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Donelson Journal

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Title	Donelson Journal
Description	Journal documenting the 1779-1780 river voyage of Col. John Donelson and others, including women, children, and African Americans. The travelers sought to establish the first permanent settlement west of the Appalachians. Handwritten in ink on paper.
Historical note	This journal documents the 1779-1780 river voyage of Col. John Donelson and others, including women, children, and African Americans. The travelers were seeking to establish the first permanent settlement to the west of the Appalachians - 200 miles further west than previous settlements. On December 22, 1779, Col. John Donelson’s group departed on the boat Adventure from Fort Patrick Henry on the Holston River. After many harrowing adventures and considerable suffering, they arrived at French Lick, which is now Nashville, Tennessee. Donelson’s crew included many family members of the men who took a different route west with James Robertson. This group joined Donelson’s flotilla at the mouth of the Clinch River, and was led by Capt. John Blackmore. Upon arriving at the French Lick and joining Robertson’s group, a forted station was constructed next to the Cumberland River. The successful completion of this voyage in April 1780 culminated in the founding of the settlement of Nashborough (later Nashville). The document purports to be a firsthand account of this journey, but the authenticity of the item has recently been called into question. Although the diary prominently displays the words, “the original” on the front, it is possible that the author of the journal is not John Donelson himself, but rather, his son, John Donelson, Jr. A detailed investigation of this possibility can be found in: Paul Clements, “Tennessee Notes: An Analysis of ‘The Original’ Donelson Journal and Associated Accounts of the Donelson Party Voyage.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 64, no. 4 (Winter 2005): 338-349. A short introduction to this document is available here: http://tsla.tnsosfiles.com/digital/teva/intros/33635.pdf.
Date	1779-1780?
Creator	Donelson, John, 1755-1830
Transcription Link	http://tsla.tnsosfiles.com/digital/teva/transcripts/33635.pdf
Collection name	Tennessee Historical Society Miscellaneous Files, 1688-1951
Accession no.	THS 195
Education Tags	4.36 8.26 Cumberland Settlement Colonial America and the War for Independence
Subjects - LCSH	Tennessee -- History -- To 1865 African Americans Indians of North America Donelson, John, 1755-1830 -- Diaries
Subjects - TGM	Documents Discovery & exploration Westward movement Frontier & pioneer life Rivers Indigenous peoples
Owning Institution	Tennessee Historical Society
ID#	33635
Digital Type	Text
Digital Format	Application/pdf
Media Type	Documents Journals
Copyright	No copyright - United States: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
Ordering information	To order a digital reproduction of this item, please send our order form at http://tsla.tnsosfiles.com/general/forms/ImagingOrder.pdf to Photo Orders, Tennessee State Library & Archives, 403 7th Ave. N., Nashville, TN 37243-0312, or email to photoorders.tsla@tn.gov. Further ordering information can be found at the following location: http://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/ordering-images-and-microfilm-digitization .

Title	Page 1
Transcript	John Donelson Diary 1779 The Original “Journal of a voyage, intended by God's Permission, in the good Boat Adventure, from Fort Patrick Henry on Holston river to the French Salt Springs on Cumberland River, kept by John Donaldson.” Decem. 22 1779
Media Type	Documents
Copyright	No copyright - United States: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
Ordering information	To order a digital reproduction of this item, please send our order form at http://tsla.tnsosfiles.com/general/forms/ImagingOrder.pdf to Photo Orders, Tennessee State Library & Archives, 403 7th Ave. N., Nashville, TN 37243-0312, or email to photoorders.tsla@tn.gov. Further ordering information can be found at the following location: http://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/ordering-images-and-microfilm-digitization .

Donelson Journal

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Donelson Journal

Donelson Journal