Rutherford County was established in 1803 and named in honor of Maj. Gen. Griffith Rutherford of the Revolutionary Army, who was appointed by President Washington as a member of the legislature for the Southwest Territory, which later became the state of Tennessee. The first settlers at Murfreesboro came in 1799, and the settlement was first named Cannonsburg. It was founded in 1811 on land donated by Capt. William Lytle, who stipulated that the town should be named for Hardy Murfree, a Revolutionary veteran of Williamson County. From June, 1818 through April, 1826, Murfreesboro was the capital of the state.