Information from this article
was extracted with permission from Dr. Miller McDonald's book
Campbell County Tennessee USA: A History of Places, Faces,
Happenings, Traditions, and Things, Vol. 1.
Grantsborough,
a small community located at the fork of the Clinch and Powell Rivers,
was one of the first towns incorporated by the State of Tennessee.
In December 1789, the Tennessee State Legislature granted a charter
to James Grant, Jacob Womack, and John Owen to locate a town. After
several visits to the region, James Grant selected a 100 acres of
land located on the north bank for the location of the new community.
Since he had been to Philadelphia and liked the way it laid out,
Grant used this city as a model for the new community which would
bear his name.
The first building constructed
was a log store built by Grant. Other lot holders were (lot number,
names):
- 2. Edward Scott and Captain
James V. Ball
- 3. Thomas Lewis
- 5. Walter Evans
- 12. James Grant Roulstone
(son of George Roulstone publisher of the Knoxville Gazette).
- 13. Shadrach Reedy and Thomas
Swaine
- 14 Jenkin Whiteside, Attorney
at law
- 17. Patrick and Terrence Campbell
- 18. Captain James V. Ball
- 19. George W. Campbell, attorney
at law
- 20. Charles Lee Bird (also
lots 34, 35, 44)
- 27. William Hancock, Sr, a
gift to Jacob Womach
- 38. John Owens, Sr.
- 45. George Wilson, printer
- 46. Polly Ashburn, daughter
of Martin Ashburn
On
December 24, 1803, Lot #3 was sold to John Ridenour who had served
in the American Revolution. The
first school in Campbell County was taught in Grantsborough by Page
Partwood, one of George Rogers Clark's soldiers. The second school
was taught by Abigail Grant, the daughter of John Grant (brother to
James Grant).
Living
near Grantsborough, Sugar Jones was the first Methodist Preacher
in Campbell County. The
first physician in Campbell County was probably Dr. Nicholas Honore
Sidon Fownier, who was born in Rowen, France. Although he lived
in Knoxville, he practiced over a wide region in East Tennessee
before he died in 1799. Whenever he came to Campbell County, Dr.
Fownier lived with James Grant. At various points in Campbell County
history, Dr. John Umstead from North Carolina practiced medicine
in the county. Like Dr. Fownier, when in the county, Dr. Umstead
lived with James Grant.
Since
Grantsborough is older than Campbell County, it was originally located
in the parent counties of Campbell. In 1798, it was located in Knox
County. In 1801, it was located in Anderson County. At the creation
of Campbell County in 1806, it found its final home.
On May 18, 1839, a post office
was established, and the first post master was James Grant. He remained
the postmaster until the post office was discontinued on July 25,
1856. There was not a post office in that area again until December
26, 1883. At this time, the name of the town was changed to Agee,
and a post office was re-established. The town was named after James
H. Agee, a doctor and state senator from 1882 until 1890. The postmasters
of Agee were
- William C. Carnes: 1882-1885
- William P. Clear: 1885-1889
- Joseph I. Teller: 1890- 1896
- Elizabeth Grant: 1897-1898
- Robert L. Mitchell: 1899-1910
- Fletcher C. Hatmaker: 1911-1912
- Sallie L. Wood: 1913-1914
- James A. Cotter: 1915-1917
In
1917, the post office was again closed. Grantsborough
was a stop for river traffic and was the terminus for the Kentucky
Road. In May 1800, James Grant was appointed by the Knox County Court
to establish a ferry at Grantsborough. This ferry remained in the
Grant family until 1908. The last Grant to operate it was John W.
Grant. In 1908, a bridge was built over the Powell River to accommodate
the increase in traffic thus rendering the ferry obsolete. With building
of the Norris Dam in the 1930s, the Tennessee Valley Authority covered
the area with the waters of the Norris Lake.
Prominent
families from the Grantsborough area were the Grants, Dagleys, Rouses,
Ridenours, Hatmakers, Wheelers, Woods, Willoughbys, Merediths, Heatherlys,
Agees, and Mortons.
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