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21-485: Considered one of the best preserved furnaces in Virginia, it was built against the side of a hill so that iron ore, charcoal and limestone could be transported to the site by wagon along the ridge and dumped into the top of the furnace. The original cart road and ten-yard-long bridge leading to the top no longer exists. John Donelson and his son-in-law, John Caffery, built the furnace circa 1770 and operated it for about

42-750: A Committee of Safety to oversee it. In the Spring of 1776, seeking additional security for its inhabitants, the Washington District Committee of Safety drafted a petition asking the Colony of Virginia to annex the district. After Virginia refused, the Committee drafted a similar petition (dated July 5, 1776) asking the North Carolina Assembly to annex the area. In November of that year, North Carolina granted

63-472: A Louisiana State Representative (1964–1968), and two terms as a United States Representative from Louisiana's 3rd congressional district (1969–1973). He retired from Congress to resume the practice of law. Donelson was shot and killed in 1785 by an unknown person on the banks of the Barren River . He was en route to Mansker's Station after a business trip. One Jackson scholar says he was killed "by

84-504: A Louisiana State Senator and two terms as a U.S. Senator from Louisiana. He was elected to that office by the state legislature, as was customary at the time. In 1896 he was the first nominee for president of the "Democratic National Party" but declined the nomination. In 1900, he was nominated to head the presidential ticket of the "National Party" but declined that nomination as well. The Donelsons' great-great-great grandson, attorney Patrick Thomson Caffery (1932–2013), served one term as

105-678: A dam burst on Furnace Creek uphill of the furnace; the resulting water flow cracked the hot furnace, which was not rebuilt by the Saunders family. It was repaired and operated again about the time of the Civil War. The mine continued operations until 1880; the Pigg River Mining Company shipped ore from there to Pennsylvania until costs proved too high. The last shafts went 75 feet below the surface and soon filled with water. John Donelson John Donelson (1718–1785)

126-520: A decade. In 1773, four white men and six enslaved African Americans carted the raw materials, stoked the fires, and otherwise worked the furnace. Franklin County was not organized until 1785, from parts of Bedford and Henry counties (the latter was split from Pittsylvania in 1777). Donelson served on what was then the first court for Pittsylvania County . He also represented it in the House of Burgesses, and

147-561: A future United States president. Callaway and Early named the ironworks "Washington Iron Forge" to honor George Washington . Calloway also owned Oxford furnace in Campbell County, Virginia with Henry Innes, and the Chiswell lead mines further southwest. Early soon died and bequeathed his share of the ironworks to three of his sons, two of whom also soon died. The survivor John Early sold his share to Calloway in 1781. In 1820,

168-589: A large part not only of the subsequent extra-legal State of Franklin , but of the Southwest Territory (1790–1796) and the State of Tennessee (after 1796) as well. In May 1772, several years after arriving in the area, the settlers created their own government charter, a "written association and articles for the management of general affairs", and elected a self-governing body (considered by The Crown to be an extra-legal entity at best, in light of

189-674: The American Revolution , the now informal district saw a huge growth of the area it encompassed, eventually stretching to the Mississippi River . At the time of North Carolina's final cession of the area to the Federal Government (1790), it had grown to include the seven "Overmountain Counties": Washington , Greene , Davidson , Sullivan , Hawkins , Sumner and Tennessee . These lands would become

210-645: The Royal Proclamation of 1763 ) and set up a courthouse and jail. This government became known as the " Watauga Association " (or, sometimes, "Watauga Republic"). Shortly after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (April 1775), the members of the Watauga Association organized themselves into the extra-legal "Washington District", a separate region "...loyal to the united colonies...". They promptly formed

231-800: The Watauga settlements on the Holston and Watauga rivers in Washington District, North Carolina . They came into conflict with the Overhill Cherokee on the far side of the Appalachians. Because of armed conflict and flooding in his settlement, Donelson temporarily moved his family to safer areas in Kentucky. Along with James Robertson who traveled the overland route, Donelson and a large number of pioneers traveled down

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252-604: The Indians" and Notable Southern Families states "he was shot from ambush, by an Indian, and killed." Donelson, Tennessee was named in his honor. Washington District, North Carolina The Washington District of North Carolina was in a remote area west of the Appalachian Mountains , officially existing for only a short period (November 1776 – November 1777), although it had been self-proclaimed and functioning as an independent governing entity since

273-763: The Tennessee and other rivers in excess of 1,000 miles to Middle Tennessee, where they co-founded Fort Nashborough , in 1780. This eventually developed as the city of Nashville, Tennessee . A collection of his diaries are kept in Cleveland Hall , in Nashville. Donelson married Rachel (née Stockley) (1730–1801) in 1744. They had eleven children, including four daughters who married well and had descendants who became prominent military men and politicians. Youngest daughter Rachel first married Lewis Robards in 1787; she later married Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. He

294-541: The city of Nashville, Tennessee . Donelson and his wife Rachel had eleven children, four of them girls. Their tenth, daughter Rachel , married Andrew Jackson who was elected United States president in 1828. Donelson served in the Virginia House of Burgesses . From about 1770 to 1779, he operated the Washington Iron Furnace at Rocky Mount , Franklin County, Virginia . He next moved to

315-559: The petition, and the Washington District was admitted to North Carolina and designated Washington County , although the district technically remained in existence until the formal adoption as a North Carolina county almost a full year later. Thereafter, "Washington District" was used to refer to North Carolina's holdings west of the Appalachian Mountains. Immediately after the news of the second petition

336-534: The spring of 1775. The district was the bureaucratic successor to the Watauga Association , a group of Virginian settlers that colonized the area in 1769, originally believing themselves to be in trans-Appalachian Virginia territory. When the settlement's application to be united with Virginia was denied, they asked North Carolina to annex the settlement, which occurred in November, 1776. After

357-577: The three Saunders brothers (one of whom had married a daughter of Jeremiah Early) purchased this and another furnace on Ferrum Creek from Callaway's heirs. By 1836 the Washington mine and furnace employed 100 men, and produced 160 tons of iron annually. A nearby vein of high quality magnetite supplied this furnace. Horse-drawn wagons took the refined iron bars and castings down the Carolina Road to North Carolina and Alabama. Reportedly in 1850,

378-480: Was an American frontiersman, ironmaster , politician, city planner, and explorer. After founding and operating what became Washington Iron Furnace in Franklin County, Virginia for several years, he moved with his family to Middle Tennessee which was on the developing frontier. There, together with James Robertson , Donelson co-founded the frontier settlement of Fort Nashborough . This later developed as

399-647: Was elected president of the United States in 1828. She died in December of that year, shortly before he was inaugurated in January 1829. Daughter Mary Donelson married Captain John Caffery, and two of their descendants served in national political office. Several of John and Rachel's descendants were elected to political office. Their great-grandson, Donelson Caffery II (1835–1906), served one term as

420-582: Was its militia colonel and county surveyor. The ironworks, originally called "The Bloomery ", supplied Patriot forces during the American Revolutionary War . The surviving ironmaster's house later became known as The Farm . In 1779 Donelson sold the Bloomery to fellow former Burgess James Callaway (1736-1809) and his father-in-law Jeremiah Early (1730-1779, who were both of Bedford County, Virginia . Donelson and his family moved to Tennessee, where his daughter Rachel Donelson met and married Andrew Jackson ,

441-636: Was made known, the Cherokee —from whom the district had originally leased the settlement's land, but who had now allied themselves with the British —launched an all-out invasion against the district, but were soundly defeated. In 1777, the Cherokee signed the Treaty of Long Island , effectively ceding control of the Watauga and Nolichucky valleys to North Carolina. Chief Dragging Canoe (eventual leader of

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