Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1894-11-14
GOVERNOR JOHN SEWER.
Splendid Sketch of the Pioneer and
Patriot.
Descended From the Celebrated French
Family of Xayiers.

dear to every Tennessean!
Looking back through the vista of
years-through centuries of time, past
the portals of freedom, past sentinels
of liberty, past the watchword of peace
-across the crested waves of the broad
Atlantic, over the pictured landscapes
of England to vineclad hills of beaute.
GUS France, the land of sunshine and
of flowers where blooms the queenly
rose and the white robed feur de lis,
meet emblems of the cradle of culture
and the nursery of the graces-in the
fair province of Navarro we find the
home of the family of Xavier.
From chronicles Of French history as
we'll as from the traditions of the FAM
lily we learn that Marie de Xavier, whose
Spanish mother bore the family name
OF Y'Ayilqueta, married Don Juan de
Jose, the Counsellor of State to Jeanne
d-Albert, Queen of Navarro, the mother
of Henry of Navarro, subsequently,
Henry Nv, of France exalted as was
the rank and lofty the station of the
Counsellor of State it was inferior to
that of Marie de Xavier, who was sole
heiress to the titles and estates of the
noble house of Xavier of France and
Aypilqueta of Spain, for this reason,
and on account of certain laws of mar
riage then prevailing in France, in
order to claim the titles and control the
estate of his wife. Don Juan de Jose
consented to relinquish his family namo
and assuming that of his wife became
Lord Xavier. AT Xavier Castle-which
is still standing in France with its bat
Elements and towers, its wide halls and
palatial apartments, its gardens of
pleasure where incense from flowers
floats out on the air-Lord Xavier and
Marie de Xavier, his wife lived and
reared their three sons. Francis, the
eldest became priest of the Roman
church at the early age of 81 years, and
it is recorded that under his ministry
million souls were converted to Chris
tianity. He was canonized by the
church and figures in the history of the
church as st. Francis Xavier. The
second was Phillip, upon whom King
Henry of Navarro thought it not incon-
sistent with his royal dignity to bestow
in marriage his near kinswoman; and
the youngest was Valentine, the grand
father of John Sewer.
Living at their ancestral home, sur
rounded by a halo Of prosperity, be-
meath cloudless sky roseate with love
and luminous with happiness, this no.
BILE family saw no creeping shadow of
calamity travelling towards them like
some inexorable fate, weaving web
of inevitable doom; but an ominous
sound, low and faint as a whispered
prophecy of evil went murmuring thro'
France and above the eastern horizon
appeared cloud dark and threatening,
spun onward by the fiercest wind ever
blown from the breath of fanaticism,
and rushing forward obedient to the
beckoning wand of Catherine de Medici,
its lightning flashed terror to the hearts
of the people and its thunders blanched
their faces; with one mighty effort the
tempest "leapt from its lair, and the
beautiful streets of Paris, adorned as
none other beneath the golden streets
of Paradise, were deluged with the
blood Of the flower and chivalry of
France and the Hugenots swept from
her shores. Among them were Phillip
and Valentine Xavier, who were as
jealous Protestants as their brother
Francis was devoted Catholic. In
the fearful conflicts between the Prot
estants and Catholics they followed the
leadership of Henry of Navarro (who
had not then renounced the faith of his
Protestant mothers); he wore in his
hat long white feather and bade them
follow where the white plume waved,
for that was where the fight would be
thickest.
On the morning of the massacre of
st. Bartholomew, Valentine Xavier
quilted Paris, and fleeing from the
enemy and the avenger. found refuge
in London. From motives of prudence
to escape further prosecution, he de.
cided it wise to alter the first syllable
of his name so that the French Xavier
became thus anglicized to Sewer. He
married in London and continued to
reside there, but when his son Valen-
tine grew to manhood the fame of the
American colonies had spread abroad
through the earth and in a spirit of
adventure he crossed the seas and went
out into the wilderness of the new
world.
he was charmed with the sublimity
and grandeur of its vast forests, its
long streams and mountain ranges; it
proved place of pleasant pasturage,
the works of his hands prospered and
he grew glad in possession of the earth:
he married lass of Baltimore and set
tied in Virginia, and ON the soil of that
grand old mother of States and states
men on the 2Sd day of September, 1744,
John Sewer first saw the light. When
he grew up he was of tall stature and
handsome; he had the French features
and the linearIents of his fathers fam
lily and from him acquired the culture
and grace of manner which distinguish
ed him. The qualities of his mind and