History of Union County Tennessee United States of America

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Union County was erected on January 3, 1850, out of parts of Grainger, Claiborne, Campbell, Anderson and Knox, and the following named men were appointed commissioners who organized the county: Wm. T. Carden, John F. Huddleston, Ezra Buckner, and Wm. Colvin, of the county of Grainger; Malcijah Nash, J. G. Palmer, and John Sharpe, of Claiborne County; Isaac C. Dyer, Meril Hill, and Hazell Hill, of Campbell County; James W. Turner, Allen McCoy and A. L. Carden of the County of Anderson; and Henry Graves and Henry G. Roberts of the County of Knox.

But the organization of the county was delayed, for the people of Knox County, not relishing the loss of that part of the county which was to be taken into the new county, entered suit and secured an injunction against its acting as a county. Horace Maynard, who, at that time was a member of Congress from the first Tennessee district, which embraced the proposed new county, defended the suit for Union County in prolonged litigation which was finally decided in favor of Union County in 1853.

Because of the valuable services rendered by Mr. Maynard in this litigation, the county seat was named Maynardsville; the first county court was organized there on February 6, 1854, with the following named magistrates present: Elijah Evans, John Lowry, Wm. Calvin, G. B. Carden, Wm. Needham, J. G. Palmer, Jacob Turner, Calvin B. Howard and Enoch Branson. Complete organization of the county was effected in 1856.

This county is rich in deposits of iron ore, marble, lead and zinc.

Statistics of Union County: Population, 1920, 11,615. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $3,877,437. Area, 220 square miles. Number of farms, 2,060. Railway mileage, 7. Drained by Clinch and Powell rivers. Surface mountainous and partly covered with fine timber. Fine deposits of iron, zinc, lead and marble are found in the county. Corn, oats, wheat, live stock and dairy products are staple. Maynardsville, county seat, has a population of about 500, and has good schools, churches, bank and flourishing business establishments. Scholastic population of county, 4,187; high schools, 6; elementary schools, 49.

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

History of Union County Tennessee

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