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The Lost State of Franklin
My 71st audiobook is out this morning, and as usual, I’m announcing it first to my friends on Ricochet. Also, as usual, message me if you want a freebie.
The Tennessee Valley was largely colonized by folks from the north (Virginia) and south (Georgia) because it was too hard to get over the Appalachian mountains. Things were chaotic after the Revolution, and there was little support and communication with the North Carolina state capitol to the east.
Citizens pleaded with government leaders, but economic turmoil, Native American warfare, and political unrest persisted. By 1784, one group of North Carolina frontiersmen had had enough. They declared their region independent from North Carolina, forming the state of Franklin.
The Franklin independence movement emerged from a powerful group of landed elite, yeoman farmers, and country merchants. Over the course of four years, they managed to develop a functioning state government, court system, and backcountry bureaucracy. For a while, both Franklin and North Carolina operated governments in the same place. Among other things, this led to marriages needing to be conducted in two separate courts to be sure of being recognized out of state. You could be married twice and only have one wife.
Sadly, the state of Franklin incited a firestorm of partisan and Indian violence. The Overhill Cherokee made great effort to live peacefully with white communities, but it proved to be impossible. The tragic murder of two Cherokee chiefs, provoked by the massacre of a settler family that the chiefs had tried to prevent, brought on full-scale war. The state was never able to recover from the warfare, and Franklin collapsed in 1788.
This book tells the story without bias and with a lot of new historical research. It’s an enjoyable read, with lots of stories about larger than life characters like John “Nolichucky Jack” Sevier, the (reluctant) first and only governor of Franklin, who would later become the first governor of the new state of Tennessee. The book details political maneuvering in North Carolina and in the councils of the Cherokee. It’s an unvarnished history in the context of the times.
I would love to offer free review downloads of the book to anyone interested. You don’t need an Audible subscription to get the review book, but you do need to use the free Audible app to listen to it. Send me a PM if you would like a copy.
Published in General
I worked for 20 years in Elizabethton, an important part of the State of Franklin.
The grade school kids re-enact the march of the Overmountain Men every year – they walk through the fording area of the Watauga River, and up over the hills, following their route. School buses pick them all up on the other side after they walk all day. They want all the kids to remember that part of our history.
Great stuff. That’s the sort of exposure to history school kids should have. Some of them will pick up on it and read further, even if they’re old when they do it.
Fascinating story, Doug. Thanks for sharing it with us and for your offer. (I wish I listened to audio books!)
If you ever decided to force yourself to try it…
Cool, thanks for sharing! I listen to tons of audiobooks since i’m on the road a lot and cant wait to listen to this one. I am familiar with this part of history but probably not in the detail the book provides so looking forward to it.
Promo code messaged to you. Anyone else? Always happy to share with Ricochet folks.
Here is a good link to the Story of the Overmountain Men, and why they took their trek to South Carolina.
https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/overmountain-men-and-battle
X
Meanwhile in Canada.
I would like to listen to this book but I am on a personal boycott of Audible. I called them digital book burners when I quit but I can’t quite remember what it was about. Does anyone else know another audio book source that’s not Amazon or the public library?
I still won’t buy Ben & Jerry’s ice cream because they are pissant communists, but I have to be honest that none of my boycotts work and the list of communist/progressive companies out there is too long to keep track of.
That will be fantastic! Thank you. I just messaged you.
Haaa I’m double quoting that. Your boycotts are like votes, every one counts. They are on my list too. There are too many to keep track of but I just mentally add a name and forget why, just like Audible, Starbucks, Bank of America, etc.
Answered. Are people not understanding that I’m offering free copies? I don’t get more than six or seven takers when I announce a title, but I’m getting reviews and messages from people who didn’t get a freebie. I guess they have credits from their subscriptions that they’re not using.
I finished listening to Frankland yesterday. It’s a part of American history I knew nothing about. If the state succeeded it could have had good and bad repercussions. It could have been an abolitionist state in the south and may have prevented or delayed succession of the confederate states. A very bad outcome would be if it succeeded as a state with deep ties to Spain. We would now have a North Mexico and Texas as separate countries, …and we would all be speaking German now.
So how was it listening to Doug’s reading? Great minds want to know!!
He sounds like Rush Limbaugh only Rush has (had) that high squeak now and then. Crisp and clear without any accent.
Did you expect him to have an accent? He is a New Yorker, after all . . .
I’m from Massachusetts and he isn’t far away so maybe that’s why neither one of us has accents. Upstate NY as I recall? I know Phil Turmel and Marci aren’t too far, probably more. Maybe I’ll have a meet up/cook out in Podunk in the spring.
Spring in Massachusetts – what’s that – late June?
My sister lives up there. Let me know if you do that – I might join you – that would be a blast.
You didn’t take the bait on my accent comment. Hey, it would be great to have you and anyone else. There is plenty of room. Old Sturbridge Village is only 10 minutes away and there are five breweries within five miles. Yes, June would be good.
I spent two happy weeks at Old Sturbridge Village when I was 13. The printer found out that I could set type by hand (I had my own letterpress equipment) and I wound up working for him for as long as the rest of my family could stay occupied doing other things. I was perfectly content to be a printer’s devil.
Side note on weather: one of my Connecticut relatives once said to me with a straight face, “But in New England, we enjoy being uncomfortable in the winter.”
Western New York, not far from Niagara Falls. Not a Bronx accent by any means. I do occasionally argue with my publishers about the way relatively common words are pronounced, like “entrepreneur” and “fortuitous.”
My wife and I were just there three weeks ago. That’s a long drive. I took this picture from the top floor of the Embassy Suites. The prices of meals in Canada are absolutely insane.
Yup, I’m east of all that close to the Ontario shore, on the lake plain. Very agricultural area, thanks to the glacier depositing so much nice soil and the depth of Ontario moderating our temperatures. Come back up in October and I’ll introduce you to a 6-acre apple orchard with 260 varieties of apples in it. Or come any time for the local wines. The Niagara Escarpment is one of four places in the world where you can grow grapes for ice wine.
We drove up the riverfront to Niaga On the Lake. There are a lot of wineries and was a very pretty drive. It was good to get away from the tourist traps. We picked up a couple bottles. I have to say I’m not a fan of the ice wine. It has one heck of a kick. Not that I am opposed to that, just not in my wine. I hope you and the Canadians are getting along better now. This is about as far as I can stray off topic. Sorry about that.