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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Meigs County, Tennessee.
Official Website
History
Before 1819, the area that is now Meigs County was part of the Cherokee nation.
Especially following the American Revolutionary War, land-hungry European-American settlers began to enter this territory in greater number. They established ferries across the Tennessee River from Rhea County as early as 1807. Colonel Return J. Meigs, a Revolutionary veteran and namesake for the county, was appointed as the United States Indian agent, based in Rhea County until 1817. He supervised trade with the Cherokee. That year, the agency was moved to an area in what is now Meigs County.
In 1819, the US made what is known as the Calhoun Treaty with the Cherokee, forcing them to cede lands north of the Hiwassee River for European-American settlement. Meigs County was formed by the Tennessee legislature in 1836.
In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, and the US started forcibly removing the Five Civilized Tribes from the Southeast. The Cherokee were the last to go. They were gathered in internment camps in Tennessee and Alabama before being forced on the long overland journey to Indian Territory, known as the "Trail of Tears." Many crossed the Tennessee River at Blythe Ferry, in the southwestern part of Meigs County.
In June 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, the people of Meigs County were among the few in East Tennessee to vote in favor of Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession. The county voted 481 to 267 in favor of the Ordinance, which severed the state's ties to the Union. The county provided troops for both sides during the course of the war.
Adjacent Counties
Towns & Communities
- Big Spring
- Birchwood (part)
- Cute
- Decatur (County Seat)
- Euchee
- Georgetown (part)
- Ten Mile (part)
Links
National Register of Historic Places
