Rogersville

Rogersville was founded by Joseph Rogers who settled upon the site in 1786 At the June term of the county court in 1787 the commissioners appointed for fixing on a place for building the courthouse prison and stocks reported that it be fixed at Joseph Rogers on Crockett Creek Joseph Rogers then relinquished the right and title of two acres of land for the use of the public buildings and Thomas Hutchings Hutson Johnston Francis Doherty Joseph Cloud and Thomas Gibbons were appointed commissioners to lay off the town which was done on June 15 1787 At about this time or very soon after Mr Rogers entered into a partnership with his brother in law James Hagan and in 1789 they applied to the Legislature to establish a town at Hawkins Courthouse where a number of lots had already been laid off It was accordingly enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina on December 22 1789 that Thomas King Thomas Hutchings Joseph McCulloch Thomas Jackson and Elijah Chissom be and they are appointed commissioners and trustees for designing building and carrying on a town at Hawkins Courthouse by the name of Rogersville and they or a majority of them are hereby empowered and required to lay off thirty acres of land including the public buildings at the said courthouse in half acre lots with convenient streets and alleys

Previous to this time a store had been opened by Rogers & Hargan and a courthouse and jail had been erected The character of these county buildings is not known but they were probably very temporary structures since in 1794 the Territorial Assembly granted the county permission to levy a tax for a jail and courthouse The oldest courthouse now remembered was a one story hewed log building weather boarded It stood in front of the Bank Building with its side to Market Street now the main street of the town It was occupied until 1886 or 1887 when the present substantial brick building was erected In 1807 the old jail and lot were sold and a new brick jail erected upon the site of the present one which was built a short time prior to the war As before stated the first store was opened by Rogers & Hogan Among the other firms in business from 1790 to 1800 were Joseph Parks Hugh & Campbell North & Nelson and Sherman & King They were succeeded early in the present century by Samuel Neill and William Simpson who did business in a small frame house immediately opposite where the hotel now is Francis Dolzell whose store was ou the adjoining lot west and Nicholas Fain who was located where the postoffice now is The first hotel was continued in the business until his death

In 1817 a branch of the old State Bank was incorporated under the title of the Rogersville Tennessee Bank Its capital stock was $4,000 The directors were Richard Mitchell John A Rogers Francis Dolzell William Hord Jacob Miller Dr Joseph W Carden Hugh G Moore William Lyons William Simpson and Nicholas Fain This institution did business in the house now occupied by Mr Caldwell situated a short distance west of the public square About 1828 this bank began to wind up its affairs Ten years later the last Bank of Tennessee was incorporated and one of the two branches allotted to East Tennessee was located at Rogersville thereby causing great indignation among the citizens of Knoxville and Jonesboro The new bank was organized with CH Coffin as president and SD Mitchell cashier For the first two or three years it occupied the building formerly used by the old bank The large and imposing brick building which is still standing was then erected This bank continued in business until the war but with a frequent change of officers

The business of Rogersville in 1835 was conducted by the following individuals and firms Charles H Coffin and John A McKinney James K Neill and PS Hale Nicholas Fain & Son RG Fain Neill & Simpson and Armstrong & De Wolf merchants Jacob Wax coppersmith and tinner FB Evans and George C Speck tailors Joseph Huffmaster carpenter John Aston cabinet maker George C Bradley hatter Michael Baugh silversmith and Robert Carden blacksmith Richard Humphreys kept the present Hale Spring Hotel which was built by John A McKinney Richard Smith also had a hotel where the postoffice is

Among the business men of the fifties were: Sevier & Simpson, McKinney & Rogan Mitchell, Caldwell & Co, James K Neill, MS & RD Wells, Johnston & Thompson, William White, and Mitchell & Kyle.

To Rogersville belongs the honor of being the place at which was issued the first newspaper published in Tennessee; It was known as the Knoxvlle Gazette and the first number appeared on November 5, 1791, bearing the names of G Roulstone and R Ferguson as publishers. Where the building stood in which the paper was printed is not known, but as the lot on the northeast corner of the public square was purchased by Mr Roulstone, it is probable that that was the site of his printing office. The publication was continued at Rogersville for about one year when he removed to Knoxville which had been established during that year The next paper established in the town was the Rogersville Gazette, the first number of which was issued in July, 1814, by Carey & Early. It was a five column folio with the couplet The Star Spangled Banner, etc as its motto. A few years later the Western Pilot was established by John B Hood, who afterward removed to Rhea County and there published the first paper in East Tennessee below Knoxville. In 1827 Rev James Gallaher, FA Ross, and David Nelson established the Calvinistic Magazine devoted mainly to the theological discussions of the times It was published for about five years. On July 4, 1831, the first number of the Railroad Advocate was issued by an association of gentlemen for the purpose of encouraging and advocating the building of railroads in Tennessee. It continued for a little less than a year and was probably the first journal of the kind ever published. In August 1838, a prospectus was issued stating that a number of gentlemen had formed an association for the publication of a Whig paper to be known as the Holston Watchman, the first number of which was to appear about November 1. For some cause the publication did not begin until the following March, and then it was known as the East Tennesseean. The editor was William Wales. It had but a brief existence and in other papers was established until 1850, when the Rogersville Times appeared bearing the name of LL Poats as editor and LaFayette Jones as publisher. It continued for six or eight years and was then succeeded by the Independent under the editorial management of Rev MHB Burkett. In 1860 the State Sentinel was published by Capt RD Powell. The papers established since the close of the war have been mainly published for campaign purposes and have been short lived. Among them have been the Spectator and the Telephone. In 1885 Will T Robertson established the Holston Review, a well edited and newsy Democratic paper, The Rogersville Herald. a Republican paper was established in 1886. 

The first schools in Rogersville are said to have been taught in a small house which stood near Union Spring. In 1806 trustees were appointed for McMinn Academy as follows: George Maxwell, William Armstrong, Richard Mitchell, Andrew Galbraith, and Thomas Jackson; to whom were added in 1817: Peter Parsons, Orville Bradley, and SD Mitchell. In 1813 or 1814, a brick building was erected by money obtained as was common in those days from a lottery. The institution was also aided by a bequest from Gen McMinn. Among. the first teachers were John Scruggs and Rufus Kennedy. A few years prior to the war the present brick building was erected upon the site of the old one. In July 1849, the Odd Fellows laid the corner stone of a large brick building in which in September, 1850, was opened the Rogersville Female Institute. Since that time the school has undergone various changes and has been under the control of many different organizations. Finally the property and franchise of the institution were pur chased by Joseph R Anderson and Samuel N Fain and transferred by them to the Synod of Tennessee. Since then it has been under the care of CC Ross and now ranks as one of the best Female Colleges in Tennessee. (Source: History of Tennessee, Volume 2, By Goodspeed Publishing Company Staff,Southern Historical Press, 1887, pp 877-879)   Link