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An American Family History

 

Womack Family

 
East Tennessee is part of Appalachia. At the end of the French and Indian War, colonists began drifting into the area. In 1769, they first settled along the Watauga River. During the Revolution, the Overmountain Men defeated British loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain. The State of Franklin was formed in the 1780s, but never admitted to the Union.

Jacob Womack was born about 1735 in Henrico County, Virginia. He was the son of Richard Womack and Ann Childers.

He married Sarah Johnson (1740 - 1810).

Jacob and Sarah's children may have included:
Martha Womack (1758, married Robert Bean),
David Womack (1758 - 1817, did not marry Elizabeth Broom),
Jesse Womack (1760 - 1827, married Chloe Fraley), and
Johnson Womack (1762 - 1839).

Jacob served in the French and Indian War in Virginia.

Jacob built Womack's Fort in present-day Sullivan County, Tennessee.

In the spring of 1767, two years after the first settlers made their homes in the county, Jacob Womack built a fort two miles east of Bluff City on the land once owned by Sam Miller. (from Historic Sullivan by Oliver Taylor)

In 1772 he was elected as a commisioner of the Watagua Association.

In 1776 he signed the petition of Watauga settlers asking to become part of North Carolina.

Jacob served as a captain in the August, 1776 Cherokee Expedition.

On December 23, 1776, he was promoted by the Provincial Congress of North Carolina to 2nd Major.

In November, 1778

Ord[ered]. Jacob Womack, Jesse Walton, Geo. Russell, Joseph Willson, Zach. Isbell, and Benjamin Gist appointed to lay off the place for erecting the Court house, prison stocks, and the said return is ord. filed in the court office.

The Cherokeewere indigenous people who lived in the southern Appalachian mountains. European Americans called their towns in eastern Tennessee, the Overhill Towns. The towns included Chota, Tellico and Tanasi.

In 1776, the Cherokee planned to drive settlers out of the Washington District. The settlers were warned and stopped the first attack at Heaton's Station. The second attack was stopped at Fort Watauga. In response to these attacks, the militia burned Tuskegee and Citico.

In 1780, while the militia was away at the Battle of Kings Mountain, the Cherokee raided the setttlements. When the militia returned, Colonel John Sevier's men defeated the Cherokee at Boyd's Creek and destroyed most of the remaining towns.


The American folk hero, David "Davy" Crockett (1786 – 1836), grew up in East Tennessee.

     
 

 

 
 

 

 
     
 

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©Roberta Tuller 2020
tuller.roberta@gmail.com
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