Jeremiah Jack (7th Great Grandfather)

Jeremiah Jack Nov 13, 1750-Jun 23, 1833 Jeremiah Jack was under Gov. Sevier at the Rev. War Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina. His 1st cousin once removed was Captain James Jack of Charlotte, N.C. who carried the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence to Philadelphia in 1775. Jeremiah Jack Sr. on July 16, 1792 was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Knox County.  In 1794 Jeremiah Jack's signature appears on document #7969, Acts, Territory South of the Ohio River printed in Knoxville. The signature of John Jack was on the reverse side of the document. John was perhaps Jeremiah's brother .  This document is in the Henry E. Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Jeremiah Jack's wife was Martha Gillespie. Martha was the daughter of Col. George Gillespie who had one of the 1st stone houses built in TN, located in Limestone, TN near the log cabin birthplace of Davy Crockett. Davy Crockett's father helped Col. Gillespie clear his land when he settled in Limestone, TN.  Nancy Ward, "Beloved Woman", a Cherokee Princess saved the lives of Jeremiah Jack and William Rankin when their upper Nolachucky settlement was out of food. The two settlers went in a canoe down the Tennessee River to trade clothes for corn at the Indian trading center at Chota. They got into a disagreement with the Indians and their lives were threatened. Their rifles were hidden under the clothes to trade in their canoe. Nancy Ward stepped in to help negociate the trade and saved their lives. They loaded up the canoe with corn and returned to their settlement thanks to the intercession of Nancy Ward.

Burial: Lebanon-In-The-Forks Cemetery  Knox County Tennessee, USA Plot: Unmarked grave by 4 white column church memorial near lhe rear left white column as you face the front of the memorial. Original marker burned when church burned down. The Annals of Tennessee to the end of the eighteenth century by James Gettys McGready Ramsey pg273 During the infancy of the settlements on Nollichucky, corn had become scarce, and availing themselves of a short suspension of hostilities, Jeremiah Jack and William Rankin, of Greene county, descended the river in a canoe, for the purpose of bartering with the Indians for corn. They reached Coiatee without interruption. The warriors of that place refused to exchange or sell the corn, and manifested other signs of suspicion, if not of open enmity. They entered the canoe and lifted up some wearing apparel lying in it, and which covered their rifles. This discovery increased the unwillingness of the Indians to trade, and they began to show a disposition to offer violence to their white visitants. The beloved woman, Nancy Ward, was happily present, and was able by her commanding influence to appease their wrath, and to bring about friendly feelings between the parties. The little Indians were soon clad in the home made vestments brought by the traders--the canoe was filled with corn, and the white men started on their return voyage well pleased with the exchange they had made, and especially with the kind offices of the beloved woman. On their return, the white men landed and camped one night, a mile above the mouth of French Broad, on the north bank of the little sluice of that river. Mr. Jack was so well pleased with the place, that he afterwards selected it as his future residence, and actually settled and improved it on his emigration to the present Knox county, in 1787. Nancy Ward (Nanyehi) was a Cherokee. She was the daughter of Francis Ward, a white man living in the Cherokee nation, and a Cherokee woman called Tame Doe. She later became Ghigau, a title which means Beloved Woman. She was given final say on any prisoners taken by the Cherokee, and she was known for believing in peace between whites and the Cherokee. There are a number of books and other sources that talk about her. I guess she was pretty famous. I think it's pretty cool that my 6 Great Grandfather is mentioned in history with her. If you want to read more on her, check out her page onWikipedia. This drawing of her I got off of Wikipedia, and was done by George Catlin, an American painter who lived from 1796-1872. There is also a short bio of Jeremiah Jack in the book History Of Lebanon Presbyterian Church 1791 "In The Fork". He was a member of that church and you can find his grave, now with a new marker it looks like, in Lebanon. Gillespie History   Colonel George Gillespie’s 1792 stone house is in Limestone, TN. It is one of the first stone houses built in Tennesse and is listed in the National Historic Houses. Col. George Gillespie’s daughter, Martha Gillespie, married my great great great grandfather Jeremiah Jack who lived on the Nolichucky in 1778. Davy Crockett was born in his log cabin on adjoining property across Big Limestone Creek from George Gillespie property and directly across from the land owned by Jeremiah Jack. I wish I could have been at the celebration. The following is taken from J. G. M. Ramsey’s “Annals of Tennessee” Ramsey says that the rapid emigration to Nollichucky had caused such a shortage of food that, during a short period of comparative peace with the Indians, Jeremiah Jack and William Rankin of Greene County (with perhaps two companions), undertook a trip into the Indian country to barter with the natives. They stocked their canoes with the homemade clothing so dear to the redskins and descended the French Broad and Holston Rivers (now called the Tennessee). “They reached Coiatee without interruption. The warriors of that place refused to exchange or sell the corn, and manifested other signs of suspicion, if not of open enmty. They entered the canoe and lifted up some wearing apparel living in it, and which covered their rifles. This discovery increased the willingness of the Indians to trade, and they began to show a disposition to offer violence to their white visitants. The beloved woman, Nancy Ward, was happily present, and was able by her commanding influence to appease their wrath, and to bring about friendly feelings between the parties. The little Indians were soon clad in the home made vestments brought by the traders — the canoe was filled with corn, and the white men started on their return voyage well pleased with the exchange they had made, and especially with the kind offices of the beloved woman. On their return, the white men landed and camped one night, a mile above the mouth of the French Broad, on the north bank of the little sluice of that river. Mr. Jack was so well pleased with the place, that he afterwards selected it as his future residence, and actually settled and improved it on his emigration to the present Knox county in 1787.   His Signature