As the eastern American colonies flourished and land became scarce, bold families ventured across the mountains into the untamed frontier, igniting a westward expansion that pressed onward until the Pacific coast was reached and the lands in between were explored and settled. The Born of Clay family was among those who played a role in this historic movement.
Harriette Threlkeld once remarked, “In analyzing the family as a unit, it has struck us as quintessentially American, representative of the ‘backbone’ of American life. None were exceedingly wealthy, none were desperately poor. Every family member I’ve known or encountered has been upright, many of them intelligent, competent, and possessing a diverse array of skills and talents.”1Verner M. Claybourn and Harriette Pinnell Threlkeld, Supplement to the Claybourn Family (Threlkeld, 1979).
Eastern Tennessee is characterized by the Blue Ridge region, marked by its towering mountains and rugged landscape, with an average elevation of 5,000 feet above sea level. To the west, the Ridge and Valley region stretches out, rich with rivers and streams that carve through forested ridges, revealing fertile valleys. Despite the region’s natural beauty, the settlers who explored and made it their home embodied a hardy and daring spir-it, the kind needed to confront Native American resistance and carve a livelihood from the wilderness. Most of these pioneers came from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.2Will T. Hale, History of Dekalb County, TN (Nashville: P. Hunter, 1915; repr., McMinnville: B. Lomond Press, 1969), 254.
The “Carolina Road” provided a route around the mountains to the Overhill Cherokees, remaining in use until 1740, when a packman named Vaughn discovered the famous “Warrior’s Path,” a Native American trail. This path wound its way through southwestern Virginia, crossed the Nolichucky and French Broad Rivers, passed near what would later be Knoxville, and continued into Cherokee territory.
The first signs of settlement appeared in the upper reaches of eastern Tennessee in 1763, following the peace secured after the French and Indian War, a conflict primarily between the French and British. By 1772, settlers, mostly from Virginia, had established communities in Sullivan and Hawkins Counties in northeastern Tennessee, while the Wa-tauga Association, composed of settlers from North Carolina, gradually spread across the eastern region.
In 1783, North Carolina adopted a policy disregarding Native American land rights, opening the area to settlers on remarkably favorable terms. The state priced a hundred acres at ten pounds, roughly equivalent to $1,500 in today’s currency, while reserving southeastern Tennessee for Native American use.
This land policy quickly transformed eastern Tennessee into a bustling hub, attracting men eager to stake their claims. Present-day Knox County, located west of the Tennessee and Holston rivers and nestled between the Holston and French Broad rivers, fell within the bounds of this newly opened territory. One of the first settlers, James White, arrived as part of a group that ventured into the area in 1783. By 1785, cabins lined the banks of the Holston and French Broad rivers, but White had moved farther south to the site of modern-day Knoxville, where he built four cabins and a stockade.
At the time, all of present-day Knox County lay within the borders of Greene County, North Carolina. Most settlers outside the Cherokee Reservation held North Carolina land warrants issued under the Land Act of 1783. The State of Franklin, a short-lived entity established in 1784, also recognized these claims while attempting to secure Native American consent for the settlers’ occupation.
However, when the State of Franklin failed to gain lasting recognition, the residents of what would become Knox County reverted their allegiance to North Carolina, anticipating reintegration into the United States. In 1789, North Carolina formally ceded its western lands, and in 1790, the area was organized as the Southwest Territory, following a structure similar to the Northwest Territory. William Blount, a North Carolinian, was appointed governor.
In 1790, the nation’s first census recorded Joshua Clyburn, Ephraim’s father, living in the Fayette District of Robeson County, North Carolina. Less than two decades later, the family would embark on a journey to the emerging Tennessee territory. In 1791, William Blount signed the Treaty of Holston with the Cherokee, securing settlers’ legal claim to their land. The treaty, endorsed by prominent figures such as Blount and George Washington, also bore the signatures of many witnesses, including Claiborne Watkins of Virginia.
A year later, in 1792, Knox County was established, and Knoxville became the capital of the territory. The town soon housed William Blount’s home, which was the first frame house in the mountain region.
Early Days in Knox County
The Native Americans and early settlers of Knox County cultivated crops such as corn, beans, peas, pumpkins, gourds, squash, and May apples (mandrake). Their diet relied heavily on hunted game, with buffalo, deer, and bear providing not only meat but also hides, wool, leather, sinews for cord, and horns for making utensils. The Native Americans kept dogs and turkeys as domesticated animals, and game was generally abundant in the area.
Often, men would arrive alone, plant corn, and harvest a crop before returning to Virginia or Carolina to bring their families the following year. The essential tools they used included rifles, axes, hoes, sickles, and scythes. The period from 1795 to 1830, when the family documented in this account moved to eastern Tennessee, marked a transition from hunting and small-scale farming to more established agriculture and livestock raising. From 1830 to 1860, agricultural productivity steadily increased.
In 1792, the Knox County Court ordered the construction of roads radiating from Knoxville, and a ferry service began operating across the Tennessee River. According to newspaper advertisements from that year, merchants accepted items like beeswax, skins, furs, and flax as payment. By 1795, they were also buying butter, tallow, hemp, and linen.
Between 1795 and 1830, pack trails evolved into roads, which eventually supported stagecoach services extending eastward and westward, reaching as far as Nashville. Freight wagons pulled by teams of four, six, or eight horses carried supplies, though rivers remained vital for transporting goods downstream.
The Battle of King’s Mountain, a significant Revolutionary War conflict, saw many participants later rewarded with land grants. One recipient was Enos Browning from Washington County, Virginia, who obtained land in Tennessee. Another was John Clayborn, a veteran of the Virginia line, who at seventy-four years old applied for a pension in Knox County in 1833 and died on 4 September 1838. Thirty years Ephraim’s senior, he may have been an uncle or another relative. A John Cleburne, of the same age, appears in the 1840 census living in Sumner County with his son George while receiving a pension.
Jacob Lonas, of German descent, migrated from Pennsylvania and was likely the second settler in the early Bearden community, initially known as Erin, located five miles west of Knoxville. Due to the hostility of local Native Americans, he returned to Pennsylvania for two years before coming back with two brothers and their families. He settled on land acquired from North Carolina along what is now Middlebrook Pike. In 1945, his descendants, Charles Dowell and his daughter Mary, still resided on the property and held several old deeds, including one dated 12 January 1794, in which North Carolina sold 200 acres for 100 shillings (about $12.50).
The Jacob Lonas House, built in 1858, stands as a testament to his role in establishing the Bearden community. Located about two miles northeast of Cavet’s Station, the family saw the flames when the fort was attacked by Native Americans in 1793. The property still features a collection of German books known as the Jacob Lonas Library, as well as antique furniture. Logs from the original cabin were later used to construct a corn crib. Jacob Lonas is buried in an unmarked grave in a community cemetery on what was once the Matt G. Thomas Estate along Weisgarber Road in Knoxville.
Another cemetery for early settlers is located behind the former Spring Place Church on Love’s Creek, while several Claibornes are buried in the Shipe family graveyard near the old Bethlehem Church in eastern Knox County.
By 1802, Knoxville had grown to around 200 houses, almost all made of wood. Merchants received supplies overland from cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Richmond and sent goods back to those cities. The rivers also served as trade routes, carrying flour, cotton, and lime downstream to markets in New Orleans.
Footnotes
- 1Verner M. Claybourn and Harriette Pinnell Threlkeld, Supplement to the Claybourn Family (Threlkeld, 1979).
- 2Will T. Hale, History of Dekalb County, TN (Nashville: P. Hunter, 1915; repr., McMinnville: B. Lomond Press, 1969), 254.