James Randolph Robertson “Father of Tennessee” and “Founder of Nashville” is The Ancestor Detector’s 6th great-granduncle!
Blog no. 1
General James Randolph Robertson was born to John Randolph Robertson and Mary Gower on June 28. 1742, in Brunswick County, Virginia. Sometime after, he moved to Wake County, North Carolina.
In the late 1760’s, James moved from North Carolina to Fort Watauga (sometimes referred to as Fort Caswell) located near Elizabethton, TN. He married his wife Charlotte Reeves in 1768. They had 13 children together, one of whom, Felix Randolph Robertson, was the future Mayor of Nashville and first white child born in Nashville. During the few years living in Fort Watauga, James decided it was time to move to a new settlement out west, so James and all the people in Fort Watauga left to find their new home.
On their way to the next settlement, Indians attacked numerous times trying to stop them, but that didn’t stop the people of Fort Watauga. In 1780, James and everyone had made their way to the next settlement they had called, Fort Nashborough, later named Nashville after Francis Nash.
In the later days of Fort Nashborough, James’ wife Charlotte heard the dogs barking and she knew what that meant. The Indians were near and about to attack the fort. Charlotte let the dogs out of the fort and they attacked the Indians while Charlotte got help from the men of Fort Nashborough. Today, that battle against the Indians is called “The Battle of The Bluffs.”
In 1814, James had traveled to the Chickasaw Agency in Memphis, TN and became very sick. He died at the Chickasaw Agency on September 1, 1814. James was later interred in Nashville City Cemetery in Nashville, TN.
James Randolph Robertson is now known as the “Father of Tennessee” and the “Founder of Nashville” for all he did.
You can find more information about James Randolph Robertson on wikipedia.com and tennesseeencyclopedia.net.
Are you related to James Robertson? If you are, we would love to hear from you!
THE ANCESTOR DETECTOR 
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