This volume comprises the first land grant book created for the area which became Tennessee. Located at the front is the contract or treaty formalizing the land purchase between the Watauga Association and the Cherokee chiefs. It is followed by...
This document is a nine page, unnumbered handwritten document found in "Acts of the Southwest Territory." It is dated July 11, 1795, and signed by Governor William Blount and Joseph Hardin.
23 pages handwritten in ink that comprise the Cherokee Constitution of 1827. This early copy may have been written by Sam Houston. It was found in the 1827 Tennessee legislative papers and may have been given to the State of Tennessee in exchange...
This bound volume maintained by the Secretary of State represents the chronological recording of civil and military commissions issued by the Governor of Tennessee, John Sevier, from the beginning of statehood in 1796 to 1801. The front section of...
Seven handwritten pages, in ink, of a letter from various Cherokee leaders to Tennessee Governor Joseph McMinn discussing the removal of Cherokees west of the Mississippi. Notation at top: "For the Raleigh Register." At end of letter: "A True Copy...
Original manuscript of the Cumberland Compact of Government, or Articles of Agreement, entered into by settlers on the Cumberland River, May 1, 1780, at what is now Nashville, and signed May 13, 1780 by 255 inhabitants of five stations on the...
"An Ordinance for Circumscribing the Counties of Greene and Hawkins and Laying Out Two New Counties" is the first resolution appearing in the bound collection of acts passed by the Southwest Territory. The act is written in script and is four pages...
The first in a bound collection of colonial documents is a complete copy of the Proclamation of 1763 promulgated at the end of the French and Indian War by King George III of Great Britain. The item is hand-written in ink on paper, copied by John...
This constitution is the "Houston Constitution," rejected by Franklin's Second Constitutional Convention of 1785 in Greeneville. Constitutional committee member and major contributor Rev. Samuel Houston had these pamphlets printed to argue the...
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...
State government; Constitutions; Constitutional conventions; Law & legal affairs; Slavery; Freedmen; Suffrage; Lotteries
This first revision of the Tennessee Constitution addressed a variety of problems present in the original 1796 Constitution. Pages are handwritten on oversize paper and are laminated.
The document is a four page, unnumbered handwritten document found in "Acts of the Southwest Territory." It is dated September 27, 1794 and signed by Governor William Blount and Secretary David Wilson.
War; World War, 1914-1918; Dogs; Military officers; Uniforms; Military personnel; Campaigns & battles
The caption reads, "Capt. George of "C" Co. and "Fritz." Fritz was captured from the German at Busigny. Besides his three service stripes he has a wound stripe for a gassing. They are standing in front of a fence. Houses are visible behind the...
World War, 1914-1918; Sailors; African Americans; Warships; Arms & armament; Naval warfare
Unidentified seamen aboard the U.S.S. Rambler during convoy escort duty. The men are operating the ship's 3"/50 gun. The inscription on the photograph incorrectly identifies the ship as the U.S.S. Rumpler.
