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==History== In 1805, the [[Cherokee]] ceded what is now Morgan County to the United States by signing the Third Treaty of [[Tellico Blockhouse|Tellico]]. The first settlers arrived in the area shortly thereafter.<ref name=tehc>Donald Todd, "[http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=942 Morgan County]." ''The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2002. Retrieved: January 20, 2008.</ref> Wartburg was founded in the mid-1840s by Georg Friedrich Gerding (later anglicized as ''George Frederick''), a land speculator who bought up large tracts of land in what is now Morgan County and organized the East Tennessee Colonization Company with plans to establish a series of German colonies in the Cumberland region. : ''Born in [[Holy Roman Empire|Germany]] in 1800, he became a successful businessman after moving to New York. He was decorated by Belgium King Leopold I for establishing the first ship line between Antwerp and New York. He was U.S. Consul to Baden-Baden 1845-47. Acquiring 300,000 acres of land, he established the East Tennessee Land Colonization Co. for Swiss, German, and French immigrants. In 1844, he founded Wartburg, and gave land for the town square, a church, and a cemetery. He died in 1884.''<ref>[https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=173767 George Frederick Gerding], Historical Marker Database</ref> German and Swiss immigrants, seeking to escape poor economic conditions in their home counties, arrived at the site by traveling from [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]] up the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] and [[Cumberland River|Cumberland]] rivers to Nashville, and then by ox cart to the Cumberland Plateau. The first of these settlers arrived in the area in 1845, and new groups of immigrants would continue trickling in until 1855.<ref name=Dickinson>Calvin Dickinson, Morgan County (Memphis State University Press, 1987), pp. 20-25.</ref> The new settlement, which had already been platted by East Tennessee Colonization Company agent Friedrich Guenther, was named after [[Wartburg Castle]] in Germany. : ''βThe city was named after the German Wartburg, where [[Martin Luther]] translated the New Testament and parts of the Old Testament into German.β'' The first six streets were initially named for European cities, but the names were changed within a few years to Rose, Church, Maidenland (now Maiden), Kingston, Mill, and Cumberland. As most immigrants lived on farms outside the town, Wartburg grew slowly. By 1850, the town consisted of Gerding's house and store, a church and school building, a doctor's office, and a few small houses. Early residents included a number of professionals trained in Europe, including architect Carl Rothe, musician Gustav Knabe, painter [[George Dury]],<ref>Klaus G. Wurst. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180227050945/https://loyolanotredamelib.org/php/report05/articles/pdfs/Report31Wustp21-46.pdf Wartburg: Dream and reality of the New Germany in Tennessee]. In: [https://archive.org/details/societyforhistor00wust Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland: Thirty-first report]. Baltimore, Md., 1963, p. 37.</ref> and physicians Rudolf Knaffl and F. A. Sienknecht.<ref name=Dickinson /><ref name=wchs>Wartburg Central High School, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20071012224055/http://wchs.k12tn.net/community/wartburghistory/wartburghistory.html Wartburg History]." 1998-2007. Retrieved: January 20, 2008.</ref><ref name=capace>Nancy Capace. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=v8KkJq1ZRwYC&q=gordonsville,+tennessee+named+for Encyclopedia of Tennessee]''. (North American Book Distributors, 2000), p. 227.</ref> Gerding and the retired German officer Friedrich Karl Georg Freiherr von Forstner (1800β1861), who arrived with his family in 1847 and bought 1,500 acres, were the largest landowners. While Morgan County was generally pro-[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Wartburg was bitterly divided over the secession issue. Gerding, the city's founder, supported the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. John Wilken, a prominent Lutheran pastor in the city, supported the Union. F.A. Sienknecht supported the Union, though two of his sons fought for the Confederacy.<ref>Dickinson, p. 34.</ref> On January 2, 1862, a Confederate cavalry unit under Colonel J.W. White clashed with the Union Home Guard near Wartburg. In late March 1862, Confederate General [[Kirby Smith]] reported that all Confederate citizens had been expelled from the Wartburg area. In June 1863, Union General [[William P. Sanders]] marched through Wartburg and captured 104 Confederate soldiers in the vicinity.<ref>"Wartburg in the War: Rugged Renegades," Tennessee Civil War Trails marker on the courthouse square in Wartburg, Tennessee.</ref> In 1870, Morgan County elected to move its county seat from the now-defunct town of [[Montgomery, Morgan County, Tennessee|Montgomery]], which had a population of just 50 residents and had been economically overshadowed by Wartburg. A new courthouse, consisting of a simple frame structure, was completed in 1871.<ref>"[http://www.tngenweb.org/morgan/goodspeedhist.html The Goodspeed History of Morgan County]," 1887. Transcribed for web content by Julie Cromwell. Retrieved: January 20, 2008.</ref><ref>Dickinson, p. 42-44.</ref> The current [[Richardsonian Romanesque]]-style courthouse was built in 1904.<ref>Dickinson, p. 77.</ref> By the early 20th century, Wartburg had grown modestly, reporting a population of about 500 in 1920. At this time, the city included a bank, school, newspaper, four general stores, a clothing store, a hardware store, and a billiard hall.<ref>Dickinson, p. 78.</ref> In 1968, Wartburg voted to incorporate, and elected Roy McNeal as its mayor.<ref name=dickinson2>Dickinson, pp. 105-106.</ref>
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