Henry County, Tennessee

Tennessee became the sixteenth state on June 1, 1796, but continued to be troubled by conflicting land claims by Native Americans and settlers. In 1818 Andrew Jackson and former Kentucky governor Isaac Shelby were appointed to oversee negotiations for an agreement with the Chickasaws. Previously, in 1783, the tribe had established a boundary at the watershed between the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, but in the intervening years they had dropped claims to territory in Middle Tennessee that conflicted with Cherokee cessions. Their claim to land west of the Tennessee River was unopposed, however, and the state government had a flood of North Carolina land warrants to honor.

On October 19, 1818, under heavy pressure from Andrew Jackson, the Chickasaw Indians accepted three hundred thousand dollars for all of their Kentucky and Tennessee lands. The states of Kentucky and Tennessee, neither of which had previously extended beyond the Tennessee River, were enlarged by approximately two thousand and six thousand square miles respectively. The Kentucky addition became known as the Jackson Purchase, the larger Tennessee portion as West Tennessee.

This opened up a vast, fertile area for settlement, and settlers poured in. The Tennessee General Assembly created the County of Henry on November 7, 1821, and was named in honor of Revolutionary War patriot and statesman, Patrick Henry. The town of Paris was named for the French capital in honor of Lafayette, and was established as the county seat on September 23, 1823. Henry County quickly became the gateway for the settlement of West Tennessee and beyond. In rapid order many more Tennessee counties were established, fourteen having been constituted by the end of 1824. The population of the state rose to 423,000 by 1820, and to 682,000 by 1830, and more continued to come.

By 1835, the only Indian lands remaining in Tennessee were those of the Cherokee in the southeastern corner of the state, the majority of which was between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. Jackson, president of the United States by then, wanted all Indians moved west of the Mississippi River. A minority of the sixteen thousand Cherokee in southeastern Tennessee and the adjacent North Carolina and Georgia areas agreed to sell their land for five million dollars, plus seven million acres of land in Oklahoma. The Cherokee majority protested, but after three years they were forced to move to Oklahoma. The formal cession of land occurred on May 23, 1836.

The above described actions set the stage for the next move of the Erwin family. At some point between the time of the 1820 census and the 1830 census, probably about 1827 after large tracts of the former Chickasaw Hunting Grounds were opened up to settlement, Joseph Erwin, Sr. moved his family again, this time to Henry County, Tennessee. The Joseph Erwin, Sr. family, as well as the Joseph Erwin, Jr. family, are listed on the 1830 Henry County, Tennessee census. It is believed that both families initially settled on farms a few miles southeast of Paris. 

Joseph Erwin, Jr. was born February 3, 1794 in Rowan County, North Carolina. He was my great-great-grandfather. It is likely that he arrived in Giles County early in 1812 with his parents and siblings in the south-central frontier of the new state of Tennessee.

On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on Great Britain over seizures of American ships, impressments of American sailors, the arming of frontier Indian tribes, and the agitation of said Indians. The hostilities that followed came to be known as the War of 1812.

On December 10, 1812, in Rutherford County, Tennessee, Joseph Erwin, Jr., at the age of eighteen, enlisted for a term of two years in Captain Josiah Renshaw’s Company, a unit of the Second Regiment of Tennessee Militia Volunteers commanded by Colonel Thomas H. Benton. He was on active duty from December 10, 1812 to April 12, 1813 when he was released in Columbia, Maury County, Tennessee to inactive status. He was called back to active duty on September 26, 1813 and served until December 24, 1813. He was honorably discharged in Fayetteville, Lincoln County, Tennessee, with the rank of Orderly Sergeant.

Joseph married Nancy Rebecca Davis January 22, 1818 in Giles County, Tennessee. They had eleven children. Seven were born in Henry County, Tennessee.

  1. Franklin Bainbridge Porter Erwin, b. October 30, 1818 in Giles Co., TN
  2. Elizabeth Catherine Erwin, b. November 1820 in Giles Co., TN
  3. Thomas Johnston Erwin, b. November 15, 1822 in Giles Co., TN
  4. Joseph Lafayette Erwin, b. November 18, 1825 in Tennessee
  5. Harriett Adalade Erwin, b. April 22, 1828 in Henry Co., TN
  6. Rebecca Anastasia Erwin, b. August 6, 1830 in Henry Co., TN
  7. John D. Erwin, b. February 1, 1833 in Henry Co., TN
  8. Nancy Abigail Erwin, b. April 10, 1835 in Henry Co., TN
  9. Mary Helen Paralee Erwin, b. December 2, 1837 in Henry Co., TN
  10. Michael Pike Erwin, b. December 2, 1837 in Henry Co., TN
  11. Henrietta Tennessee Erwin, b. December 15, 1842 in Henry Co., TN