Lost Counties of Tennessee: James County

By Zachary Keith

The state of Tennessee is an ever-changing entity, evidenced by the creation and dissolution of counties. Throughout the state’s history, lawmakers renamed some counties, proposed many others that never formed, and created some that they later abolished. James County is the most recognized of these “lost counties” of Tennessee. Established in 1871, James County existed for 48 years until a referendum dissolved it in 1920. 

Excerpt of Agricultural and geological map of Tennessee taken from the 1877 publication “Tennessee: Its Agricultural and Mineral Wealth” by Joseph B. Killebrew, the first Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture. Click on the link to view the full map in TeVA: http://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15138coll23/id/179/rec/1

Tennessee’s second state constitution of 1835 established guidelines for the creation of new counties in Tennessee. Following the enactment of a third state constitution in 1870, lawmakers made several changes affecting the procedure for establishing counties, including a reduction in the size threshold of each county, and an increase in the population threshold. The new regulations included:

• New counties had to be at least 275 square miles.
• Their populations had to be at least 700.
• No part of a new county could be less than 11 miles from adjacent county seat, with exceptions.
• Existing counties could not be reduced to less than 500 square miles, with exceptions.
• Two-thirds of the qualified voters within the proposed area of a new county had to agree to its formation.

An Act to establish the county of James from parts of Hamilton and Bradley, 1871.
Tennessee State Library & Archives

Predominately white, rural, and poor, James County arose out of the political factionalism of the Reconstruction Era. In 1871, Representative Elbert A. James, a Democrat from Hamilton County, introduced legislation for the formation of the county, named in honor of his father, Rev. Jesse J. James. The elder James, a Methodist minister from Sullivan County, first moved to Chattanooga in the 1850s. Three days after Rep. James introduced his bill, the Tennessee General Assembly passed the act creating James County on Jan. 30, 1871. Lawmakers chose Ooltewah as the county seat, and subsequently citizens began work on building a county courthouse. Following 19 years of meager existence, state lawmakers passed an act on March 11, 1890 abolishing the county and returning the land to the parent counties of Hamilton and Bradley. The legislation specifically mentioned the indebtedness of the county government as the reason for the return to the old boundaries.

An Act to abolish the county of James and restore the territory to the counties of Bradley and Hamilton, enacted March 11, 1890.
Tennessee State Library & Archives

The commissioners of James County, upset with the General Assembly’s actions, filed legal action against the abolition. In James County v. Hamilton County and Bradley County, they argued that the state legislature did not have the power to abolish a county without consent of the qualified voters of the county, and that the “radical legislation” should be overturned. The case made it to the Tennessee Supreme Court where Justice Peter Turney, future Governor of Tennessee, argued that Article X, Section 4 of the new (1870) State Constitution outlined that the “only authority conferred is to build up, and not pull down. It is equally apparent that it never occurred to the framers that a county could be destroyed or dissolved by an arbitrary Act of the Legislature.” He concludes with, “To abolish a county and give its territory to others, is to take from the one and add to the others without the consent of the people to be affected… The act is void.” Turney’s argument was that since the Tennessee Constitution of 1870 didn’t specifically outline the dissolution process for a county that the ultimate power resided with the citizens rather than the legislature.

James County v. Hamilton County and Bradley County, from the Tennessee State Supreme Court Records.

With the Supreme Court ruling, James County survived for another 29 years. However, low tax revenues and a crumbling education system forced the General Assembly to reconsider the county’s existence once more. On April 15, 1919, lawmakers passed an act abolishing James County, pending approval of its citizenry. The fate of James County rested with the voting populace, with a referendum determining the matter scheduled for Dec. 11, 1919.

An Act to abolish the county of James and restore the territory to the counties of Bradley and Hamilton, enacted April 15, 1919.
Tennessee State Library & Archives

The Chattanooga News article from December 10, 1919, the day before the annexation referendum.
Tennessee State Library & Archives

Chattanooga newspapers published the unofficial results of the voting on December 12, 1919. The Chattanooga News reported 941 votes in favor of abolition and 77 against. Three days later, local election commissioners reported the official results to the Tennessee Secretary of State, Ike Stevens, recording 953 votes for abolishment, and 78 against. In the final tally, “more than two-thirds of the qualified voters in James County voted in favor of the abolishment of the county.”

Letter reporting the official December 11th referendum results to the Tennessee Secretary of State, RG 87, Election Returns (State, County, & Local), 1796-present.
Tennessee State Library & Archives

With this vote, James County ceased to exist. After 48 years, the counties of Hamilton and Bradley absorbed James County and its government on January 5, 1920. The plight of James County, perhaps more than any other county in Tennessee, proved how important the formation of counties is to understanding Tennessee history. Marriage, birth, and death records from the period, as well as World War I records, all show James County, yet without knowing its history, researchers can become confused. Thankfully, some of James County’s records have survived various fires, and are presently kept by Hamilton County. The Tennessee State Library & Archives also holds the microfilm copies of James County records, available for use by scholars, genealogists, and researchers.

Photograph of the James County Courthouse in Ooltewah.
Tennessee State Library & Archives

Visit "Maps at the Tennessee State Library and Archives" online at http://share.tn.gov/tsla/TeVAsites/MapCollection/index.htm to learn more.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

Lost Counties of Tennessee: Powell County

Tennessee is an ever-changing entity, which is evidenced by the creation and dissolution of counties throughout the state’s history. Some counties were renamed, many were proposed but never formed, and some were created and later abolished. These are sometimes known as Tennessee’s “lost counties.”

This map of Kentucky and Tennessee from 1839 shows Powell County in northeast Tennessee.

The Tennessee State Constitution of 1835 changed the restrictions on new county formation by requiring:

• Counties had to be at least 350 square miles
• They had to have populations of at least 450
• No parts of the counties may be less than 12 miles from adjacent county seat
• Formation of new counties requires consent of the majority of qualified voters
• Existing counties may not be reduced to less than 650 square miles, with some exceptions

Residents of an area in northeast Tennessee petitioned the Tennessee General Assembly to form "Powell County" because citizens “reside from fifteen to thirty miles from the places of holding courts.” Powell - also spelled Powel - County was first established by an act of the state legislature in 1835. It was to be named for Samuel Powell, a United States representative and judge on the first circuit court in Tennessee. The proposed county would have included Kingsport and its county seat would have been Fall Branch.

A petition to the Tennessee General Assembly requested the creation of Powell County from 1835.

An act of the Tennessee legislature establishing Powell County.

It is unclear exactly why the county didn’t formally organize, but an 1836 petition altering the borders of the county points to a size or distance concern.  This turned out to be only a minor setback as the Tennessee General Assembly passed an act establishing Powell County in 1837. However, this effort did not come to fruition. An 1839 petition to the General Assembly called for the organization of the county to be completed, which resulted in a third legislative act attempting to create Powell County.

An act of the Tennessee legislature establishing Powell County.

After the 1837 legislation, a case was filed in Hawkins County Chancery Court to dissolve Powell County. In Orville Bradley et al v. Commissioners of Powell County, the plaintiff, a former Tennessee senator and representative, claimed that the county should not be established for the following reasons: First, a majority of the voting populace did not vote in favor of the new county, only a majority of those who voted did. Second, the county would have been only 260 square miles, not the required 350. The plaintiff also argued that the boundaries of the proposed county “approach within less than eleven miles of the court house” of Greene and Hawkins counties, and “within less than ten miles of the court house” of Sullivan and Washington counties. Third, the proposed county “may reduce Greene County to less than six hundred and twenty five square miles.” Fourth, since the boundaries of the county had “never been actually run and marked” the commissioners couldn’t have known who within the proposed county was eligible to vote.

The Tennessee Supreme Court’s decree in the case: Orville Bradley et al v. The Commissioners of Powell County.

After appointing Addison Armstrong, the son of famous Tennessee surveyor Robert Armstrong, to survey the proposed county, Supreme Court Justice William B. Turley ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, stating, “there are not contained three hundred and fifty square miles…” The Supreme Court therefore upheld the decree of Chancellor Thomas L. Williams, “and doth declare said act of the general assembly utterly null and void…”

Addison Armstrong’s survey and plat of Powell County as ordered by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Armstrong was the deputy surveyor of Knox County at the time.

This ruling didn’t discourage the petitioners who wanted to form the new county. They continued to petition the General Assembly until 1857.

A petition to the Tennessee General Assembly requested the creation of Powell County from 1857.

Powell County, like Bell and many others after it, failed to meet the constitutional thresholds for creation. Understanding the various county laws and constitutional provisions of Tennessee is fundamental to understanding its history. There is no better place to do so than at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

A second plat of Powell County within the Supreme Court case drawn by the deputy surveyor of Hawkins County, Robert W. Kinkead.

Visit "Maps at the Tennessee State Library and Archives" online at http://share.tn.gov/tsla/TeVAsites/MapCollection/index.htm to learn more.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

'Tennessee County' - Another of the State's Lost Counties

A previous post discussed the organization and dissolution of Bell County, Tennessee. That post alluded to the existence of other “lost counties" in the state. Tennessee County is another example of the shifting county borders that once existed, but are now lost to history.

Tennessee County once made up a portion of the Mero District of North Carolina. After North Carolina ceded this land to the United States on April 2, 1790, it became known as the Territory South of the River Ohio, or Southwest Territory, until it was admitted into the union in 1796 as Tennessee, the nation’s 16th state.

This 1796 map of Tennessee shows Tennessee County in the Mero District of Middle Tennessee.

Formed by the state of North Carolina in 1788, Tennessee County was originally part of a much larger Davidson County. Tennessee County was carved out so that residents of the areas north and west of Nashville would have a county seat closer to home.

A published copy of The State Records of North Carolina: Laws, 1777-1788 showing the split of Davidson County to form Tennessee County.

Interestingly, citizens in Tennessee and Davidson counties apparently were the only ones who voted against Tennessee's statehood in the 1795 census. According to Thomas Hardeman, a representative from Davidson County: “A change in the form of government would burden the people with additional taxes.” (Statehood results from Sumner County weren't reported.)

This shows the census schedule from 1795, reporting the number of individuals residing in each county as well as their vote for Tennessee statehood. From the Territorial Papers of the United States: Volume IV.

Once Tennessee became a state in 1796, legislators quickly divided Tennessee County to form Montgomery and Robertson counties, once again due to the size of the county and travel distances to the county seat. Thus, Tennessee County existed no more. Today, the area once covered by Tennessee County’s borders now comprises present-day Dickson, Montgomery, and Robertson counties, as well as parts of Cheatham, Houston, Humphreys, and Stewart counties.

This 1796 act of the Tennessee General Assembly divided Tennessee County into two new counties: Montgomery and Robertson.

Understanding the formation of the counties in Tennessee is fundamental to understanding its history. There is no better place to do so than at the Tennessee State Library & Archives. Visit "Maps at the Tennessee State Library and Archives" online at http://share.tn.gov/tsla/TeVAsites/MapCollection/index.htm to learn more.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

Lost Counties... Bell County, Tennessee

The State of Tennessee is an ever-changing entity, evidenced by the creation and dissolution of counties throughout the state’s history. Some counties were renamed, many were proposed but never formed, and some were created and later abolished. These are sometimes known as Tennessee’s “lost counties.” James County is a famous example in East Tennessee, established in 1871, from parts of Hamilton and Bradley counties, it existed for 49 years until a referendum dissolved it in 1920.

A map of the proposed Bell County, Tennessee.

A flurry of new counties were proposed after the State Constitution of 1870, due to the reduction of size and population thresholds for creation. Bell and Nashoba counties, in southwestern Tennessee, were among those that were proposed but never established, while James County was one that actually materialized. Bell County was proposed by an act of the state legislature on December 20, 1870, created from the southern sections of Fayette, Hardeman, and McNairy counties.

An 1870 Public Act of the Tennessee General Assembly that established Bell County.

New counties are established for a variety of reasons; residents often want to have a county seat closer to home, and may also desire more local governance. It is unclear exactly why the citizens of the proposed Bell County wished for their own dominion, but they overwhelmingly did. In the referendum held on February 22, 1871, the citizens voted 1284 to 295 in favor of the new county.

The March 2, 1871 issue of the Somerville Falcon that reported the results of the referendum.

However, the commissioners of the existing counties did not relinquish the land so easily. Running through the middle of the proposed county was the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, which to these rural counties was an important source of tax revenue. At least two court cases were filed to quash the formation of this new county: The Counties of Hardeman and Fayette et al v. J. C. Wells et al; and Thomas H. Cocke et al v. John G. Gooch et al.

The court case, The Counties of Hardeman and Fayette et al v. J. C. Wells et al, attempted to block the creation of Bell County, reached the Tennessee Supreme Court.

The court case, Thomas H. Cocke et al v. John G. Gooch et al, was filed in Fayette County Chancery Court by the county commissioners and, due to issues of constitutionality, reached the Tennessee Supreme Court.

In the latter case, the plaintiffs argued that Bell County was unconstitutionally established, because the number of votes in favor of the new county was not a two-thirds majority of the voting populace, just a two-thirds majority of those who voted. The plaintiffs prevailed with a Supreme Court opinion written by Judge Peter Turney, who later became Governor. Article 4 of the State Constitution at the time defined qualified voters to be “Every male person of the age of twenty-one years, being a citizen of the United States and a resident of this State for twelve months, and of the county for six months…” Casting aside various arguments presented by the defense, Turney decreed “In the case of all laws, it is the intent of the lawgiver that is to be enforced… It is to be presumed that language has been employed with sufficient precision to convey it, and …nothing will remain except to enforce it.” He goes on to say, “The language of the clause is plain and unambiguous…” and that “we can not presume that the framers of the Constitution did not understand the plain and unambiguous expressions employed to mean more or less than their face imparts.”

Thomas H. Cocke et al v. John G. Gooch et al, determined the fate of Bell County. The Tennessee Supreme Court and Justice Peter Turney ruled that the results of the referendum did not constitute a constitutional majority, and therefore Bell County could not be established.

Bell County is a well-documented example of the complex process of county organization. It is important to understand how the state and its counties came into being, and there is no better place to do so than at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Visit "Maps at the Tennessee State Library and Archives" online at http://share.tn.gov/tsla/TeVAsites/MapCollection/index.htm to learn more.

Addendum: Nashoba County, seen on the map, faced the same fate as Bell County. It too was legislated into being but never jumped the legal hurdles to establish its existence; in fact it most likely stagnated as a direct result of Bell County’s failure.

An 1871 Public Act of the Tennessee General Assembly that established Nashoba County.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State