23 - Daniel Haston Family, South of the "Holston" River
Opposite Knoxville, TN
Daniel and family lived in the Knoxville, TN area for about 10 years. There is a lot of information available about his family during that time, so Chapter 14 in the BIG book I’m working on contains 70+ pages. I’ll extract some of those highlights in the next several articles.
Daniel’s family lived on a small lot south of the Tennessee river (or Lake Loudon), that was then called the Holston River. The lot was rented from James Charter. When Daniel arrived in Knoxville, it was a tiny frontier village (just a couple of years old) and “Tennessee” wasn’t even a state. That’s why you can become a member of First Families of Tennessee, if you can document your lineage back to Daniel.
Daniel didn’t live in the village of Knoxville. He rented a small lot across the “Holston” River (now, “Tennessee River” or “Lake Loudon”). Perhaps he couldn’t afford to live in the village, so where he lived may have been like a “slum” section for very poor people. Or maybe it provided more space for a garden, some pigs and a milk cow or two. Or maybe some of both reasons.
It was at the south end of the (now) Gay Street Bridge, but a ferry was the only way to cross the river in Daniel’s day. The area is now “South Knoxville.” And it’s just a half mile up and across the river from Neyland Stadium, home of the University of Tennessee Volunteers!
When the ceremonious events surrounding the famous Treaty of Holston with the Cherokee Indians were going on in 1791 – they were directly across from where the Hastons lived. Our Hastons would have had some of the best “seats” to observe the ceremony – except that they were probably not living there quite yet.
Daniel’s family lived directly across from the Blount Mansion, the capitol building for the U.S. Southwest Territory prior to Tennessee’s statehood. Governor William Blount could have seen the Haston’s humble cabin by looking out his window and across the river.
Significance of where the Hastons lived. Even though Daniel’s family lived was south of the river, it was a significant location. The ferry docked on the south bank very close to their house and from there one road went to what is now Sevierville, TN and another to Maryville, TN. So as the area developed, lots of people traveled by their home, including John Sevier, after he became Governor in 1796. Governor John Sevier passed the Hastons on his way to his farm, “Marble Springs.” Two entries in Governor John Sevier’s journal indicate he paid Mrs. Haiston $3.00 in full of all “accounts” (?) and Suza Haiston $1.00 for four melons. Were these two women the same people? Was Suza Haiston a wife of Daniel? Or, was Suza a daughter?
In the next few articles, I’m going to tell you a humorous story about one of Daniel’s sons who cut the tails off his neighbors cows – another son who tore down a fence and got in trouble – Daniel’s many appearances in court (but honorable appearances) – a marriage that has influenced many of our lives – where David Haston lived when he got married – and more interesting happenings. Stay tuned.
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