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Show f Little Journeys in f Americana I : I I By LESTER B. COLBY f ....- o - .., . .sAAI! WW The L'st State of Frnkl:n vou ever heard the story of H t ie Zost State of Franklin? Few i ve once had a state named "n0Wn n that it existed for a brief Franklin t Jin Xtt yQu rYefrd o7e mysterious Ma.ung- the strange tribe of people who Ted i t h at W state and whose ' ,Mn has never been solved? 01 Te state of Franklin occupied generally what is now eastern Tennessee Ten-nessee It was organized In 1785, ,Tved a brief and turbulent existence Ind nassed out of history in 1.S8. FDew maps show it and few records exist telling of Its passing glory n the beginning of the push of se tiers over the hills, North Caro-ina's Caro-ina's boundaries were not fixed to he westward. Theoretically they extended onward to some distant, indefinite in-definite point toward the setting sun Straying adventurers crossed the mountains. They settled and were far detached, in those days, from the mother state. The story of the state of Franklin begins in 1764, when the district was thrown open to settlement. Feeling a-ainst the tyranny of the royal governor gov-ernor of North Carolina, sent over by England, led to the organization of the settlers along the Watauga river Into the Watauga association. Due to their isolation they were less affected directly by the Revolutionary Revolu-tionary war than the coastal settlements. settle-ments. Freedom won, however, the settlers organized a distinct state government on August 23, 1T84. Work of organization was fully completed at a second meeting on December 14 of the same year, and John Sevier was made governor. The first legislature legis-lature sat in Jonesboro in 1785. Factions developed and a part of the people wished to revert to the sovereignty of North Carolina. A bloodless revolution was fought out at the polls in May, 17S8, and the Franklinites lost. The North Carolina Caro-lina legislature passed an "act of oblivion." ob-livion." However, that state ceded the territory ter-ritory to the United States in 1789 and in 1700 the territory of Tennessee Tennes-see was formed.. Settlement followed with a rush and in 1790 the territory terri-tory became a state. Now the Malungeons. When the settlers came into the mountain fastnesses fast-nesses of what today is eastern Tennessee Ten-nessee they found a curious tribe of people there. They were obviously not Nordics as the settlers were. Neither did they seem to be Latins. They had no negroid characteristics though they were dark and swarthy and they certainly were not of Indian descent. Unschooled and primitive they knew little of their origin. Some thought they might be descendants of some detached group of Portuguese Portu-guese while others saw in them trace of the Moors. In the generations genera-tions that they had been there In their isolation, their language, whatever what-ever it was, had degenerated into a patois. They lived to themselves exclusively exclusive-ly and resented intrusion. For many years they were not recognized as citizens and were denied the . right to vote. Suffrage was not given to them until after the downfall of the Confederacy. For generations in Tennessee Ten-nessee the Malungeons were the bugaboos bug-aboos of Tennessee childhood and many a bad little boy has been threatened, threat-ened, "The Malungeons will get you if you don't watch out." Kccognized as gypsylike In their trlcklnesss, they were loyal to their clan. Some clue to their origin may be found in the word "malungo," coming com-ing out of northern Africa, which loosely means comrade, mate or companion. com-panion. But how did that African word get to the mountains of eastern Tennessee generations ahead of the Nordics? That Is the mystery. (. 1929. tester B. Colbv.)" |