Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1893-02-02
"A LEGAL BATTLE
To be Fought Between Tennessee
and Virginia.
The State Line Case to be Heard In the
U. s. Supreme Court.


The Chattanooga Times Bristol col
respondent in recent letter to that pa
per says: Virginia and Tennessee ar
preparing to fight great battle, which
has been brewing for years.
A few months ago Hon. Rufus Ayre
filed bill in the Supreme Court of tn,
United States to extend the southern
boundary of Virginia eight miles int
Tennessee. A subpoena was issued fol
the Attorney General and Governor Of
Tennessee to appear and answer, which
they did. The cause will come up in
the Supreme Court in February OF
March, and will attract national atten
ton. The territory in dispute amounts
to about 1000 square miles, being about
eight miles deep and one hundred and
fifty miles long
If Virginia should win this suit she
will get one half of six counties, in.
cluding the towns of Bristol and Cum.
berland Gap, the big Louisville and
Nashville Railroad tunnel at Cumber.
land Gap, several miles of the Knox
vile, Cumberland Gap & Louisville
Railroad, and part of the East Tennes-
see, Virginia & Georgia Railroad. The
country involved is rich in mineral,
timber and coal.
On the territory in dispute it is esti-
mated there are about 10000 inhabi-
tants. If taken from Tennessee it
would not seriously affect the State po-
litically, but would give the Democrats
a bigger majority, as the voters in this
territory are largely Republican. By
giving up the disputed territory, the
entire northern boundary from White
Top Mountain to the Cumberland River
would be a straight line.
The present litigation is something
over three years old, and was started
in Bristol. when the Bristol Water
Works Company started to lay pipes
on the east side of Main Street. The
Bristol Va. Water Works Company
them in the Chancery Court,
and suit has gone the gamut of all the
courts to the court of last resort.
Years ago the citizens of Bristol
agreed on the center of Main Street as
the State line for the sake of convent.
ence. In the water works suit Virgin
la claimed that all of Bristol was on
her side of the line, while Tennessee
that the State line was really
the center line of Main Street. This is
the point they expect to establish in the
United States Supreme Court.
The records in the case would fill
several volumes of ordinary size and
include hundreds of dispositions taken
at Bristol and along the line all the
way to Cumberland Gap, copies of sur
veys made at different times and re-
ports of several commissions appointed
to establish the disputed boundary at
different times. The records contain
much valuable historical matter which
has never appeared in print.
Going back to the beginning, there
was a controversy between Virginia
and North Carolina regarding the line
between Virginia and the territory be-
longing to North Carolina now EN- mbrac-
ed in the State of Tennessee. In 1S73a
commission was appointed to establish
the boundary, starting on the Atlantic
coast. When they reached White Top
that bold sentinel Of the
which can be seen 100
miles in any direction, upon whose
summit the three States of Virginia,
North Carolina and Tennessee corner,
they disagreed as to the line westward.
Two lines were run from White Top to
Cumberland Gap, only three miles
apart. One survey, conducted by the
the Virginia Commissioners, was called
the Worth survey. The North Carroll
ma was known as Henderson g, and was
made by General Henderson, who at
one time had a charter for nearly all
the territory now included in the State
Of Kentucky, and in whose honor the
city of Henderson was named. Nei-
ther survey was ever adopted, and the
strip of disputed territory soon became
known as "No Mans Land" and was
the rendezvous of thieves, murderers
and criminals of every description.
These outlaws came from both sides of
the strip, and when a man committed
a crime within reasonable distance
he made break in that direction,
where he was positively secure from
officers of either State.
This condition of affairs was the
cause of a bitter controversy between
Blount, one of the early Gov
ernors of Tennessee, and the Governor
Of Virginia. They "fit and bled," as
the saying goes, over the matter from
the time Tennessee became State, in
1896, until 1902, when they finally
agreed to appoint commissioners from
each State to settle the boundary.
These commissioners agreed on a COM
promise, equi distant between the Hen
derson and Worth line, which has ever
since been recognized by both States.
The people on either side work their
roads and pay taxes up to this line. 1t
is supposed to be straight line, but it
is not. The law required the engineers
to run line absolutely due west from