Editing Rogersville, Tennessee (section)

==History==

===Settlement background===
[[Image:HawkinsCountyCourthouse.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Hawkins County Courthouse]], ca. 1835–36, is situated at the center of Rogersville. Still in use, it is the second oldest courthouse in [[Tennessee]].<ref>The Dickson County Courthouse in [[Charlotte, Tennessee]], was built and completed in 1835.</ref>]]
In 1775, the grandparents of Davy Crockett, a future member of the [[United States Congress]] from Tennessee and hero of the [[Alamo]], settled in the [[Watauga Association|Watauga colony]] in the area in what is today Rogersville near the spring that today bears their name.<ref name="Price, Henry 2001">Price, Henry, ''Old Rogersville: An Illustrated History of Rogersville, Tennessee''. Vol. I. (Rogersville: 2001) chs. 1–2.</ref> After an [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] attack and massacre, the remaining Crocketts sold the property to a [[Huguenot]] named Colonel [[Thomas Amis]].<ref name="ReferenceA">Price, Henry, ''Old Rogersville: An Illustrated History of Rogersville, Tennessee''. Vol. I. (Rogersville: 2001) ch. 2.</ref>

In 1780, Colonel Amis built a fort at Big Creek, on the outskirts of the present-day town, with the assistance of fellow [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scots-Irish]] settler John Carter.<ref name="Price, Henry 2001"/> That same year, about {{convert|3.5|mi}} above downtown Rogersville, Amis erected a fortress-like stone house, around which he built a [[palisade]] for protection against Native American attack.<ref name="Price, Henry 2001"/> The next year, Amis opened a store, erected a [[blacksmith]] shop, and built a [[distillery]].<ref name="Price, Henry 2001"/> He also eventually established a [[sawmill]] and a [[gristmill]]. From the first he kept a house of entertainment.<ref name="Price, Henry 2001"/>

===Founding of the town===
In 1785, the [[State of Franklin]] organized Spencer County (which includes the area of present-day Hawkins County, Tennessee) and declared the seat of county government to be located at what is today Rogersville.<ref name="Price Chap. 2-3">Price, Henry, ''Old Rogersville: An Illustrated History of Rogersville, Tennessee''. Vol. I. (Rogersville: 2001) chs. 2–3</ref> Thomas Henderson was chosen county court clerk and colonel of the militia. [[William Cocke]] and Thomas King were elected representatives to the Franklin [[Legislature|General Assembly]]. The remaining county officers are unknown.<ref name="Price Chap. 2-3"/>

In November 1786, [[North Carolina]] began once more to contend with the Franklin government for control over the area, and that state's General Assembly passed an act creating Hawkins County.<ref name="Price Chap. 3">Price, Henry, ''Old Rogersville: An Illustrated History of Rogersville, Tennessee''. Vol. I. (Rogersville: 2001) ch. 3.</ref> It included within its limits all the territory between [[Bays Mountain]] and the [[Holston River|Holston]] and [[Tennessee River|Tennessee]] rivers on the east to the [[Cumberland Mountains]] on the west.<ref name="Price Chap. 3"/> The county court was organized at the house of Thomas Gibbons.<ref name="Price Chap. 3"/> As had the state of Franklin, North Carolina set the new county seat about the property of Joseph Rogers.<ref>Price, Henry, ''Old Rogersville: An Illustrated History of Rogersville, Tennessee''. Vol. I. (Rogersville: 2001) ch. 4.</ref>

===Joseph Rogers===
[[Image:Joseph Rogers.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Joseph Rogers (pioneer)|Joseph Rogers]] founded Rogersville on land granted to him by his father-in-law after his marriage to Mary.]]
Joseph Rogers (August 21, 1764 – November 6, 1833) was born near Cook's Town, [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]], the son of James Rogers and his wife, Elizabeth Brown. He traveled to the area, by then known as the State of Franklin (which had been carved out of [[Washington District, North Carolina|far west North Carolina]]), by 1785. During a stay at a tavern adjacent to [[Amis House (Rogersville, Tennessee)|Colonel Thomas Amis' home]], Rogers met the colonel's daughter, Mary Amis, whom he wed, on October 24, 1786. Her father ceded the lands near Crockett Spring to his son-in-law— the same land that Colonel Amis had purchased from the heirs of David Crockett.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

When North Carolina considered where to establish the county seat for its new Hawkins County, Rogers successfully lobbied to have the government located near his home. He volunteered his tavern, which had been established about 1784–85, as the first county courthouse, where it was finally established in 1787. With the help of other local settlers, Rogers laid out a plan for the town, and the town of Rogersville was chartered by the [[North Carolina General Assembly]] in 1789. The plan included a [[public square]], deeded to the town government, which would host the town's public well and a county courthouse.

In November 1792, Rogers was appointed the first [[postmaster]] at Rogersville. The town's second post office, built by Rogers c. 1815, still stands at the corner of east Main Street and south Hasson Street.

Rogers was the father of fourteen children with Mary. He died on November 6, 1833, at Rogersville, and is buried in Rogers Cemetery. His wife, Mary, died a month later.

===A town divided===
{{Main|Battle of Rogersville}}

In November 1863, during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Rogersville was the site of a battle between occupying [[Union (American Civil War)|Federal forces]] and invading [[Confederate States Army|Confederate troops]]. [[Union Army|Union forces]] had encamped just outside the town. The Confederates, led by Brigadier General [[William E. Jones (general)|William E. Jones]], were able to surprise the Union forces and pursue them across the [[Holston River]] and into [[Greene County, Tennessee|Greene County]]. The Confederates held the town for the remainder of the war.

Sentiment in Rogersville was divided. Many supported the efforts of [[Tennessee in the American Civil War#Tennessee secedes|twenty-six East Tennessee counties seceding]] from the state (much as the [[State of Scott]] had done) and re-joining the [[United States of America|Union]]. Others saw President [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln's]] invasion of Tennessee as an unprecedented invasion of their homes and an incursion by Federal power; these people became strong Confederates.{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}} Rogersville was spared destruction during the war. In fact, structures such as the [[Hale Springs Inn]] were used by the different occupying armies.

===Cradle of Tennessee journalism===
[[Image:RogersvilleEastMainStreetLookingWest.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Downtown Rogersville has been home to many of the town's numerous newspapers and publications.]]
George Roulstone was Tennessee's first printer. He was encouraged to settle in Rogersville by [[William Blount]], the new governor of the [[Southwest Territory]]. Roulston printed Tennessee's first newspaper on November 5, 1791. Because [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]], the intended seat of the new territorial government, had not yet been established, Roulstone published the first year of his paper near the Rogers tavern. Roulstone called the newspaper ''[[The Knoxville Gazette]]'' and in October 1792, he moved his press to Knoxville, where he continued to publish the ''Gazette'' as well as other papers until his death in 1804. After the ''Gazette'' was moved, there was no newspaper in the area until 1813, when John B. Hood began publishing ''The East Tennessee Gazette'' at Rogersville. Other papers shortly followed, including ''The Western Pilot'', c. 1815, and ''The Rogersville Gazette'' from the same era.{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}}

Specialty publications emerged during these early days, including ''The Rail-Road Advocate'', ''The Calvinistic Magazine'', and ''The Holston Watchman''. Numerous other newspapers have been published in Rogersville over the years, most surviving only a short time and having modest circulation. Among them were ''The Independent'', ''The Rogersville Spectator'', ''The Weekly Reporter'', ''The Rogersville Gazette'', ''Rogersville Press and Times'', ''Holston Journal'', ''Hawkins County Republican'', ''Hawkins County Telephone'', and ''The Rogersville Herald.''{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}}

Rogersville's longest-lasting newspaper is ''[[The Rogersville Review]]'', which began publication as ''The Holston Review'' in 1885 by William T. Robertson. A year later, Robertson changed the name to the present banner. The ''Review'''s closest competitor in lifespan was ''The Rogersville Herald'', which was published from 1886 to 1932.

The town's printing heritage is chronicled by the Tennessee Newspaper and Printing Museum, located in the town's historic [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]] [[train station|train depot]], c. 1890.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rogersvilleheritage.org/printingmuseum.htm |title=Tennessee Newspaper and Printing Museum |access-date=May 30, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060430080841/http://www.rogersvilleheritage.org/printingmuseum.htm |archive-date=April 30, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Modern day===
In 2020, the Rogersville Town Council acquired a three-acre site of a vacant shopping center with plans to turn the site into a civic service campus, consisting of a new [[community center]], town hall, and a concessions area for users of Rogersville town park, which borders the complex site.<ref name="civcampus">{{cite news |title=Rogersville council considers Civic Campus options |url=https://www.citizentribune.com/news/local/rogersville-council-considers-civic-campus-options/article_bfd5d42a-3bd9-11eb-9057-bbc132674c24.html |access-date=December 12, 2020 |work=Citizen Tribune |date=December 11, 2020}}</ref>