Editing Sevierville, Tennessee (section)

===The Civil War===

[[File:Brownlow-speech-sevierville-tn1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|William "Parson" Brownlow delivers an anti-secession speech in Sevierville in 1861]]

[[Slavery]] was not common in Sevier County, although it did occur, especially at the large plantations along the French Broad River. Even before the [[American Civil War]], Sevierville – a hotbed of abolitionist activity – was home to a relatively large community of free African-Americans.<ref>Jones, ''Historic Architecture of Sevier County'', 27.</ref> In 1861, only 3.8% of the residents of Sevier County voted in favor of secession from the Union.<ref>Jones, ''Historic Architecture of Sevier County'', 33.</ref>

In late 1861, a pro-secession speech delivered by Henry Foote sparked an angry response in Sevierville and was followed by a series of explosive anti-secession speeches. The following year, pro-Union Knoxville newspaper editor [[Parson Brownlow]] gave a rousing anti-secession speech in Sevierville en route to a hideout in [[Wears Valley, Tennessee|Wears Valley]]. Brownlow's audience remained gathered throughout the night after a rumor spread that [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] forces were approaching.<ref>Jones, ''Historic Architecture of Sevier County'', 35.</ref> [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] supporters in Sevier County were harassed and threatened throughout the war, even after Union forces under [[Ambrose Burnside]] occupied Knoxville in September 1863.

Sevierville, situated at a major crossroads south of Knoxville, suffered consistent harassment, looting, and confiscation of property by both Union and Confederate forces moving through the town in 1863 and 1864. Vance Newman, a Union recruiting officer living in Sevierville at the time, later recalled:

<blockquote>A guard of rebel soldiers in 1864 threatened to burn my house, and the rebel soldiers so often threatened to take my life that I cannot particularize.  They were always after me because of my Union sentiments.<ref>U.S. National Archives Microfilm Publication P2257. ''Records of the U.S. House of Representatives: Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880''.  Part II, Vol. II, Claim No. 21037 (Vance Newman), submitted 1876.</ref></blockquote>

After Confederate General [[James Longstreet]] failed to retake Knoxville in the [[Battle of Fort Sanders]], Union and Confederate forces quickly initiated a series of maneuvers to gain control of the strategic fords along the French Broad, culminating in an engagement near Hodsden's farm at Fair Garden in January 1864. Although the Union forces were victorious, they were later forced to retreat due to lack of supplies. A state of general anarchy ensued that continued until the end of the war. On October 30, 1864, Sevierville resident Terressa McCown wrote in her diary:

<blockquote>The robbers have come at last, they robbed my husband of his pocketbook, money and papers and pocket knife.  Times get worse everyday.  We know not what will come next.  I feel this morning like nothing but destruction awaits us.<ref>Mary Rury, "The Diary of Terressa Ann Lanning McCown", ''Smoky Mountain Historical Society Newsletter'' 12, no. 4 (Winter 1986), 99.</ref></blockquote>

At the war's end, most of the county's few remaining Confederate sympathizers, most notably members of the Brabson family, were forced to flee.<ref>Jones, ''Historic Architecture of Sevier County'', 37–39.</ref>