David Crockett – A Tennessee Legacy

For forty-nine years David Crockett made his home in Tennessee, moving from his birthplace near Limestone on the Nolichucky River to his last home in present-day Rutherford in Gibson County, before leaving for Texas in November 1835 and eventually dying at the Alamo. Born into poverty on the frontier, he came to represent the American pioneer through physical strength, determination, and persistence shaped by his early upbringing and Scots-Irish culture. During the War of 1812, fearing violence would reach his home on Beans Creek, he enlisted for military service and fought in hard battles in Alabama, including Tallusahatchee and Talladega. Although widely known as a bear hunter, he spent almost forty percent of his life in public service, beginning in 1817 as a justice of the peace, then serving as colonel of the 57th Militia, state representative, and a United States congressman for three terms. He focused especially on helping squatters obtain land at affordable prices and strongly opposed President Andrew Jackson’s policies, particularly the Indian Removal Bill, a stand that later cost him his political career.

Morristown, Tennessee · United States