“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves,
and, under a just God cannot retain it."
― Abraham Lincoln
The State of Franklin was an unrecognized, independent state in what is now eastern Tennessee. It was created in 1784 with the intent of becoming the fourteenth state. Its first capital was Jonesborough. It existed for about four and a half years and then North Carolina re-assumed control.
The American folk hero,David "Davy" Crockett(1786 – 1836), grew up in East Tennessee.
Elizabeth Humphreys Greenway was born on December 26, 1761. She was the daughter of John and Susannah Humphreys.
She married William Greenway about 1777 in Washington County, Tennessee when she was about 16 years old. William was born in 1755 in Fredrick County, Virginia. He was the son of William Greenway and Mary Stevens. His father died in 1767 and in 1770 it was
Ordered that the church wardens bind William Greenway, George Greenway and Hannah Greenway, poor orphans, unto Elisha Dungen until they come of age and that he learn the said George and William to read, write and cypher and the trade of Mason and the said Hannah to read, write and that he immediately give security not to carry the said children out of the county.
William was a soldier in the American Revolution. He first enlisted in 1774 in Frederick County, Virginia.
Elizabeth and William's children may have included:
Dorcas Greenway (1777, married John Jordan),
Anna Greenway (1780, married Isham Looney son of Benjamin Looney and Mary Johnson),
Hannah Greenway (1785, married Jonathan Waddell),
Richard Greenway (1786, married Sarah Coldwell),
Susannah Greenway (1790, married Joshua Green), William Greenway, Jr. (1796, married Margaret McCracken),
Elizabeth Greenway (1798, married William G. Payne),
George W. Greenway (1800, married Malinda Carter),
Polly Ann Greenway (1800)
Mary Ann Greenway McNees (1801, married John M. McNees),
Jesse Humphreys Greenway (1807, married Eliza Glaze),
John Humphreys Greenway (1808), and
Martha Greenway (1810, married John P. Goodwyn).
William appeared in the tax list for Washington County in 1814 and 1819.
In 1830 William, Sr. and Elizabeth were still in Washington County. The multi-generation household included:
a man and a woman between 70 and 79
a man between 30 and 39
2 men and a woman between 20 and 29
a boy between 5 and 9
a slave
Elizabeth died on August 15, 1837 in Washington County, Tennessee when she was 75 years old.
In 1838 William had 200 acres valued at $1,700.
William wrote his will on March 13, 1839 and died on April 3, 1839.
They were buried in Greenway Cemetery in Limestone Creek, Washington County.
The executors of his estate were his sons Jesse H. and John H. Greenway. The witnesses were William Patton, and G. W. Telford.
A later letter to the editor claimed that the house was not that old.
Washington County, Tennessee,was established in 1777 as Washington County, North Carolina. From 1784 to 1788,it was part of the State of Franklin.
Slavery is an immoral system of forced labor where people are treated as property to be bought and sold. It was legal in the American Colonies and the United States until the Civil War.
