Thomas Thornburgh

Thomas Thornburg was the son of Benjamin Eli Thornburg and second wife Mary Brooks. He was born c.1761 in Berkeley County, Virginia and died in 1832 in Liberty Corners, Delaware County, Indiana. He married Rebecca Stillwell and had a large family.

Rebecca Stillwell was the daughter of William Stillwell. She was born in 1765 and she died in 1839 in Delaware County, Indiana. She married Thomas Thornburg.

Thomas and Rebecca lived for a time in Greene County, North Carolina and some of the children were born there. Greene County has an interesting history. It was one of the principal counties of the State of Franklin.

The State of Franklin (also the Free Republic of Franklin or the State of Frankland) was an unrecognized, autonomous "territory" located in what is today eastern Tennessee. Franklin was created in 1784 from part of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains that had been offered by North Carolina as a cession to Congress to help pay off debts related to the American War for Independence. It was founded with the intent of becoming the fourteenth state of the new United States.

A few months later, realizing the land could not at that time be used for its intended purpose of paying the debts of Congress, and coupled with the perceived loss of economic (e.g., real estate) opportunities, a newly elected North Carolina Legislature rescinded the offer of cession. It re-asserted its claim to the remote western district. The North Carolina lawmakers ordered judges to hold court in the western counties and arranged to enroll a brigade of soldiers for defense, appointing John Sevier to form it.

Rapidly increasing dissatisfaction with North Carolina's governance led to the frontiersmen's calls to establish a separate, secure, and independent state. On August 23, 1784, delegates from the North Carolina counties of Washington (which at the time included present day Carter County), Sullivan, Spencer (now Hawkins County) and Greene—all counties in present-day Tennessee—convened in the town of Jonesborough. There, they declared the lands to be independent of the State of North Carolina.

On May 16, 1785, a delegation submitted a petition for statehood to Congress. Eventually, seven states voted to admit what would have been the 14th federal state under the proposed name of Frankland. This was, however, less than the two-thirds majority required under the Articles of Confederation to add additional states to the confederation.

Franklin, still at odds with North Carolina over taxation, protection, and other issues, began operating as a de facto independent republic after the failed statehood attempt. Franklin opened courts, incorporated and annexed five new counties, and fixed taxes and officers' salaries. Barter became the economic system de jure, with anything in common use among the people allowed in payment to settle debts, including corn, tobacco, apple brandy, and skins. Federal or foreign currencies were accepted. All citizens were granted a two-year reprieve on paying taxes, but the lack of hard currency and economic infrastructure slowed development and often created confusion. The year 1786 was the beginning of the end of the small state, with several key residents and supporters of the state withdrawing their support in favor of a newly interested North Carolina. Up until this point, Franklin had not had the benefit of either the federal army or the North Carolina militia. In late 1786, North Carolina offered to waive all back taxes if Franklin would reunite with its government. When this offer was popularly rejected in 1787, North Carolina moved in with troops under the leadership of Col. John Tipton and re-established its own courts, jails, and government at Jonesborough. The two rival administrations now competed side by side.

The September 1787 meeting of the Franklin legislature was its last. At the end of 1787, loyalties remained divided among residents, and came to a head on February 29, 1788, in the "Battle of Franklin". After the dissolution of the State of Franklin in February 1789, continued support of the separate state movement was confined largely to Sevier County, specifically in the country south of the French Broad River. The people there realized that the only entity recognizing title to their land holdings had been Franklin. Both North Carolina and the Federal (Confederation) government supported the Cherokee claims as set forth in the Treaty of Hopewell, and considered settlers in the area "squatters".

This led to the formation of a "Lesser Franklin" government, with an Articles of Association similar to the earlier Watauga Constitution. In 1789 these Articles were adopted at Newell's Station, which served as the seat of government for the wider area of Lesser Franklin, including all the settled country south of the French Broad. The Lesser Franklin government finally ended in 1791, when Governor William Blount, of the newly formed Southwest Territory, met the Cherokee chieftains on the site of the future Knoxville, and they made the Treaty of Holston. The Overhill Cherokee now acknowledged the authority of the United States government, and ceded to the Federal government all of their lands south of the French Broad, almost as far as the Little Tennessee River.

By early 1789, the government of the State of Franklin had collapsed entirely and the territory was firmly back under the control of North Carolina. Soon thereafter, North Carolina once again ceded the area to the federal government to form the Southwest Territory, the precursor to the State of Tennessee.

Children of Thomas Thornburg and Rebecca Stillwell:

• Rachel Thornburg, born 1787, married Patrick McCullogh
• Eli Thornburg, 1789-1854, married Elizabeth (unk)
• Thomas Thornburg, born 1790, married Sarah Hill
• Uriah T. Thornburg, born 1791, married Ann Gowdy
• Asahel T. Thornburg, 1792-1892, married Rebecca Stansbury
• John B. Thornburgh, 1794-1860, married Julianna Short
• William Thornburgh, 1797-1838, married Catherine Murphy
• Rebecca Thornburg, born 1800, married Daniel DeWitt

Links to additional material:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Franklin