Roane County was formed in 1856 from Gilmer, Jackson, and Kanawha and was named for Judge Spencer Roane of Virginia. Land grants to Albert Gallatin and friends in 1787 and 1795, and to the Tiersons and Samuel Hopkins, included most of the county. Jackson County was formed in 1831 from Kanawha, Mason, and Wood and was named for General Jackson, the seventh President of the United States. Jesse Hughes, a noted Indian fighter, spent his declining years in this county, where he is buried.