Captain John Rains, born 1743 - 1753

On Christmas 1779 he led his family and livestock across the frozen Cumberland and settled in this vicinity. In 1784 he built a fort that enclosed the spring 75 yards east. At James Robertson's orders he often led a company of scouts against Indians. His home was on this hill until he died in 1834, age 91.

http://www.nashville.gov/mhc/historical_markers/notable_people.asp#adolphusheiman

John Rains was one of the "long hunters" in Kentucky and Tennessee as early as 1769, according to "Calendar of the Tennessee & Kings Mountain Papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts," Volume III.  Cleve Weathers wrote, "Capt. John Rains apparently had already been in Southwest Virginia for at least four years before his marriage to Christiannah Gowen, since he left on the famous Long Hunters expedition on June 2, 1769, starting from Reedy Creek at New River, about eight miles from Ft. Chiswell. 

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gowenrf/Gowenms044.htm

Christianna Gowen was married about 1771, perhaps in Fincastle County [later Montgomery County,] Virginia to John Rains who was born in 1743.

John Rains had made a trip to Kentucky during which he met Capt. James Robertson, founder of Nashville who persuaded him to go to Tennessee with him.  John Rains who had hunted on the Cumberland River for many years, led a group of settlers to Ft. Nashborough in 1779. 

"No group on the Western waters was more adventurous than those men who were hunters.  Always on the front line of each new frontier, the hunters learned to travel, hunt and explore lands just beyond the settlements.  They were the first to bring reports of excellent rivers, bold springs, and fertile lands. 

They were among the first to bring reports and evidence of a wide variety of animals which could be found easily enough to earn the hunter $1,600-$1,700 per season, a sum not often realized in the entire lifetime of a farmer of the same period. The hunts into the wilderness usually began in October and extended into March or April of the following year.

During this period the furs and hides were of the finest quality and brought the highest prices. As it became necessary to travel greater distances the hunting expeditions became even more extended, lasting nine to eighteen months and sometimes even two years. When this happened the men who went on these expeditions became known as the Long Hunters.

http://www.angelfire.com/co3/Skaggs/stories/long.html -------------------- John Rains who was born in 1743 in Culpepper County, Virginia [originally Or-ange County]. He was one of the "long hunters" in Kentucky and Tennessee as early as 1769, according to "Draper Collection of Manuscripts.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gowenrf/nl199305.htm

John Rains had made a trip to Kentucky during which he met Capt. James Robertson, founder of Nashville who persuaded him to go to Tennessee with him. John Rains who had hunted on the Cumberland River for many years, led a group of set-tlers to Ft. Nashbor-ough in 1779.