By Susan HuettemanAppalachians are the oldest mountain chain in North America
1688
Mathieu Agee, nobleman with Hugeunot faith leaves France; King William III of
Orange provides free passage to New World for all his supporters
1690
Mathieu Agee arrives in Virginia, marries Ann Godwin; son Anthony and three other children
1730
Dragging Canoe, Chickamauga Cherokee leader, fights pioneer settlers
1747
b. James White, son of Irish immigrants; principal founder of Knoxville
1754
Tennessee claimed by Spain, France, and Great Britain
Native Americans allies to British in French and Indian War, ends 1763
Tennessee land in North Carolina seized from French
1756
Fort Loudon built to prevent Native American access to land
French and Indian Wars bring white settlers; Native Americans sell and lease land
1759
Cherokee War in southern Appalachians, surrender land 1759-1761
1760
Scotch-Irish, Ulster Scots, cross from eastern Appalachians
Chickasaw's distrust British, lay siege on Ft. Loudon; peace returned 1761
1763
British claim Cherokee Louisiana, including Tennessee region
French surrenders, losing all possession in North America
British ban white settlements west of Appalachians (ignored)
1764
French and Indian wars relinquish Appalachian region to British
White settlements east and Native Americans west of Appalachians
White and Native American settlements coexist in East Tennessee and Kentucky
1766
b. Sequoyah, 1766 (alt.1760)-1843, Cherokee known as George Guess, develops syllabary for Cherokee language, teaching
Cherokees to read and write
1767
b. Old Hickory, Andrew Jackson, Tennessee 1767-1845
Mason Dixon Line established between slave state Maryland and free state Pennsylvania
1770
Land speculator John Sevier crosses mountains to fight British and Tories
b. Sequoyah, develops Cherokee alphabet, 1770-1843
1771
North Carolinians settle Tennessee, settle Watauga and Nolichucky River areas
1772
Although still part of North Carolina, Tennessee's Watauga Association is first democratic government with five Magistrates.
Daniel Boone marks trails from Virginia to Kentucky at the Cumberland Gap, main route to Tennessee and negotiates ten-year lease from the Cherokee
1773
No schools in Tennessee; Rev. Samuel Carrick teaches James White
1775
The American Revolution.
Cherokee land in Tennessee and Kentucky purchased by North Carolina
1784
Scots-Irish
from PA, VA, and NC North Carolina's "Washington District of North Carolina," called "Frankland" and finally, Franklin
1786
James White builds a log cabin in future sight of Knoxville, Tennessee
1775
American War of Independence, 1775-1783
Tennessee part of North Carolina
1776
Declaration of Independence
1779
Cumberland Basin is future site of Knoxville, a way station in Indian trade
1780
Knoxville earliest architecture: John White's log house
1782
Eastern Tennessee, Kentucky, and western Pennsylvania pioneers are Scots-Irish, German, and English. Intermarriage establishes "American characteristic"
1783
Treaty of Paris, Britain recognizes independence of American colonies
Land Grant Act sells all but military land and Cherokee reservation
Knoxville settlement: William Blount and James White are leaders
1784
Southern North Carolinas establish their own state, 1784-1788, named after Benjamin Franklin. Franklin has Constitution and Governor, John Sevier, but is not recognized by Federal Government. Becomes
Tennessee, 1796
1785
Franklin readmitted to North Carolina; Governor Sevier becomes North Carolina senator
1786
James White of Knoxville encloses cluster of four cabins with fort; becomes its leader
b. David Crockett in Limestone, Tennessee, becomes pro-Indian legislator
1787
U. S. Constitution signed
1788
Congress denies Franklin government; North Carolina charges treason
Federalist William Blount wants Cherokees and Chickasaws out of western NC
Tennessee once again a part of North Carolina
Charles McClung surveys land that will become Knoxville
Knoxville is designed as a grid of 64 half-acre streets
Knoxville becomes capitol of Territory of the United States
South of the River Ohio or Southwest Territory (alt.1789)
1789
George Washington, 1st
U. S. President; appoints William Blount Governor-Superintendent of Territory of Tanasie. Named for a Cherokee village Tanasie, becomes Tennessee (alt.1790). Population 77,262, with 66,649 freemen (60,000 necessary for statehood)
1790
Tennessee Walking Horse bred
1791
Benjamin Franklin creates independent postal service for Continental Congress
Land lottery in Tennessee, October 3
First Creek,
junction of the Tennessee River, site of Treaty of Holston with Cherokee. Territory South of River Ohio. The territorial capitol is named Knoxville for the Secretary of War Henry Knox
1792
Knoxville is a Way Station for trade with Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creeks
1793
Last campaign against Cherokee
b. Sam Houston, Marysville, TN, 1739-1863, runs away to live with Cherokee
1794
Knoxville incorporated
Blount College founded at Gay, Clinch, State and Church Streets; now University of Tennessee. Greeneville College created; now Tusculum College
1795
b. James Knox Polk, Maury Country, 1795-1849; later becomes Governor of Tennessee, and U. S. President in 1844
1796
Tennessee drafts first of three constitutions before becoming 16th
North American state with John Sevier as Governor, and Andrew Jackson as U. S. congressman.
Slaves can vote and hold property, African Americans free but segregated
Tennessee enters Union, June 1; Knoxville is state capital
Three city blocks added to Knoxville; lottery for land brings 15 miles of improved roadways for Knoxville. Population is English, Scots-Irish, and
Germanic. East Tennessee Quakers establish "Society for Promoting Manuission (freeing) Slaves. Knoxville has two anti-slavery newspapers.
1798
Andrew Jackson moves to Tennessee, becomes lawyer
Knoxville levies a tax to aid the poor
1800
Tennessee supports Thomas Jefferson's Republican Party (later named Democratic-Republican and finally Democratic Party). Popular East Tennessee leaders:
John Sevier, Willie Blount, Sam Houston, and William Carroll. Knoxville's Blount Mansion, exists today. Tennessee Population 240,000
1802
Knoxville no longer Capitol of Tennessee
1804
Girls admitted to Blount College in Knoxville; Female Academy founded
Knoxville is military outpost with barracks at Gay and Main Streets
1807
Kingston, TN is capitol for one day; Capitol returns to Knoxville until 1811
Bank formed in Nashville with branch at Knoxville by 1820
1808
b. Andrew Johnson, Tennessee, 1808-1875; Vice
President for U. S. President Lincoln, becomes U. S. President in 1864
Sam Houston, age 13, runs away from home to live with Cherokees
1809
Water from First Creek held in a reservoir by Knoxville Waterworks, Inc.
Sequoyah develops Cherokee Alphabet
1810
Flat boat or "ark" is main transportation for river crossings, 1810-1817
1811
Knoxville no longer Capitol of Tennessee
Earth sinks in an earthquake in northwestern Tennessee, forcing the Mississippi River to flow backward, creating Reelfoot Lake
1812
War of 1812: British captures and burns Washington, DC, August.
Tennessee volunteers join battle, becoming known as the "Volunteer State."
Tennessee's Andrew Jackson fights the
battle of New Orleans, defeating British in 1815; enters Senate in 1823 and wins Presidency in 1829
Nashville Capitol of Tennessee until 1817, then it is returned to Knoxville
1813
Tennessee's Sam Ho U. S. ton aids Andrew Jackson in war against the Creeks. Davy
Crocket, Jackson's scout, enters politics, later joining Houston in Texas, where he dies at the Alamo in 1836
1815
Cherokee establish Ross' Landing in Chickamauga Valley, forming a Nation in 1820
1817
Knoxville political Capitol again, meeting in taverns and court house, until 1818
Private Library Company founded in Knoxville
1818
Sequoyah, George Guess', Cherokee alphabet has 86 letters, adopted 1821
Western Monitor and Religious Observer" promotes
religious tolerance and emancipation of slaves in Knoxville
1820
Andrew Jackson's Internal Improvement Act develops roads and rivers in Tennessee
1821
Knoxville leaders Sevier and Williams feud with Democrat Andrew Jackson
1824
Bureau of Indian Affairs established by Congress
1825
Andrew Johnson moves to Tennessee, speaks against Confederacy
First Cherokee newspaper, "Cherokee Phoenix" in English and Cherokee
1826
The first Episcopal Church service held in Knoxville
1827
Sam Houston elected Governor of Tennessee
1828
Whig James K. Polk not popular in home state of Tennessee
Andrew Jackson first Presidential Candidate to be chosen at a National Convention
Andrew Jackson not a Native American advocate
Gold discovered on Cherokee territory
Cherokee newspaper is "Cherokee Phoenix and Indian Advocate
1829
Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee formed in Nashville
Tennessee's Andrew Jackson, Democrat, 7th
President and first from "the west", 1829-1837. Opposing leaders: Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun, who with John Bell and Hugh Lawson White (Knoxville) form Whig party. The Whig newspaper later becomes "The Knoxville Journal."
1830
"Trail of Tears:" President Andrew Jackson approves the Indian Removal Act; Native Americans walk to lands west of Mississippi River, 1830-1838
Tennessee General Assembly sets corporate limits of Knoxville: shops and stores
Plantations located in East Tennessee have 10% slave population.
1831
Cherokee Nation subject to federal law, not state law.
Knoxville Lyceum organizes library and lectures; Knoxville Junto literary club formed
1832
Andrew Jackson moves Choctaws and
then Cherokees, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles west of Mississippi River
Andrew Jackson delays chartering of U. S. Bank; Tennessee forms own bank
1834
Tennessee Constitution revokes African American right to vote
1835
South wants two-term limit for presidents; Second Tennessee Constitution (alt.1834)
1836
Knoxville's Hugh Lawson White,
co-founder of Whig party, runs for presidency and is defeated by Martin Van Buren. Knoxville is an anti-Democratic party stronghold
1837
Economic depression
1838
Cherokee moved to
Arkansas Territory in the Trail of Tears; removal of the "Five Civilized Tribes," despite their adoption of contemporary lifestyles: Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Cherokee Native Americans to
"Indian Territory" in OK, KS, & NE; 1000 Cherokee hide in the Great Smoky Mountains. Indian Territory eliminated when Oklahoma becomes a state in 1907
1839
Tennessee's James K. Polk reorganizes Democratic Party and becomes governor
1842
Congress pays for ceded Native American land
Railroad development in Tennessee
Nashville is permanent capitol of Tennessee
Knoxville's Deaf and Dumb Asylum becomes City Hall, Greek Revival style
1844
Act of Tennessee Legislature to open new Deaf and Dumb School in Knoxville
Knoxville's Young Men's Literary Society formed
Knoxville Episcopal Church has 25 communicants
1845
Tennessee's James Polk, Democrat, becomes 11th President, 1845-1849
Two acres provided for Tennessee Deaf and Dumb School
Victorian Era, architectural period, 1845-1900
1850
Mid-Victorian Period (1850-1880)
Fugitive Slave Act passed
Runabouts, fur wheeled one seat vehicle sold by Sears
"Southern Convention" convenes in Nashville, slavery dominating politics and affected trade with north; talk of secession not favored by most
in Tennessee;
Tennessee's Presidential candidate John Bell calls for preservation of Union and Constitution; Bell is defeated by Republican Abraham Lincoln in 1854
Knoxville is Unionist but also pro-slavery.
Influx of immigrants to Knoxville area: French-Swiss seeking religious freedom; Germans and Roman Catholic Irish work for the railroad.
1852
Harriet Beecher Stowe writes Uncle Tom's Cabin
1854
Republican Party formed
Cisterns dug for use as firewater in Knoxville
1857
Supreme Court's Dred Scott rules slave is not a citizen
1858
Knoxville connected to all major eastern and southern cities by railroad
First telegraph in Knoxville
1860
Tennessee votes for John Bell, Whig, for President; Abraham Lincoln wins, becomes 16th U. S. President; South Carolina secedes from Union
Railroad mergers interrupted by Civil War
East Tennessee valued for mining and manufacturing of iron, coal, copper and minerals
Independence in all things, neutral in nothing
Whig Campaign slogan (C 114)
1861
Democratic Knoxville and Republican Knox Country split on Union-Confederacy
East Tennessee is pro Union, meet at Andrew Johnson's home
East Tennessee wants to become separate state, as did West Virginia.
West Virginia surrounded by Union; Knoxville surrounded by Confederacy
Civil War (1861-1865): Confederates attack Fort Sumter, South Carolina, April 12
Whig newspapers banned in Confederate states
Knoxville strong Whig and pro Union; sabotages RR to prevent Confederate entry
Tennessee Troops: 125,000 Confederates and 70,000 Unionists, including 12,000 African Americans
U. S. Treasury issues greenbacks (paper money) to pay for Civil War
Tennessee is 11th and last Southern state to secede from Union, June 8
1862
Union wins Civil War; U. S. President Lincoln appoints Andrew Johnson of East
Tennessee the "military Governor of Tennessee; he is Lincoln's running mate in 1864
1863
President Lincoln establishes Abolition of Slavery in U. S.
East Tennessee. Confederate "entrepôt," commissary in Knoxville
Longstreet's Confederates and Federal Army of Cumberland attempt take
over of Knoxville in battle at Chickamanga
Union forces reach Knoxville, November 17; railroad destroyed.
Knoxville newspapers are Brownlow's Knoxville Whig & Rebel Ventilator and Republican Chronicle
African American school established in Knoxville
1864
Confederates leave Knoxville, December 4-5
Civil War over in Knoxville, April
1865
Vice President Andrew Johnson frees his own slaves, Aug U. S. t 8
Andrew Johnson 17th U. S. President when Lincoln is assassinated, April 9, 1865
Confederate General Lee surrenders, Civil War ends
13th Amendment abolishes slavery in U. S.
Tennessee Governor Brownlow disenfranchises ex-Confederates; Republican Party and Union loyalists
dominate.
Ku Klux Klan organized by six former Confederate officers in Pulaski, TN, winter 1865-1866 (alt.1867)
1866
Tennessee first state to be readmitted to Union in Reconstruction, July 24
Tennessee ratifies 14th Amendment, guaranteeing political rights to all U. S. citizens
May 30 race riots in Memphis; Governor Brownlow imposes military law
Tennessee' Fisk University for African Americans founded (alt.1867)
General Nathan Bedford Forrest opposes Radical
Reconstruction, becomes KKK Wizard, KKK outlawed in Tennessee in 1869
1867
Gas restored following Civil War shut down
Reconstruction Act, military rule of former Confederate states except TN
Andrew Jackson returns 6,000 slaves to Liberia
Tennessee fails financial support for promised free public education
1868
U. S. 14th Amendment, Civil Rights for African Americans
Congress tries to impeach President Andrew Johnson, fails by one vote
President Johnson seeks to return Tennessee to the Union;
pardons Southerners Knoxville rebuilds business district.
1869-1870
15th Amendment guarantees all males right to vote
Universal manhood suffrage adopted, but public schools segregated
Tennessee Republican African Americans participate and win public office 1869-1880's, then not again until 1964
Ku Klux Klan Acts 1870-1871; militia engaged to protect "Black rights"
Knoxville schools: tuition payment; 76.3% African American and 71.5% Caucasian
Knoxville's Hoxie Hall on Gay Street and Market Square hall host opera troupes
Population of Knoxville: 8,682
1871
Knoxville U.S. Post Office & Custom House opens with TN marble exterior
1872
Tennessee's first African American serves in legislature, barber Sampson W. Keeble
Knoxville's Staub Opera House on Gay & Cumberland Streets has first play
1873
Tennessee educational system enacts School Law; county schools by 1879
Knoxville Cholera epidemic; establishes Board of Health
Knoxville Benevolent Assoc. founded; home for girls in need; Knoxville home
for the poor established; St. John's Episcopal Church founds first orphanage
"To all children who need help and to everyone who tries to help them."
The opening to "The Quiet One," by James Agee
1874
Knoxville schools non sectarian and integrated
1875
Former President Andrew Johnson wins Tennessee Senate seat, dies soon after
1876
Horse drawn street railways in Knoxville, February 11.
No books in Knoxville schools, oral education
1878
b. Hugh James Agee, April 15; nicknamed "Jay"
Knoxville has four schools
1880
Knoxville: first telephone with 30 subscribers, by 1890 has 350 subscribers; streets paved with cobblestone; new bridge built; water purged sanitary system, drains into 3rd
Creek and Tennessee River until 1942, disposal plants are developed in 1956
1883
Knoxville is one of sixteen American cities with water works
1885
Knoxville establishes textile mills, called "Queen City of the Mountain"
Electric but flickering street lights in Knoxville
1887
No alcohol within seven miles of a public school in Knoxville
1888
Fire system established in Knoxville
1889
b. Charles Spencer Chaplin (April 16, 1889-1977), to be a close friend of James Agee
1890
Tennessee's third party, the People's Party assists election of Democrat John Buchanan
Knoxville an economic, political and cultural city: 50 wholesale houses, electric power streetcar system to the
"suburbs," cows outlawed on street; population 22,000
Great Smoky Mountains narrow gauge railroad goes to Knoxville
1892
St. Johns Episcopal Church located on Cumberland and Walnut
City sewage in Knoxville
1893
Tennessee legislates tax-supported secondary schools
Knoxville builds home for the poor, later Hillcrest Medical Nursing Institute
Knoxville streets resurfaced with brick; running water available to homes
1894
b. Bessie Smith, Chattanooga, favorite blues singer of author Langston Hughes Southern Railway in Knoxville, monopoly
1895
Knoxville: James G. Sterchi, French Swiss immigrant, opens Knoxville furniture store at Vine Street; water charges are by number of rooms and U. S. e for water filtration system; electric
lights $12 per month with no hissing or flickering
1896
Knoxville establishes Florence Crittenton Home for girls in need
1897
Knoxville Traction Company: consolidated streetcar line
1898
Spanish-American War
Roger Cadillac develops horseless carriage
Knoxville annexes north and west suburbs-sites for Agee and Tyler homes
1899
Latin and English taught in Knoxville Schools
1900
Knoxville: population 32,673; 30% workforce in manufacturing and mechanical jobs (1900-1930's); ten commercial banks; and railroad stations built in Gothic
style
1901
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U. S. President
James G. Sterchi opens Sterchi Brothers at 114 Gay St., Knoxville
1902
Hugh James Agee, leaves teaching to work for U. S. Post Office
1903
Tennessee long distance telephone service in Knoxville
1904
Hugh James Agee assigned to U. S. Post Office, Cristobal, Panama (1904-1906)
1905
L&N Railroad organized as Knoxville, LaFollette, & Jellico RR; Southern RR system runs the John Sevier yard in NE
Knoxville; Knoxville Railway & Light Co., 85 vehicles and 42 miles of track by 1910
1906
Laura Tyler chaperoned by her brother and against her parent's wishes, marries Hugh James Agee in
Panama; live in Canal Zone, 1906-1907
1907
Railroad man Oliver calls for Knoxville to be less conservative and more "daring"
Temperance: Pendleton Bill to establish Knoxville as "a city without saloons;"
Knoxville forms Knoxville Writers Club and the Washington Avenue Reading Circle;
b. Knoxville: African American
minister James Herman Robinson, author and founder of Operation Crossroads Africa, the model for the Peace Corps
1908
Knoxville's William J. Oliver, plow manufacturer is low bidder, for Panama
Canal construction, completed by Army Corps of Engineers; First Knoxville Exposition; Bijou Theatre built, screen and projection, movies and vaudeville in 1915, future premiere site for "All the Way Home,"
based on Agee's novel A Death in the Family
1909
James Agee born to Hugh James and Laura Tyler Agee, Knoxville, Tennessee, November 27, 1909
Tennessee Prohibition, Women's Christian Temperance
Union and Anti-Saloon Leagues enforce a dry state
1910
Old Knoxville High School built; Junior High schools established, 1911-1915
James Rufus Agee baptized at St. John Episcopal Church, March 10
1912
Woodrow Wilson, 28th U. S. President
Knoxville's Nicholson Art League formed, exhibitions and art history discussions; by 1913 teaching art appreciation curriculum
called "practical art", by 1922 includes crafts. The ten members include Agee's maternal grandfather Hugh C. Tyler
1913
Henry Ford's first Model T assembly line
Tennessee allocates a third of state income for education
Telephone exchange office in Knoxville (dial service in 1928); Knoxville's Gem Theatre on Vine and Central has first integrated motion picture
showing; Union Avenue near Market Square has fire hydrant, cobblestone streets, electric streetcar, horse drawn buggies, and automobiles
Knoxville Exposition: President William Howard Taft sees area as potential
"millionaires", but President Franklin D. Roosevelt, wanting his New Deal to succeed, sees East Tennessee as economically depressed
1914
World War I begins; Tennessee produces smokeless gunpowder
Knoxville: provides work training for handicapped students
1916
Knoxville school attendance "compulsory," but not enforced; 50% drop out in 1st grade
Members of the Central Mothers Association organized in Knoxville, later called PTA
Hugh James "Jay" Agee works for father-in-law, TY-SA-MAN machinery
The Hugh James Agee family lives in the 2nd house from the corner, 1505 Highland Avenue in West Knoxville, Tennessee.
Hugh James Agee, father of James Rufus and Emma, dies in an automobile crash, May 16; burial May 20 ~
1917
Charlie Chaplin signs first million-dollar movie contract
U. S. enters WWI; 100,000 Tennessee volunteers
Knoxville: annexations increase to 26 square miles; public school has library; streetcar service suburbs
1918
Tennessee's Alvin C. York is WWI hero (great-great-great-grandfather hunted with Davy Crockett)
Knoxville has 38 schools; Laura Agee rents cottage by St. Andrews School
1919
Prohibition, 18th Amendment
Knoxville experiences racial and worker tensions, riots, and rise of KKK; St. Johns Episcopal Church rebuilt after fire, later known as "Cathedral"
James Agee attends St. Andrews boarding school on the Cumberland Plateau near Sewanee, TN (alt. 1918)
1920
Women's right to vote, 19th Amendment
First sound-on-film movie by Warner Brothers
Fear of "red politics" rages
~ The way of life in Tennessee had not changed much
Few challenged old rural ways.
American The Beautiful (54)
1921
Knoxville: Sterchi free park opens; first radio station opens, WNOX, one of nation's oldest; WNAX religious station
1923
Knoxville: traffic signals installed; First Community
Chest; School for the Deaf becomes Knoxville City Hall
1924
Teaching theory of evolution in public schools is a crime in Tennessee
Knoxville: overcrowded schools result in Junior High School system
James Agee attends Knoxville High School, Spring 1924-1925
1925
Tennessee schools: evolution rule challenged by John Thomas Scopes in Dayton; Scopes arrested; trial known as Monkey Trial and
argued by William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow; law upheld; repealed in 1967. Grand Ole Opry begins
Agee attends Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH
1926
Agee writes "The Circle" for The Monthly, story about a father's death
1929
Great Depression: stock market crash, Black Tuesday, October 30
Old Knoxville "died October 28": TVA
established for flood control; major Knoxville payrolls: TVA, Oak Ridge, and University of Tennessee
Agee works in wheat fields in NE, OK, and near Glade, KS, summer, first paying job
1930
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt urges women to be "leaders in their own households."
The 77 story Chrysler Building (where Agee works in 1932), Art Deco spire
W.J. Savage manufacturing formed in
Knoxville; 350 manufacturing and 20 textile and clothing plants; metal working and marble exports
1931
"The Star-Spangled Banner," official national anthem
Agee president of "Harvard Advocate;" hired by "Fortune" magazine
1933
Cordell Hull of Tennessee draws up plan for the United Nations
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd
U. S. President, launches New Deal
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 7 dams and locks: Knoxville to KY to Ohio, May 18
Knoxville: streetcar tracks torn up for bus service
