Sandor Morris, age 13, of Memphis, Tenn., for his question:
WHERE WAS THE STATE OF FRANKLIN?
At one time there was a state in the United States called Franklin. However, it was never admitted to the union.
The area is a section of land at the eastern edge of Tennessee and is bounded on the north by Virginia and on the east by North Carolina.
The area was organized as a state between 1784 and 1788, and it had its own governor and its own constitution.
In 1784, North Carolina ceded part of its western lands to the federal government. But before Congress could vote to accept the region, North Carolina withdrew the offer.
Then the people of the region set up a separate state because they were left without state or federal protection. They named it for Benjamin Franklin, probably in hopes of gaining his support.
A man named John Sevier was elected governor of the state of Franklin.
Representatives of North Carolina and other congressmen opposed admitting Franklin to the Union. Franklin, however, governed itself as a state for four years.
Because money was scarce, men received furs, whisky and tobacco as salaries in the new state.
Then in 1788, North Carolina gained control of the area and pardoned its leaders. The voters elected Sevier to the North Carolina Senate.
Then in 1789, North Carolina once again ceded its western lands to the United States. Franklin became part of eastern Tennessee in 1796 and Sevier became the first governor of Tennessee.
According to history,. Indian troubles, land speculation plots and quarrels with rivals led to Sevier's downfall in Franklin and to the termination of the new state.
Sevier was the son of a tavernkeeper and was born in New Market, VA., in 1745. He moved to the Holston River Valley, then an unsettled region of the colony of North Carolina, and became a leader.
Sevier actively supported the Revolutionary cause. In 1780 he led an expedition over the Smokey Mountains and helped defeat the British at Kings Mountain. Later he led an expedition against the Cherokee Indians. This was the first of many campaigns that brought him fame as an Indian fighter.
After the Revolutionary War, the settlers in Tennessee began a movement to make the region a separate state.
After "The lost state of Franklin" became a part of the state of Tennessee, Sevier served a total of six terms as governor. At the end of his sixth term, Sevier was elected to the state senate for one term and then served in Congress until his death in 1815.
A statue of Sevier represents Tennessee in the Statuary Hall collection in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.