the vast expanse of forests and canebrakes.
When the Shapards first traveled
through Nashville in 1813, it had just become the State Capital, succeeding
Knoxville, and would hold that honor for the next five years. At
that time, Nashville was an industrious little town of about 1,200 residents
scattered among the cedars. They would have seen the public square with its
memorable stone jail, the whipping-post and the courthouse. The little white
frame Bell Tavern was visible on the bluff. The smell of smoke and paint was in
the air, and the sounds of hammering, axe chopping and the digging out of foundations
for houses on the square echoed all around. To reach their destination in
Williamson County, the Shapards had to cross the Cumberland River at Nashville by
a ferry-boat, as it was years before the bridge would be erected.
Williamson County was created from a
portion of Davidson County on October 26, 1799, by an act of the Tennessee
General Assembly. Like the majority of Tennessee, much of Williamson County was
initially awarded as land grants made by North Carolina to her Revolutionary
War veterans for their service. After the Indian titles had been removed in the
late 1790s, settlers began to arrive. Early reports stated that the land was unsurpassed
in its beauty; dense forest intermixed with valleys abundant with natural
springs, creeks and tributaries. Wildlife was plentiful; a hunters paradise.
The flat bottom-lands were thick with cane taller than a man, yet underneath
lay rich untouched soil, absolutely prime for planting. In 1799, the county
established the town of Franklin as its seat of government, and by 1810, a substantial
brick courthouse had been erected at the center of the town square. Town lots
were sectioned off and sold as the community grew. In 1800 there were only a
few hundred inhabitants, yet by 1810, there were over 13,000 settlers within
the county. Its success was in part due to the fact that, as early as 1804, it
had one of the first and finest cotton gins and gristmills in operation.
Settlers from other counties would travel there, bringing their cotton and
grains to be processed for a fee. To further foster the early growth of the
county, residents recognized the importance of establishing facilities of higher
education. In 1807 the Harpeth Academy for male students was authorized by the
Tennessee General Assembly. Land was purchased about 1 mile from Franklin and
construction was completed in 1811. The school was initially headed by the
Presbyterian missionary Rev. Gideon Blackburn.
Another factor of significant
importance, beyond environment and schools, luring settlers like Lewis Shapard
to Williamson County was that the town had its own doctor. In the spring of 1813,
Dr. William S. Webb (1776-1866) migrated from Caswell County, North Carolina to
Williamson County, Tennessee and there established his practice. It is highly likely
that Dr. Webb actually traveled together with Lewis Shapard on the journey to
Tennessee. Dr. Webb was related to Lewis Shapard distantly, and the two men
knew each other intimately. Both had grown up in Granville County, both had then
migrated to Caswell County, and both had now settled in the same county in
Tennessee, in the same year, in the same season.
Dr. Webb’s father was William Webb
(1745-1809) of Granville County whose brother was John Webb (1747-1826). John
was Lewis
Shapard’s uncle, through his marriage to Amy Booker (1752-1835), being the
sister of Lewis Shapard’s mother Mary Booker. Dr. William S. Webb graduated with
a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina in 1799, and
then attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. He returned to
Caswell County where, in 1804, he married Mildred A. Turner (1780-1830),
daughter of James and Catherine Turner. During his lifetime, he and his wife Mildred
had 13 children. Before migrating to Tennessee, Dr. Webb sold his land in
Caswell County in September of 1812. His first record in Williamson County
dates to April 12, 1813, where he was a witness for deed on the Big Harpeth
River. He was listed on the 1813 tax list of Williamson County as having no
land and 4 slaves. Over the years, he became a successful physician and
plantation owner and, by 1827, he had acquired 1,220 acres of land on the
Harpeth River and 18 slaves. By 1840, he had amassed 41 slaves. Dr. Webb had a
servant’s heart and was known for his liberal support of the Methodist church.
In addition, he was an initial Board of Trustees member when the Harpeth Female
Academy was established in 1828. Dr. William S. Webb lived a productive and protracted
life and died in 1866 at the age of 90, being buried in his family cemetery in
Williamson County.
In April of 1813, when the Shapards
arrived at their destination in Williamson County, Tennessee, Lewis and Martha
would have been about 39 years old, Polly Nicholson 20 years old, William B.
Shapard 16 years, Sophia 14 years, James P. 12 years, Booker 10 years, Robert
P. 8 years, Lewis Jr. 7 years, Martha 5 years, Thelia 4 years and Thomas P. 2
years of age. Based on the ages of the children, there is a possibility that
Martha Shapard was pregnant during their migration. The Shapards also brought
their slaves with them to Tennessee. The Williamson County tax record for 1813 only
documented ‘adult’ slaves, age 16 years and older, of which the Shapards had
nine. However, they had many younger slaves with them as well. Recall that only
three years earlier during the full census of 1810, they had a total of 16
slaves counting those under the age of 16 years. In all, the Shapard family
would have migrated between 21 and 28 people to Williamson County.
Although Lewis Shapard left no
record of purchasing land in Williamson County, we do know that he resided
there at least until April of 1814. One small gleaning of information may offer
an idea of his location: early in 1814, Lewis was a witness for a land deed on
the East Fork of Mill Creek, between Henry Phenix and Thomas Simmons, being
bound by the lands of William Anthony and James Sanders. Mill Creek was located
in the northeastern corner of Williamson County, and was named for the fact
that the creek contained many water-powered mills. Earlier deeds of neighboring
landowners on East Fork of Mill Creek included Mathew Robinson, John Vaught,
Benjamin Kid, James Todd; and witnesses to those deeds included Lewis Anthony,
Samuel Morton, Bartholomew Stovall, G.L. Nolen and William Nolen. Interestingly,
William Nolen was a Revolutionary War veteran who migrated to Williamson County
in the late 1700s, establishing the town of Nolensville. It appears that Lewis
Shapard had settled in the vicinity north of Nolensville, renting land along
Mill Creek near the Davidson County border. His location was centrally located
being 10 miles from the town of Franklin, 15 miles from Nashville in Davidson
County, and 18 miles from Murfreesboro in Rutherford County.
There on the frontier lands of
Tennessee, the Shapards embodied the greatness of the American pioneer spirit
and manifest destiny. There was much work to be done and they had the manpower,
horsepower and willpower not only to succeed but to flourish. Lewis, his sons
and the male slaves constructed the quarters and outbuildings, managed the
livestock, cleared and opened the fields, plowed and planted. Martha, her
daughters and the female slaves tended to the household by cooking, housework,
spinning yarn and clothes making. All labored for the success and survival of
the household. By summer, a fine crop would be growing and they were beginning
to find comfort in their new surroundings and home.
While life was arduous and
unforgiving, without the accommodation of established civilization, Martha
Shapard did her best to make their simple log house a home for her family. She
loved her children dearly, and they adored her. Sadly, on June 16, 1813, only a
few months after migrating to Williamson County, Tennessee, Martha Paine
Shapard died at the age of 39 years old. The cause of her death is unknown,
however in 1813, an epidemic of ‘black tongue disease’ affected the region,
especially around Nashville. It was said to have been a dreaded disease whereby
the afflicted suffered terribly, most succumbing to it effects. Another likely
possibility would include complications in childbirth proving fatal to both
mother and child. Despite the cause, Dr. William S. Webb would have tended to
her in her last days, just as he did with Lewis Shapard’s brother Booker in
1802. The location of Martha Shapard’s grave has been lost through the remiss
of time, though it is most likely in northeastern Williamson County.
The death of Martha Paine Shapard
was almost unbearable to this young family.
The Shapard children had lost their mother and all the security, love
and comfort she provided. In addition, Mr. Lewis Shapard now found himself
alone in grief and having been lured onto the isolated western frontier with
his precious children. With the companionship of his wife this journey was
touted as a grand adventure, but now, alone in unsettled unfamiliar lands, it
became a nightmare; for if he were to die what then would become of his
children? Over the next few years, everything Lewis Shapard did was for the
betterment and security of his children, not only proving his resolve as a
father but illustrating the love he had for his family.
The winter of 1813 would have been a
hard season for Lewis Shapard. He felt the absence of his beloved wife and
struggled with worry over how to properly rear his children, not knowing his
fate. Lewis’ step-daughter Polly Nicholson was 20 years old, yet her childhood
was over the day her mother died. Being the oldest daughter, she immediately
assumed the mothering roll for her younger siblings and the household. Luckily,
during this difficult time she had the assistance of the family female slaves,
as well as, her next oldest step-sister - 14 year old Sophia Shapard. Polly
understood the gravity of their situation, and could not risk her siblings being
orphaned if Lewis happened to die. To complicate the situation, Polly had begun
a serious courtship with a suitor named Green Cook; however, she would not
marry, effectually abandoning her family when they needed her most, unless
Lewis Shapard and her siblings were somehow secure.
During the fall of 1813, Polly
Nicholson had made a friendly association with Mary (Parrish) Seat (c.1788-?),
wife of Mr. Green Seat (c. 1786-?) of Williamson County. Mr. Seat was the son
of Hartwell and Rebecca (Stokes) Seat who had migrated in 1797 from Sussex County,
Virginia, to Davidson County, Tennessee. They originally settled on 220 acres
of land on Mills Creek and Stones River in Davidson County, near what would
become Williamson County. Green Seat married Mary Parrish, circa 1812, and
lived on the West Fork of Mill Creek in northeast Williamson County, near the Liberty Meeting House
about 12 miles southeast of Nashville. Mr. Seat had been elected a constable of
Williamson County in 1813 at the time he came in contact with the Shapard
family. The Seats remained in Williamson County until 1824, after which they
migrated to the town of Boonville in Cooper County, Missouri. In 1825, Green Seat
was elected as member of the Board of Trustees for the newly established
Boonville Academy, and became a judge of the County Court in 1825, 1826, 1827,
1831 and 1834.
Polly Nicholson and Mary Seat had
much in common, they both were about the same age, both were living in the same
vicinity on Mill Creek in northeast Williamson County, both had come from
affluence, and both had recently lost a parent. Mary Seat’s father, Henry
Parrish (c. 1768-1811) had passed away in 1811. Mr. Parrish originated from
Franklin County, North Carolina, where, in 1787, he married Elizabeth Strother (c.1770-?)
daughter of Christopher and Ann (Kemp) Strother. Henry sold their land in
Franklin County in March of 1792, and migrated with his wife and children to
Sumner County, Tennessee. In 1798, Henry rented 640 acres of land, in the
southern portion of Sumner County that became Wilson County the following year,
from Nicholas Conrad for a term of 5 years. The contract stipulated that, by
the end of the lease, the land must have a 20 acre field cleared and fenced. A
year later, Henry sublet the land to Alexander Easton under the same terms.
About 1803, Henry had settled in Wilson County on a 150 acre plantation that he
had purchased from Joseph Cole. Over the years, Mr. Parrish provided a
comfortable living for his family. At the time of his death in 1811, at the age
of 43, he had in his possession: 4 slaves, 7 horses, 21 head of cattle, 12
sheep, 50 hogs, 50 geese and an extensive collection of household and farming
items. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth Parrish and ten children between
the ages of 4 to 23 years old.
In the early spring of 1814, Polly
Nicholson and Mary Seat arranged a date between Polly’s step-father Lewis
Shapard and Mary’s mother Elizabeth Parrish. At the time of their meeting,
Lewis was 40 years old and Elizabeth was 43 years of age. Both valued the
benefit of the arrangement. Lewis desperately needed a mother for his young
children and a wife to manage his household, and Elizabeth needed a father for
her children and a husband to support her and tend to her plantation. It was a
courtship of necessity and a means of survival for their families. It was an
opportunity for them to refortify the security, confidence and assurance that had
so profusely been stripped from them by the harsh frontier.
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