Daniel Fleming Wright

“ The rocks of the first division are tilted at very high angles; those of the second division, the eastern valley of the Tennessee, are fractured and distorted at nearly every conceivable angle, and, in consequence, it is the edges of the uplifted strata which here form the surface. ”

“ The mountain region of East Tennessee is a long narrow belt of very irregular surface, comprised between the Unaka Range and a disjointed chain of lower mountains, the principal of which are called the Chilhowee Range, and the whole of which may be considered as constituting the secondary mountain system of the State. The intervening space is occupied by broken masses forming hills, mountains, and valleys, some parallel to the principal ranges, some crossing the space at right angles to them. This region varies in width from 28 miles to about 7. ”

“ The headwaters and embouchure of the Cumberland are in Kentucky, but much the greater part of its navigable stream is in Tennessee. From its confluence with the Ohio, at Smithland, Kentucky, to Nashville, a distance of 200 miles, it is generally navigable for eight months in the year, and during high water it is sometimes accessible to light-draft steamboats more than 300 miles further. The Tennessee rises in Virginia, crosses east Tennessee in a south-western direction, and enters Alabama a little above Bridgeport ”

“ Excavated from this formation is the central valley of Tennessee (No. 5) , surrounded on all sides by an escarpment of about 200 feet in depth, by which descent is made from the "rim" into the valley. All the members of the Silurian period, except the three lowest, are represented in this valley, which has been formed by the erosive action of the rivers within its borders: its higher strata were carried off northwards by the Cumberland and its tributaries, westward by the Duck, and southward by the Elk, the last two being tributaries of the Tennessee. ”

“ Besides the common schools numerous private schools exist. Higher education is provided for in several institutions, such as Vanderbilt university (Methodist) at Nashville, the university of the South (Episcopalian) at Sewanee or Cumberland Mountain, the south-western Presbyterian university at Clarksville, and others; the university of Tennessee at Knoxville is supported by State grants, and is not under the direction of any one denomination. Many smaller establishments entitled universities exist in various parts of the State. ”

“ The judges of the supreme court, five in number, are elected by the people at large, but not more than two can be taken from any one of three divisions of the State, viz., the eastern, middle, and western. ”

“ The strata have been eaten away to form valleys, or left standing as
ridges, giving the whole tract a deeply channelled character, the ridges consisting of sandstone and dolomite and the valleys of friable schists. These all trend in the prevalent direction of the Appalachian upheaval, from north-east to south-west. ”

“ The actual boundary commences at the north-east corner of the State 7 miles north of 36° 30', and continues at that distance as far as the frontier of Virginia and Kentucky, where it diminishes to 5 miles; thence to about its intersection with 86° 30' W. it increases to 11 miles; thence a deflexion southwards to a point about 2 miles from the Cumberland reduces it to 10 miles; there it suddenly shoots north again to 12 miles, which distance is increased to 121/2 by the time it strikes the Tennessee ”

“ The whole district is a valley of denudation which has been excavated by the Tennessee and its tributaries,—some breaking through the Unaka barrier, and others descending from Virginia along the longitudinal valleys above described. 3. Rising in a steep elevation at from 800 to 1200 feet above the average level of the eastern valley of the Tennessee is the plateau popularly called the Cumberland Mountain. This mass, superincumbent on the Silurian system, consists of four very distinctly marked formations,— (i.) ”

“ But Davidson county took no part in these proceedings. The State organized by the seceding counties in August 1784 was called the State of Franklin; its constituent counties returned to their allegiance to North Carolina on 1st March 1788. A second Act of Cession was passed in 1790, by which the defunct State of Franklin became part of the territory of the United States south of the Ohio, including what now constitutes Kentucky and Tennessee. ”