Stop Five: Tennessee becomes a state on this spot

In November 1778, General Washington selected David Henley to be his chief spymaster, by compiling information on British activities. Henley's specialized in organizing facts to determine the true condition of the enemy's strengths and weaknesses. After the American Revolution, in 1793, Colonel Henley was appointed by President Washington as the Agent of the Department of War for the Southwest Territory, in Knoxville, Tennessee. In this capacity, he was Superintendent of Indian Affairs, as well as quartermaster and paymaster for locally stationed troops and militia. He was known to be a hothead but was also a strong law-and-order man. He was in Knoxville mainly to keep the peace by making payments to the Cherokee. He did not want to be involved in the discussions for statehood, but he was the only one who had an office big enough to hold 55 delegates and their aides. For three weeks, Tennessee's Constitutional Convention was held in Henley’s office here on this corner on the northern fringe of Knoxville, what is now Gay Street and Church Avenue . It’s interesting that one of the distinctions of the first Tennessee constitution was that there was no racial qualification for voting citizenship. In 1796, free Black men could vote in Tennessee. Thirty eight years later, when a second constitution was drafted in 1835 in Nashville, voting rights were strictly for white men. On this spot, the document that would give birth to the 16th state in the Union was adopted. William Blount, Charles McClung, James White and Andrew Jackson were among those delegates. Those delegates signed the Tennessee Constitution on David Henley’s desk which is now in William Blount’s office behind his home. Thomas Jefferson described Tennessee's constitution as the "most republican of the state constitutions.” David Henley died in Washington DC in 1823, while a clerk in the War Department. Both Henley Street and the Henley Street Bridge are named after him. Henley-Putnam's School of Strategic Security, focusing on intelligence management, security, and counter-terrorism, is named for him as well. The birthplace of the state of Tennessee sadly has no lasting memorial and is now a parking lot.

Standard tour mission:

Take a photo of your team waving your Tennessee state flags in your prop bag on the birthplace of the great state of Tennessee!

Virtual tour trivia questions:

The Henley Street Bridge is named after David Henley. What author mentions the Henley Street Bridge in three different novels?

Who appointed David Henley as an agent for the War Department in the Southwest Territory which became the state of Tennessee?