John Sevier: Tennessee's First Hero

by Gordon T. Belt, Traci Nichols-Belt (Primary Contributor)

This book sheds new light on John Sevier, founding father of the state of Tennessee. A celebrated soldier, admired politician and founding father of the state of Tennessee, John Sevier led an adventurous life. He commanded a frontier militia into battle against British Loyalists at Kings Mountain. He waged a relentless war against the Cherokees in his effort to claim America's first frontier. He forged the state of Franklin from the western lands of North Carolina and later became Tennessee's first governor. Following his death, Sevier's accomplishments faded from public memory, but years later, writers resurrected his image through romanticized accounts of his exploits, relying heavily on folk tales and recollections from aging pioneers. Thus, life and legend intertwined. Join authors Gordon T. Belt and Traci Nichols-Belt as they examine John Sevier's extraordinary life through the lens of history and memory, shedding new light on this remarkable Tennessee figure.

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 2014

Reviews

[Paul Lunger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very rare in the course of my reading of books about American history have I ever come across a story like that of John Sevier the man who would be the 1st governor of the state of Tennessee amongst other distinctions in history. Gordon T. Belt's "John Sevier: Tennessee's First Hero" is a book that even the author admits is a bit disjointed in how it is written, but as the story of Sevier's life is told it almost makes sense. Sevier himself historically deserves to be remembered by the terms pioneer, soldier & statesman; however, the part that is slightly surreal is the fact that historically most of his life especially prior to the battle of King's Mountain is at times conjecture and his death and burial story is another one that almost feels like science fiction. No matter what has been lost to history, it's at least nice to see that his life is trying to be remembered due to his historical importance to the Volunteer State in a tale that is not one this reader expected to ever find.

[Mark Bunch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book which touches of the myth of history vs the fact, even at the local level.