History of Monroe County Tennessee United States of America

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Local History Notes:

Monroe County was erected in 1819 out of the Hiwassee Purchase and was named for President Monroe. At the time of the cession and for a long period of time previously the territory now in this county contained the old Indian towns of Chota, Tellico, Citico and Toqua. Fort Loudon was erected in 1756 at the junction of the Tellico and Little Tennessee rivers. This was the first structure erected in Tennessee by Anglo-Americans.18

In 1825, at public sale of lands, the first sheriff, John McCroskey, and James Montgomery bought farms and the son of the latter, M. J. C. Montgomery, was the first man in the United States to saw slanting fence posts.

Among the first settlers were: Samuel McSpadden, William Williams, William Ainsworth, Michael Carroll, William Bradley, James Axely, William Neal, Daniel Heiskell, Rev. Robt. Sneed, Hugh H. Gregory, Alexander Biggs, Pressly Cleveland, Finley Gillespie, and Iredell Wright. Joseph B. Heiskell, who became attorney-general of the state, studied law under Gillespie. Judge D. M. Key,19 also, was born in this county.

The first court was held at Morgantown (now in Loudon County). The next court was held at Henderson's, three miles east of Madisonville, the present county seat, which was named for President Madison, and was established probably in 1822, although some authorities say the site was selected and a town platted in 1827.

Henderson & Johnson established in 1832, at Madisonville, an enterprise for the publication of "Dr. Gunn's Domestic Medicine," which enterprise attained somewhat large proportions for that day. It also published a few other books.

The enterprising Town of Sweetwater had its beginning in 1852 in which year Newton Haun erected its first building.

The notable historical institutions of learning of the county are: Bolivar Academy, established following the compact of 1806; Hiwassee College, chartered in 1847, of which Dr. Robert Doak was the first president, from which many able men have gone forth; and Sweetwater College, of which the eminent Dr. J. L. Bachman was the head for more than twenty-five years. About twenty years ago it was converted into the Tennessee Military Academy, a large and flourishing institution.

Besides the notable men already mentioned Monroe County has produced the following who have been or are now eminent in various lines of endeavor: Gideon Morgan, Gen. John C. Vaughn, who had a noteworthy record in the Confederate army; John L. Hopkins, an attorney; Prof. S. G. Gilbreath, state superintendent of public instruction under Governor Turney, and now superintendent of the East Tennessee State Normal School, at Johnson City; Dr. J. H. Brunner, for many years president of Hiwassee College.

Statistics of Monroe County: Population, 1920, 22,060. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $11,916,448. Area, 580 square miles. Number of farms, 2,474. Railway mileage, 40. Monroe County joins North Carolina. Drained by Tellico and Little Tennessee rivers. The eastern portion is mountainous and covered with valuable timber. The soil is fertile, the principal products being corn, wheat, potatoes, grasses and live stock. The county has a good system of graded roads and a good mileage of hard surface roads. Iron ore, copper, barites and gold are found in the mountainous portions of the county. In the Coker Creek territory gold is found in places and quartz ledges and has been successfully mined, $80,000 having been taken off less than one acre. The Louisville & Nashville and the Southern Railway enter the county. Madisonville, the county seat, has a population of 850, is on the Atlantic Division of the L. & N. forty-five miles from Knoxville, and has two banks, one weekly newspaper, flouring mills, lumber plant, good schools and churches. Sweetwater, on the Southern Railway, has a population of 1,972, one weekly newspaper, two banks, barites mill, flour mill, planing mill, woolen mill, good schools and churches, and flourishing mercantile establishments. Tennessee Military Academy is located at Sweetwater. Tellico Plains has a population of 1,220, two banks, two lumber manufacturing plants, one tannic acid plant, roofing slate plant, and several stores. Scholastic population of county, 8,034; high schools, 4; elementary schools, 80.

From:
Moore, John Trotwood. Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923. Vol. 1. Chicago, IL, USA: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.

Biographies:

Sidney Gordon Gilbreath, educator, was born in Monroe county, Tenn., April 13, 1869; son of Francis Asbury and Elizabeth (Bruner) Gilbreath; and grandson of John and Isabella (Edington) Gilbreath. He was teacher and student in the public schools, 1886-91; was graduated at Hiwassee college, B.S., 1891, and at Hartford college, Ph.B., 1894; was county superintendent of schools, 1891-95; state superintendent of schools, 1895-97; president of the State teachers association, 1897-98; and was elected president of Hiwassee college in 1893. He was married, Feb. 9, 1893, to Norma Lavinia Henly. He published Report of State Superintendent of Schools (1896-97).

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Joseph Edmund Lowry, educator, was born in Monroe county, Tenn., May 11, 1868; son of Hugh Kelso and Isabella (Cook) Lowry, and grandson of William and Nancy (Kelso) Lowry and of Jacob and Mary (Shields) Cook. He attended the High school in Loudon, Tenn., and was graduated from Hiwassee college, A.B., 1886, A.M., 1889. He was admitted to the Holston conference of the Methodist Episcopal church south, Oct. 3, 1888, and served charges in Maynardville, Knoxville, Louisville, Madisonville, and Philadelphia, Tenn. He was married July 19, 1892, to Mary Cordelia Ault of Knoxville, Tenn. On May 20, 1898, he was elected president of Hiwassee college and was re-elected to that office May 21, 1900.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Monroe County Tennessee

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