Lost Counties of Tennessee

By Robert M. McBride

The ninety-five counties of Tennessee as we know them today, do not show the complete story of county development in Tennessee. There were other counties. They existed only briefly, or on paper, but they were indicative of the desire of the people for smaller, local governmental units. Unsuccessful or temporary as these "lost counties" were, their story is a footnote to the larger history of Tennessee counties.

All of Tennessee began as one single county: Washington County, North Carolina. Created in 1777 from the western areas of Burke and Wilkes Counties, North Carolina, Washington County had as a precursor a Washington District of 1775-76, which was the first political entity named for the Commander-in-Chief of American forces in the Revolution.

As settlers surged into the Tennessee country during and following the American Revolution, Washington County was successfully divided into other county units. When Tennessee was admitted to the Union in 1796, it had eleven counties, eight of them in East Tennessee and three in West (now Middle) Tennessee. By 1800 the number had increased to eighteen; in 1810 to thirty-eight; and to forty-five in 1820. Between 1820 and 1840, twenty-five new counties were added. The rapid creation of counties was obviously, first of all, a result of population growth; but perhaps equally represents, as a practical need the necessity of shortening the distance to the county "town". The proliferation of Tennessee Counties continued until 1880, when there were 96 of them. The total number was reduced by one in 1919, to the present ninety-five.

Counties Not Formally Organized

The largest group (twelve) of the lost counties of Tennessee are those which were duly created by legislative act, but which failed, for one reason or another, to organize formally and exercise governmental functions.

Both the Constitutions of 1835 and 1870 outlined the requirements for the formation of new counties. The requirements in 1835, with some specific exceptions, were:

A minimum of 350 square miles.

A minimum of 450 qualified voters.

A minimum of 12 miles from the courthouse of any contiguous county, and without reducing the area of parent counties below a specified area.

Approval by a majority of the qualified voters in the new county.

In the Constitution of 1870, the minimum area for new counties was lowered to 275 miles, the minimum voter requirement was increased to 750 persons, and the minimum distance decreased to 11 miles. There were again specific exceptions dictated by local interests.

Presumably, each of these counties contained the required area and population. In the cases of some of them, a survey revealed that the new county infringe too close to the courthouse of another or would reduce a parent county to less than the constitutional area. For most of these counties, however, the traditional ties of loyalty to a parent county were so strong that a majority of the qualified voters failed to approve the county's establishment. These twelve counties were:

"Lost County"	Parent Counties
Powell (1835)	Greene, Hawkins, Sullivan, Washington. Named for Circuit Judge Samuel Powell.
Jones (1844)	Blount and Monroe. Named for Governor James C. Jones.
Hanover (1844)	Fayette and Shelby. For what named is not indicated; possibly for Hanover County, Virginia.
Hatchie (1846)	Hardeman and McNairy. Named for the Hatchie River.
Taylor (1852)	Hardin and Wayne. Named for President Zachary Taylor.
Christian (1852)	Carroll, Gibson, Henderson, Madison. For what named not indicated.
Bell (1870)	Fayette, Hardeman, McNairy. Named for U.S. Senator John Bell.
Etheridge (1870)	Carroll, Gibson, Henry, Madison, Weakley, For whom named not indicated; Probably for Senator Emerson Etheridge, of Weakley County (1869-70).
Nashoba (1871)	Fayette and Shelby. Named for the Wolf River (Chickasaw name).
Webster (1873)	Campbell, Claiborne, Union. For whom named not indicated.
Wisdom (1875)	Hardeman, Henderson, McNairy, Madison. For whom named not given; probably for one of the Wisdom family of McNairy and Madison Counties.
Hanes (1877)	Benton, Carroll, Decatur, Henderson. Named for G. W. Hanes of Decatur County, Representative, 1877-78.

Counties Continued under Other Names

There are six counties of Tennessee which originally, either briefly or for some time, bore names by which they are no longer known. The name of one of these counties is familiar to all; the others are not so well known. Each of them qualifies as a "lost county" since its first name is no longer identified with the area it encompasses.

The oldest of these counties are three of the five counties established in 1785-86 by the short-lived State of Franklin. They existed for a few years, but their legality was doubtful and little trace of them remains: Caswell, Spencer, and Wayne. Two counties, Sevier and Blount, were created at the same time and were reconstituted under the same names as part of the State of Tennessee.

Caswell County, the "Middle County," was named for General Richard Caswell, who had just been elected and was soon to be inaugurated as governor of North Carolina. Taken from Greene County, it comprised the present Jefferson County.

Spencer County was also created by the first general assembly of the State of Franklin, being composed of portions of Sullivan and Greene Counties. Apparently named for Samuel Spencer, a North Carolina judge, it included the same area as the present Hawkins County. A year after its creation, the North Carolina legislature reconstituted it under the name of Hawkins, for Benjamin Hawkins of North Carolina. During the life of the State of Franklin, it was known as both Spencer and as Hawkins County.

Wayne County, also erected at the same time, was named for General Anthony Wayne, of the Revolutionary army. It comprised the present Carter and Johnson Counties. When Tennessee became a state in 1796, the first new county established was the revived Wayne County, but it was given the name of Carter for the speaker of the senate in the Franklin government, Landon Carter. A generation later another county was again named for General Wayne - the second one in Middle Tennessee.

As the government of the State of Franklin declined by 1788, those counties created by it fell into abeyance, never having been recognized as legal entities by the State of North Carolina. Later when the four were re-created (Hawkins by North Carolina, Jefferson and Sevier by the Southwest Territory, and Carter by Tennessee), the acts of creation in no instance referred to their previous existence.

Tennessee County - The third county to be established in Middle Tennessee was known as Tennessee County. It was established in 1788 by North Carolina. Its name came from a Cherokee town on the Little Tennessee River. Tennessee County, which had a life span of eight years, comprised the present Davidson, Montgomery, and Robertson counties and portions of Stewart, Dickson, and Cheatham counties. When a constitutional convention met in Knoxville on January 11, 1796, to organize a new state out of the Territory South of the River Ohio, the convention adopted Tennessee as the name of the state.

Cumberland County - We refer here not to the county in which Crossville is located, but to an earlier county named Cumberland, the ancestor of Cheatham County. There were unsuccessful efforts to organize a county north of Nashville, to be named for the Cumberland River, as far back as 1837, when a county was created from parts of Davidson, Robertson, Montgomery, and Dickson, and was called Cumberland. This county was not officially organized owing to its failure to comply with one or more of the provisions for establishment. A second effort in 1844 failed again. A third effort in 1856 succeeded and the county was then named Cheatham, after State Senator Edwin S. Cheatham. The change of name was necessary since a year earlier another new county had been created on the Cumberland Plateau and had taken the name Cumberland.

Christiana County - This county was established on June 2, 1870, from parts of Roane, Monroe, and Blount counties. This county is currently named Loudon with its largest city being Lenoir City. Only one month after its creation, the legislature changed its name from Christiana to Loudon.