Shelby’s friend and associate John Sevier (whose name was anglicized from Xavier), likewise was well suited to frontier life. Sevier, born to Valentine and Joana Goode Sevier on September 23, 1745, was of Huguenot ancestry. The Sevier family lived in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where they farmed and traded with the Indians.
Sevier received a haphazard education, but this was in keeping with the times. It included schooling at Fredericksburg Academy and the Staunton School. At 16 he left school to marry Sarah Hawkins. About 7 months after her death in 1780, he married Catherine Sherrill, the “Bonny Kate” in song and story of the Tennessee frontier.
Wherever this leader of varied training, great courage, and personal magnetism went, he brought change. Moreover, from the day he founded the town of New Market, Va., where he engaged in trade as a merchant, innkeeper, and farmer, until his death September 24, 1815, his actions stirred controversy.
In December 1773, he moved with his family to the Holston River settlements. Here he helped to create the short-lived “State of Franklin” of which he became governor. After the “state” was dissolved and the area fully reincorporated into North Carolina, his enemies circulated an unfounded report that he had used it to further his own fortunes. The report gained such wide acceptance that he felt impelled to move far out on the frontier. His was a reputation that was made and then damaged, but his fall from grace was only temporary. He later took advantage of the movement to form the State of Tennessee and, regaining his political influence, became its first governor in 1796.
Among the more unhappy experiences of Sevier’s later life was a feud that developed between him and an ambitious young judge, Andrew Jackson. Although Jackson brought charges of land frauds against Sevier, the political career of the Kings Mountain hero, which included three more terms as governor between 1803 and 1807, was not damaged. These two strong men with conflicting ambitions never reconciled their grievances. In the eyes of the electorate, Sevier’s record of 33 victories in 35 battles was deserving of high regard and he was duly rewarded at the polls.
Sevier lived to be 70 years old and came to be known as “Nolichucky Jack.” His adventurous spirit characterized him to the end. Even as late as 1812, following the outbreak of America’s second war with England, he advocated bringing “fire and sword” to the Creek Indian Country.
Colorful as were the other patriot leaders, William Campbell of Virginia, who has been described as a man of commanding appearance, was an equally imposing figure. He was born in 1745 in Augusta County, Va., to Charles Campbell and the daughter of John Buchanan, Sr., who fought in the Wars of Scotland. As William Campbell reached maturity, he stood 6½ feet tall, was amiable when not enraged, and devoted to the cause of liberty.
William Campbell Preston, who is said to have closely resembled his grandfather, Col. William Campbell, patriot commander at Kings Mountain, of whom no likeness can be found. From a portrait by John Wesley Jarvis. Courtesy The South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia.
William was an only son and received a good education from competent teachers. When 22 years old, he moved with his mother and four younger sisters to Fincastle County, Va. The family settled on the fringe of the Holston country on land that had been purchased before the death of his father. This family plantation came to be known as “Aspenvale” and was near the present town of Abingdon, Va.