County
Organization
Hamilton
County was erected out of Rhea County by an act
of the Legislature passed
on October 25, 1819. which provided that the
territory southwest of Rhea
and south and east of Bledsoe and Marion counties,
should constitute a
county by the name of Hamilton, in honor and
to perpetuate the memory of Alexander
Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury of the United
States.
Sequatchie
County was erected in 1857, out of Hamilton
County, and was named for
Sequatchie Valley and the Sequatchie River.
It is traversed by the Sequatchie Valley
which is very fertile. This county is rich in
deposits of coal and iron. The county
seat is Dunlap.
James County was
carved out of portions of Hamilton and Bradley
counties in
January 27, 1871.
In
April 14, 1919, however, an act was passed
abolishing James County and transferring to
Hamilton the territory formerly
embraced in James.
About
half of the County of Hamilton, when first formed,
and all of the county on the left bank of the
Tennessee River lay
within the territory of the Cherokee nation.
The
Indian title was extinguished by a treaty concluded
between the United States and the Cherokees
on December 29,
1835.
The
county seat was first established at Dallas,
but by an election in 1840, the seat was transferred
to Harrison, named
after
General William H. Harrison, subsequently elected
President.
By
an election in November 1870, the county seat
was transferred from Harrison to Chattanooga.
It
is believed to be true that the first settlers
of this county were Scotchmen, who came here
immediately after the close
of the Revolutionary war. Many of them married
Indian wives and were incorporated into the
Cherokee Nation.
The
name of Daniel Ross is one of the very
first associated with the history of Hamilton
County.
Others
are Robert Patterson, Patrick Martin, William
Lauderdale, and Charles Gamble, who
became the first
sheriff.
Others
who belonged to a later period are:
Haston
Poe
Asahel
Rawlings
James Cozby
John
Russell
Joseph
Rogers
David
Beck
John
Brown
John
Taylor
Nimrod
Moore
Jackson
Jenkins
Jonathan
Springer
D.
R. Rawlings,
William Walker
Crispian
Shelton
Source:
Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Vol. 1