The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1889-06-27

fertile valleys of the Holston, the Wa
tauga and the Nalachucky nestled in
pastoral beauty in the shadows of the
towering peaks, and enchanted with
rich environments. He made this his
home and began the work OF building
a commonwealth and training the he
roes who were to turn the tide of the
revolution at Kings Mountain. Ten.
nessee did not produce him
HE PRODUCED TENNESSEE.
Old Virginia, God bless her, is his
mother State, but Tennessee claims
the fruits of his great life,
From the beginning OF his career he
was naturally the leader of the sturdy
frontiersmen, and his life was series
of glorious deeds OF daring; he was a
terror to his foes and a tower Of
strength to his brave followers.
History reveals no epoch where
courage and endurance were put to
severer test. The story Of the life Of
John Sewer and his comrades will live
forever.
HEROES FROM NECESSITY,
they we're not Don Quixoties seeking
ridiculous adventures, nor Hotspurs
seeking fate for fame, but they were
men built from the ground up, with
homes and families to defend. Every
man was a soldier,
EVERY WOMAN A HEROINE,
and every cabin fortress. The men
of wealth and ease who go sweeping
through Tennessee in the magnificent
Pullman cars ought not to smile toe
derisively at the tow-headed children
who play around the cabin doors. Lei
them remember from such humble
thresholds came the soldiers OF the
Revolution whose blood and suffer
ings bought the priceless boon which
we now enjoy. And let them remem
Der, too..that from such homes have
come more brains and grit and true
greatness than ever emanated from al
the gilded mansions and palaces of thu
earth These cabins gave to history
the names of the heroes of King
Mountain, New Orleans aud Chepulte
pee, and have furnished men to adorr
the highest civil stations under tht
sun.
KINGS MOUNTAIN HEROES.
With scanty numbers and scantie
means this great man whom we homo
to-day and his brave compatriots be
gan their wonderful work. s.
They laid open an empire and broke
through the savage wall that hid III;
setting sun, starting the course of EN-
pire Westward on its way, eliminating
in a hundred years in the greatest ma
ton ever known, extending from thu
pent-up limits Of thirteen colonies int
ali empire that touches the two grea
oceans that divide the world
Fiction has ransacEed the realms o
impossibility to fashion tales more ro
mantle than the history ,i thes'
things, but in vain.
My countrymen, We stand to-da!
upon the sacred ground where thi
matchless drama was enacted anC
over the remains Of the leading actor
His field was the whole Southwest
ern territory, a vast wilderness.
SEWER AS A sTATESM N.
AGter recovering it from its savag
denizens, building one State which h
saw overthrown and erecting aHothe
in its stead, servilg his country 70
forty years on the trail, upon the bal
tie field, in the councils of State, 70
twelve years in the gubernatoria
chair, two terms in the national legi:
lative halls he started in his old ag
to the confines Of the kingdom h
had conquered to run the dividing lin
that should mark its ultimate borders
and there. still in the line of duty, h
died in camp September "a, 1916, an
was buried quietly in that then remot
region. No costly monument marke
the spot, but tears of unaffected grit
wet the cheeks OF many an old vetera
who had followed him. When tn
mother State, North Carolina, cede
her colonies, Sewers genius conceive
the State OF Frankland and set its mi
chinery in graceful motion. An
when the North state had rescinde
her former act and sought to reclail
her territory, Sewer saw his neighbo
fall away from him by scores and hui
dreds, and renew their allegiance
the parent State. But undaunted, /
stood to the last, preferring to {
down valiantly in the right rather thS
by its remuneration proclaim tn
t treachery had conceived it; b
enough-his life was sought and h
person subjected to insulting assau
his great magnanimity of soul d
: played itself proudly in his unshak'
refusal to draw his sword upon /
neighbors, whom he had so often /
to victory, and thus his creation