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An Act for the Establishment of Washington College

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An Act for the Establishment of Washington College

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Title	An Act for the Establishment of Washington College
Description	"An act for the establishment of Washington College in honor to the Illustrious President of the United States at Salem in Washington County." The act is handwritten and is five pages in length. The resolution passed at Knoxville on July 10, 1795. It is signed by Governor William Blount. The act renaming re-naming St. Martin’s Academy to Washington College in honor of President George Washington was one of the varied acts passed by the Southwest Territory General Assembly. Samuel Doak (1749-1830), a Virginia Presbyterian minister and pioneer, assumed his first pastorate in Abingdon, Virginia, and also began to "ride circuit" in eastern Tennessee. In 1778 he settled in Tennessee in Sullivan County and was ordained a minister. In 1780 he moved to Washington County, where he formed Salem Church and a school, which was chartered as St. Martin's Academy in 1783, the first chartered school in the region. In 1795 it became Washington College. A short introduction to this document is available here: http://tsla.tnsosfiles.com/digital/teva/intros/33669.pdf.
Historical note	On May 26, 1790, President George Washington signed into law an act of Congress passed earlier in the month that established the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio (Southwest Territory). Embracing the western lands ceded by the state of North Carolina on December 22, 1789, the new territory was to be governed under the terms of the Ordinance of 1787, which created its predecessor, the Northwest Territory. This act passed on July 5, 1795, renamed St. Martin’s Academy, located in Washington County, to Washington College in honor of President George Washington.
Date	1795 July 10
Place	Knoxville (Tenn.)
Creator	Territory of the United States, South of the River Ohio. General Assembly
Collection name	Tennessee. General Assembly. Acts, Public and Private, 1790-[ongoing]
Education Tags	4.45 8.39 William Blount Southwest Territory Western Expansion Developing a New Nation
Subjects - LCSH	Doak, Samuel, 1749-1830 Washington College (Washington County, Tenn.) Washington County (Tenn.) Washington, George, 1732-1799 Sevier, John, 1745-1815 Carter, Landon, 1760-1800 Cocke, William, 1747-1828 Roane, Archiibald, 1759-1819
Subjects - TGM	Universities & colleges
Transcription Link	http://tsla.tnsosfiles.com/digital/teva/transcripts/33669.pdf
Transcript	An Act for the Establishment of Washington College An act for the establishment of Washington College in honor to the illustrious President of the United States at Salem in Washington county. Whereas the Legislature of North Carolina, established the academy in Washington county, by the name of Martin academy, which has continued for ten or twelve years past under the presidency of the reverend Samuel Douk, and has been of considerable utility to the public, and affords a prospect of future usefulness if invested with powers and privileges appertaining to Colleges: Sec 1. Be it enacted by the Governor, Legislative Council, and House of Representatives of the Territory of the United States of America south of the river Ohio, That the reverend Samuel Doak president, the reverend Charles Cummins, Edward Crawford, John Coson, James Balch, Robert Henderson and Gideon Blackburn, Judge Joseph Anderson, General John Sevier, Colonels Landon Carter and Daniel Kenedy, Majors Leeroy Taylor and John Sevier, John Tipton, William Cocke, Archibald
Digital Type	Text
Digital Format	Image/jp2
Accession no.	RG 260
Owning Institution	Tennessee State Library and Archives
ID#	33669
Microfilm number	RG 260
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