page_title: Greenbrier (Great Smoky Mountains)
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Greenbrier (Great Smoky Mountains) / History / Early history
caption_attribution_description: The grave of William Whaley (1788-1880) at Plemmons Cemetery in Greenbrier, located in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Along with his brother Middleton, Whaley was the first permanent Euro-American settler in Greenbrier, arriving around 1800. A crude inscription on the original gravestone reads: WM WHALEY SR DC MAY THE 30 1880 AGE NINTY 92
context_page_description: Greenbrier is a valley in the northern Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States. Now a recreational area, Greenbrier was once home to a string of Appalachian communities.
  Greenbrier is situated along the Middle Fork of the Little Pigeon River, stretching from Porters Flat in the south to Emert's Cove in the north, at the present park boundary. The area also includes the Middle Fork's immediate watershed from the crest of Grapeyard Ridge to the west to Snag Mountain in the east. The area is sometimes called Big Greenbrier to distinguish it from Little Greenbrier, which is located between Wears Valley and Elkmont several miles to the west.
context_section_description: The name "greenbrier" refers to the thorny vines of the genus Smilax that are common throughout Southern Appalachia.  Although it's unknown when the upper Middle Fork valley obtained this name, it was being called "Greenbrier" as early as the 1830s.  The name is not uncommon elsewhere in the region.
  The Cherokee were the first inhabitants of the Greenbrier area, and may have had a seasonal settlement at Porters Flat, near Greenbrier's southern tip.  As late as the early 20th century, residents of Greenbrier often referred to Porters Flat as "Indian Nation," which may hearken back to its days as a Cherokee settlement.
  Around 1800, William Whaley (1788–1880) and his brother Middleton Whaley (1794–1855) became the first permanent Euro-American settlers in Greenbrier.  The Whaleys hailed from Edgefield District, South Carolina, and crossed the crest of the Smokies at Dry Sluice Gap (near Charlies Bunion), which is just above Porters Flat.  William Whaley settled at the confluence of Porters Creek and the Middle Fork of the Little Pigeon River.  Middleton settled further down the valley, near Emert's Cove.
  In 1818, the family of John Ownby (1781–1859), a veteran of the War of 1812, settled downstream from the Whaleys.  The Whaley and Ownby families spread quickly throughout the valley.  In the early 20th century, a map of Greenbrier showed the location of 26 homes— 11 were Whaleys and 10 were Ownbys.
caption: The grave of William Whaley, one of Greenbrier's first Euro-American inhabitants
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