"Be It Remembered that on in Pursuance of the Statutes of the State of Tennessee in such case made and provided, a county court began to be Organized Opened and held of the county of Meigs at the home of John Stewart on the first Monday and second day of May in the Year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty six."
Can you imagine the feelings of those men, after wrangling with the state, as they recorded these words declaring their new county?
Meigs County History
It was to John and Letty Stewart's house that they came - those men and women settlers of a certain community along the eastem shore of the Tennessee River in Southeast Tennessee who had decided, in the year of 1836, that they would organize a new county. Within two days plans were made to form the new county, and Miles Vernon had been instructed to go to the state capital and take care of the necessary legal work for this new county to have its own identity. Chap¬ter 34, Section 1 of the Acts of the 1835-36 State Legislature state: ''That a new county be, and the same is hereby established, between the county of McMinn and the Tennessee River, to be known by the name of Meigs County, in honor of Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, deceased, a patriot and soldier of the Revolution of 1 n6; to be composed of that part of Rhea County lying south of Tennessee River, and bounded as fol¬lows: beginning at a point below William Blythe's on the Tennessee River, where the line divides the counties of Rhea and Hamilton; thence run¬ning a southeast course, with said line, dividing the counties of Rhea and Hamilton to Wilson Novius, where the Rhea County line intersects the McMinn County line; thence a northeast course with said McMinn line, to a large ridge above the mouth of Price's Creek; thence with said dividing line between the counties of Rhea and McMinn, to the eight mile tree or stake, near Bottom's Mills, on Sugar Creek; thence a north¬west course with the line dividing the counties of Rhea and Roane, at or near the mouth of White's Creek, on the Tennessee River, thence down the main channel of said river to the beginning." Thus, Meigs County, an area in the lap of what had once been Cherokee Territory, was created.
Return Jonathan Meigs had been an Indian Agent in the area from 1801 until his death in 1823, and his influence in the region gave him the prominence that made his name the choice name for the new county. The county seat, Decatur, situated precisely in the center of the approximately 30 mile long and 10 mile wide rect¬angular county, was named in honor of Com¬modore Stephen Decatur, who had distinguished himself in the War of 1812. One of the smallest counties in the state in terms of size (208 square miles in area), Meigs County would begin its his¬tory in one of the loveliest settings in all of the United States.
In the 161 year history of this small rural coun¬ty, everything that has touched and affected the United States has also affected Meigs County in some way: the Great Cherokee Removal, the Civil War, the Steamboat Era, the Industrial Rev¬olution, World War I, the Great Depression, the TVA, World War II, and the many changes that the last five decades have brought upon our land.
The "Trail of Tears" is said to have passed through the southern end of Meigs County in 1838, although the majority of Cherokees who had lived in this area had already gone West to Oklahoma after the Hiwassee Treaty of 1819.
Several settlers of the area were among those soldiers who were involved with the Removal, and the influence of that epoch of American his¬tory is still strong in this area. Plans for a large memorial to those Cherokees who made the long, sad march westward are in effect at the pre¬sent time. The plans are to build the memorial near where the Tennessee and Hiwassee Rivers meet, close to the site of the old Blythe's Ferry landing.
While some were involved with the Removal, many others were involved with establishing farms and mills, building community schools and churches, and putting the town of Decatur into full operation, complete with its courthouse, jail, academy, tannery, groceries, taverns, hat shops, doctors' and lawyers' offices, and residences around the town square. By the mid-1850's, talk of Civil War had reached Meigs County, and although few families owned slaves and fewer still wanted to go to war over the issue of slavery or anything else, yet by the time the War Between the States broke out, several hundred young (and older) men joined the ranks ... most to serve under the Confederate flag, but many to serve in the Union Army as well. In every area of the county, stories of snipers killing soldiers at home on leave or traveling through the area are prevalent, and there was a brief skirmish near Stewart's Landing in which several Union soldiers were killed. It is said that the town of Decatur was almost barren of males during the war, and more and more often there was sad news for the await¬ing women received from the battlefields. Many Meigs Countians died during the war, and there are few families in Meigs County today that do not have a strong personal interest in the war that literally came home to them.
The last quarter century of the 1800's and the first part of the 1900's was a time of returning to the status quo in Meigs County. This was also perhaps the area's most "glorious" era, for it was the Steamboat Era. The steamboat brought with it the whole world, so to speak. Transportation had reached a new level, and since the whole western border of Meigs County was a river, Meigs County was in the heart of the steamboat heyday. Some of the more popular steamboats were the Atlas, the Trigg, and the Joe Wheeler (which had the added feature of a "dance barge" attached, named the "Clyde"). When the steam¬boats arrived at landings all along Meigs County, whole communities would turn out to buy and sell and trade, to get the latest news, and socialize. Meigs County is the only county in the state of Tennessee that never had a railway laid within its borders. Perhaps because they felt the river was their lifeline to the rest of the world, Meigs Coun¬tains did not turn to the railroad. Then, too, rails were laid in all adjoining counties, and the prox¬imity to these rail lines afforded Meigs Countians sufficient access.
To battlefields in World War I, as to every other war or conflict that has occurred since the first
settler ever came to this area, many Meigs Coun¬tians volunteered for service and distinguished themselves whenever they served. Many young men left Meigs County for the first time ever to serve in various part of the world.
Just a few years after the Great Depression was winding down and healing its wounds, Meigs County became involved in a major govemment project which changed life in the valley forever:
The Tennessee Valley Authority ... the TVA. Not only was the lifestyle of residents changed when they could, for the first time, pull a switch and have the lights come on, but the very face - the very geography of our area was changed. Along with the thrill of enjoying all the modernization that electricity brought with it came the anguish of many farmers who saw their farmland become the bottom of a huge lake. Now a much-sought haven for both recreation and leisure, peace and tranquility, the Watts Bar Lake area, when it was first transformed, looked like a water wasteland where the tops of lonely silos spoke of the drown¬ing of some farm family's holdings. Many Meigs Countians are traditionally slow to make adjust¬ments to major changes, and strong ties to "the way things used to be" hold a long, long time.
As TVA was making its mark on Meigs County, another major war was brewing that the United States could not ignore. Many veterans of World War II still live in Meigs County, well-respected by those of us who realize the extent to which they sacrificed for our country. The monument on the Courthouse Square reverently lists those who died in that war and other wars, and the memorial is often visited and decorated by townspeople who acknowledge those who made the ultimate contribution to freedom. Meigs County can be proud of many things, and especially it can stand tall among the best for its thousands of young men and women who have answered the call to military service every time that call has been made through the years.
Many of the people who originally settled Meigs County did so because they thought this was the most beautiful area they had ever seen ... and to this day, people are still settling here for the same reason. No matter where you live in Meigs County, you are never far from the river, from a meandering creek, or from a soothing pond. No matter where you live, you can see broad, fertile fields and hills that are ever-chang¬ing with the passing of the seasons. No matter where you live, you can find fine schools to edu¬cate your children and a good sports program all year round to provide physical fitness and community fellowship. No matter where you live, you can find a friendly neighbor, a helpful hand, a firm patriotism, a strong morality. It is said that people find what they look for, and many have looked for and found satisfaction in Meigs County, Ten¬nessee. Once a person has ever called Meigs County "home", it is a place that holds a part of that person forever.
The Meigs County Historical Society cordially invites you to see all this history from 1836-2006 at the new museum in Decatur.
Meigs County's Claim to Fame
Like all small counties who have at least "one claim to fame" Meigs County has a unique claim. Out of all 95 counties in Tennessee, Meigs County is the only one that never had a railroad.
Shipping was the transportation mode when the county was formed in 1836. At that time, the powers in charge saw no need to bring bad things in by rail. The Tennessee and Hiawassee Rivers provided enough transportation.
Presently, now 2007, the 40 mile long and 10 mile wide county still has only one incorporated town named Decatur. The song, Up the Lazy River, might have been chosen for a theme song since the county has made itself dependent upon it's neighboring counties.
