Morristown is a city in and
the county seat of Hamblen
County
, Tennessee
, United
States
. A small portion of the city extends into
Jefferson
County
. The population was 24,965 at the 2000
census.
It
is the principal city of the Morristown, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area,
which encompasses all of Grainger
, Hamblen and Jefferson counties. The Morristown metropolitan area is also a
part of the Knoxville
-Sevierville
-La Follette,
TN
Combined
Statistical Area.
History
Early settlement
The first European settler of what eventually became Morristown was
a farmer named Gideon Morris. It is recorded in Goodspeed's
"History of Tennessee" that Gideon, along with an unspecified
number of his siblings, arrived in the area of present-day
Morristown from the
Watauga
Settlement, a short-lived semi-autonomous settlement located in
North-east Tennessee that was
originally leased from the resident Cherokee tribes during the
1770s.
Records in
North Carolina indicate that the Morris clan moved to the Watauga
Settlement from North
Carolina
.
According to Cora Davis Brooks, author of "History of Morristown
1787 - 1936":
- "Gideon Morris was listed as one of the signers of the petition
to annex Watauga to North Carolina in 1775, and in the Fall of the
same year he served in Colonel Christian's expedition against the
Indians. (N. C. Colonial Records, Vol. 10, p. 708) ( King's
Mountain Men by Miss Kate White.)"
- "In 1778 Gideon Morris appeared in court and swore allegiance
('History of South-west Virginia', by Summers). Lands were granted
by the State of North Carolina to Gideon Morris in Washington,
Greene and Hawkins counties. He probably settled on portions of
these grants either in 1787 or 1791, which was included in
Jefferson county and now in Hamblen county."
The settlement founded by Gideon has, as far as it has been noted,
always been called Morristown. No known records exist demonstrating
land grants in the area to anyone aside from Gideon and his
extended family. Jefferson County, TN., which is due west from
Hamblen County, possesses a record in the Jefferson County Court
House of the results of the execution of Gideon Morris's will,
which includes property deeded to John Morris in 1817 for a 400
acre (1.6 km²) tract of land originally granted to Gideon by the
State of North Carolina, and presumably comprising only a portion
of the original grant due to the known size of the Morris family at
that time. The record further details the fact that Gideon lived on
the 400 acre (1.6 km²) tract of land until his death, and the
inference that he was buried in the Morris family graveyard ends
the record.
The Morris family graveyard was, logically, located near to the
original family home. It is easy to find, located on what is now
called East Louise Avenue a bit south of Main Street in East
Morristown, southeast of the Morristown-Hamblen Library. Today it
consists of a single acre (4,000 m²) enclosed by a fence of iron,
and has a simple sign affixed to its gate with nothing more than
'Morris' on the plate. The oldest date recorded on the burial slabs
is for one John Morris, born in 1770. His wife, Rachel, is recorded
nearby as having been born in 1786. Another notable stone marks the
resting place of Mary Spoon, listed as born in 1779 and died in
1882, which would make her over one-hundred and three years old at
the time of death.
Gideon was known to have had three sons with him when he arrived in
the area of present-day Morristown. Their names are recorded as
John, Gideon, and Shadrack.
One daughter of Gideon's by name of Elizabeth, is listed in
official records as having married a man with the name of Hurst,
and their son was James Hurst. At the present time, the name Hurst
is fairly common in Hamblen and surrounding counties, with many of
those bearing the name in prominent positions in those
counties.
Geography
Morristown is located at (36.210615, -83.296141) .
According
to the United States Census
Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.9 square miles (54.1 km²).Some of the area is covered with water,
specifically Cherokee
Lake
, an artificial reservoir built by the Tennessee Valley Authority in the
1940s.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 24,965
people, 10,270 households, and 6,531 families residing in the city.
The
population density was
1,194.7 people per square mile (461.2/km²). There were 11,036
housing units at an average density of 528.1/sq mi
(203.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.70%
White, 7.50%
African American, 0.30%
Native American, 0.7%
Asian, 0.1%
Pacific Islander, 10.43%
Hispanic or
Latino and 5.70% of
other races.
There were 10,270 households out of which 27.7% had children under
the living with them, 44.2% were
married
couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no
husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 31.7% of all
households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living
alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.6% under the ,
10.8% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and
16.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36
years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100
females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,005, and the
median income for a family was $33,391. Males had a median income
of $26,724 versus $20,515 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$15,894. About 14.6% of families and 19.2% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 24.9%
of those under age 18 and 17.3% of those age 65 or over.
Trivia
Notable people of Morristown
Attractions
References
- http://www.morristownchamber.com/tourism/tour_start.htm
- [1]
- Terry Morrow, Local 'Idol' teen nabs major deal, Knoxville
News Sentinel, July 3, 2008
- [2]
- [3]
Further reading
- Brooks, Cora Davis. "History of Morristown 1787 - 1936"
1936.
- Hill, Howard. "The Morristown-Hamblen Library"
External links
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