Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-10-27
GOV. BLoUNT.
UNWILLING OF THE MONUMENT
AT GREENWOOD.
"Reminiscences of the TlusrriOus
Dead, Etc, Etc.


comipRsin this respect heretofore,
a spec s0r who witnessed the cere-
monies in Greenwood Cemetery
, last Wednesday would hardly make
such a charge against us then. The
population turned out in body to
witness the refinement of a man
whose name is part, and large
: part, of the history of Tennessee.
1t is not for us to describe the pro-
cession, indeed we could not if we
tried, for we were at one end of it
and the other end of it never came
within our view; it was at least a
mile away from us, but it comprised
MasOns, Odd Fellows, knights of
Pythias, Fire and Hook q Ladder
Companies, and all the schools in
town, and most of these had their
pharaphernalia fully displayed.
We may mention the knights of
Pythias, who were as gallant look
ing a troop of cavalry as need be
seen. But it was not the procession
only, both sides of the road were
thronged by interested spectators
from town and country, and in the
fields on the left of the line of march
irregular hOrsemen spread out as far
as the eye could reach. The attend
ance must be estimated, not by hun
dreds, but by thousands, and all
faces wore an expression of deep in
terest in the transaction of the day.
And who was the distinguished
citizen in whose honor this multi
tude assembled? We will endeavor
to answer this question, partly
by the addresses of Cows. POr-
ter and Brown, and partly from
some historical memoirs of old Ten
nessee in our possession. Before
commencing this duty, we tender
our grateful Acknowledgements to
the two speakers mentioned for
their courtesy in placing their man.
uscripts at our disposal.
There were two Governors of Ten
nessee named Blount, who were
brothers, William and Willie, or as
it is sometimes spelt, Wylie; the
latter is the subject of our present
memoir, but the early portion of
the younger brothers career was so
much Unidentified with that of our
first Governor that we will not at
tempt to separate them. Both were
descendants of noble English fam
lily, which emigrated to North Caro-
lima in the reign of Charles IL, and
which held high position in the civil
and military affairs of North Caro-
lima from that time to the epoch of
our national independence.
The father of William and Wylie
Blount was man of influence in
North Carolina during her colonial
history 1--WE quote from Gov. POr-
ter's memoir. "He was) a member |
of the War Congress of North Car
olina, in 177O, and participated in
the famous battle of the Albermarle
in l771," and more than one of his
brothers participated in the military
and political events of the RevOlu-
ton. William BlOunt, first Cover
nor ofTennessee, had also brilliant
record in North Carolina, before he
came Westward. He was long a
member of the North Carolina Leg
islature; he was a member of the |
Continental Congress in 1884 and |
in 1867 as delegate from North
Carolina, he was a member of the
convention which framed the Fed
eral Constitution, and was in the
State convention which ratified that
instrument in 1879. 1t was in the
year following that he first became
interested in the affairs of Tennes-
see.
Tennessee was not yet known by
this name, however. She had had
ere this a history, and a stirring one
too, under various names. At one
time her possessions were known as
the Watauga and HOlston settle
ments; at another she was called the
State of Franklin, and, finally, when
North Carolina Joined the original
Federal union of the original thir-
teen States in 1899, she transferred
her Western settlements to the Fed
eraI Government, which organized
them under the title of the Terri
tory Southwest of the Ohio. 1t was
under this title that William BlOunt
received the Government Of what is
now called Tennessee by appoint
ment from the first President, George
Washington, and with his younger
brother Wylie BlOunt (then only
twenty-five years Old, as Private
Secretary, arrived in the territory
on October the 10th, 1890. In addi-
ton to his office as Governor of this
territory, William Blount had been
appointed Superintendent of Indian
Affairs.
The duties which are now attach
ed to the office of Governor of Ten
nessee give very faint conception
of the delicate and perilOus respOn-
sibilities undertaken by BlOunt in
1870. The territories coded by the
States of Pennsylvania, Virginia
and North Carolina to the Federal
Government were theoretical belts
of land of the width of the States
which coded them, and in length
extending to the Pacific Ocean; but
very few white settlers lived in
them and the Federal Government
exercised no actual control over
them. Moreover, the United States
claim to the vast domain included
within these imaginary lines, was
far from being undisputed. The
British Government from the great |