Tennessee
Tennessee names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Tennessee a state of the American Union
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a state of the American Union. Its natural boundaries are the Mississippi River and the Great Smoky Mountains. It is bordered by eight states, a distinction shared with but one other state in the Union. The shape is nearly that of a rhombus, 385 miles long and 109 miles wide. Area, including waters, 42,050 square miles. The Tennessee River gathers the waters of the western slope of the Great Smokies, and flows southeasterly into Alabama, then westerly, returning northward through the state on the way to the Ohio. A curve of the Cumberland enters the north central part of the state, affording a second and deeper outlet to the Ohio. There are several well defined physical regions. The Great Smoky Mountains on the eastern border are a southern continuation of the Blue Ridge. A series of peaks exceed 6,000 feet in height. Mount Guyot is 6,636 feet high. The eastern valley of the Tennessee is a continuation of the famous Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Knoxville is the business center of this region. The western valley of the Tennessee is comparatively narrow, ten to fifteen miles in width, and has an altitude of from 300 to 400 feet. Within the great loop of the river lies the Cumberland plateau in the east, a tableland 2,000 feet above the sea. Nashville is the metropolis of this region. The Sequatchie Valley, running northward from the Tennessee Valley into the Cumberland region for sixty miles, is inclosed by rocky walls 1,000 feet high. Lookout Mountain, on the southern side of the Tennessee near Chattanooga, is an outlying fragment of the same tableland. For a general description of eastern Tennessee, its rivers, mountains, houses, roads, churches, people, and occupations, the novels of Charles Egbert Craddock are recommended. West of the Tennessee the surface slopes gently into a belt of rich alluvial land, known locally as the Mississippi Bottoms. This section is tributary commercially to Memphis. FORESTS. Originally the entire surface of the state was covered with heavy forests. Nearly every tree native east of the Mississippi is found also in Tennessee. The state survey has described 140 species. The greater part of this forest wealth has been destroyed by the ax of the settler. The state has never taken high rank in the production of lumber for shipment, but quite a fleet of small river craft is engaged in gathering up hardwood lumber from local mills--hoop-poles, railroad ties, staves, etc. Log rafts are still seen on the rivers. AGRICULTURE. Agriculture is the leading industry. Three-fifths of the inhabitants are engaged in farming. The soils are largely clays, the result of disintegrating limestone. There are rich alluvial soils in the valleys and sandy areas on the Cumberland tableland. Owing to differences in altitude, there is a wide diversity of temperature. In general, the winters are rather cold and the summers blistering hot. Winter skating and an ice crop may be depended upon in the northern half of the state. The annual rainfall is fifty inches. Farm products are valued at $100,000,000 a year and over. Corn is a universal crop. It is the mainstay of the farmer. Other crops are more or less localized. Tobacco and winter wheat are important crops northwest and south of Nashville respectively. Cotton, next to corn in money value, is the leading crop in the territory tributary to Memphis. Peas help out the hay crop. Both Irish and sweet potatoes are raised in large quantities. Peanuts are a crop of some importance. Orchard fruits, peaches, plums, apples, and pears are raised for shipment. West Tennessee is developing rapidly as a truck region. The season is a little later than that of the Gulf States and a little earlier than that of Missouri and the Ohio Valley, thus favoring shipment to the large city markets. As to domestic animals, swine, cattle, horses, mules, and sheep rank in the order named. Much of the spare corn is converted into pork. MINERALS. The state is rich in minerals. From two to six seams of soft coal underlie the Cumberland tableland. It is shipped largely in the form of coke for use in the iron furnaces. There are nearly 200 coal mines and over 2,000 coke ovens in this region. There are valuable iron ores in forty-four counties. The chief mines are near Knoxville and Chattanooga and in the highland region near Nashville. The mines of Polk County are reckoned on by the copper trust to produce 10,000,000 pounds of ingot copper a year. There are large deposits of phosphate rock. Zinc is found in workable quantities, as well as spar, a little gold, and an occasional diamond. There is an abundant supply of lithographer's stone, cement, limestone, pottery clay, and slate. Tennessee marble has been used freely for the inside casing of the Capitol and Library at Washington, and for prominent public buildings elsewhere. The manufactures of the state may be grouped in order of financial importance as sash, doors, barrels, etc.; iron and steel products; cotton, flax, and woolens; flour and meal; leather, harness, and saddlery; chemicals and phosphates for fertilizers; paper and paints; wagons and carriages; pottery, glass, and quarry products; and tobacco. HISTORICAL. The first white settlers entered from North Carolina and Virginia. The first permanent settlements were made on the Watauga and Holston, headwaters of the Tennessee, in 1769-71. During the Revolutionary War, these hardy riflemen took part in the battle of King's Mountain. The region was organized as Washington County of North Carolina in honor of the commander-in-chief of the patriot army. In 1784 the inhabitants became dissatisfied and organized the Independent State of Franklin, with pioneer John Sevier as governor. They relinquished the name and organization four years later. North Carolina ceded the region to the general government in 1790, and in 1796 it was admitted to the Union, taking the Indian name of the chief river. The young state was much harassed by the southern Indians, who were stirred up by the Spaniards. Tennessee was famous for its riflemen. Wild game was abundant. The shotgun was unknown. Boy and man, each settler prided himself on his marksmanship. During the War of 1812, 27,833 volunteers came from Tennessee. Tennessee rifles followed Andrew Jackson in the Creek War and repulsed the British in an attack on New Orleans in 1815. Tennessee soldiers bore the brunt of the Seminole War. The government called for 2,800 men in the Mexican War. Three thousand men responded, gaining for Tennessee the name of the Volunteer State. O'Hara's famous poem, The Bivouac of the Dead, was written in honor of those who fell. Tennessee seceded June 8, 1861. The eastern section, never in political sympathy with the rest of the state, opposed the act and sent 31,092 men to the Union Army. The middle and western sections favored secession, and furnished the Confederacy 115,000 troops. Many of the noted conflicts of the war were fought on Tennessee soil. The massacre of colored troops at Fort Pillow and the "unconditional surrender" of Forts Donelson and Henry may be mentioned. Grant was driven almost into the river at Shiloh. Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, and Nashville were hard fought engagements. The battle of Lookout Mountain was fought above the clouds. Chickamauga, the bloodiest battlefield in the West, lies partly in Tennessee. The flower of the Confederate forces consisted of Tennessee men fighting desperately for their homes. EDUCATION, ETC. In national matters Tennessee boasts of having furnished three presidents: Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson. Admiral Farragut was a native of the state. In church matters, the Methodists are the leading denomination. Baptists, Presbyterians, Catholics, and Episcopalians follow in the order named. The state aids the district to maintain a double system of education, one for white and one for colored children. The University of Tennessee is located at Knoxville. The Episcopalian University of the South at Sewanee; the Peabody School for Teachers, and Vanderbilt University, a Methodist institution, at Nashville, are the institutions best known outside of the state. Fisk University, under Congregational management, at Nashville, is perhaps the leading college for colored people. POPULATION. The population in 1900 was returned at 2,029,616. Of this number 480,243 were colored, 108 were Indian, 79 were Mongolian. The whites are gaining slightly. Less than one per cent of the inhabitants were born outside of the United States . Less than thirteen per cent of the population live in large towns. Memphis, the largest city, had, in 1900, 102,320 inhabitants; Nashville, the capital, had 80,865; Knoxville, 32,637; Chattanooga, 30,154. STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources: Land area, square miles 42,050 Water area 300 Population (1906) 2,172,476 Memphis (1909) 136,363 Nashville 106,476 Knoxville 37,758 Chattanooga 34,654 Jackson (1906) 17,123 Number counties 96 Members of state senate 33 Representatives 98 Salary of governor $4,000 U. S. representatives 10 Presidential electors 12 Assessed valuation of property $475,000,000 Bonded indebtedness $15,000,000 State revenue $6,500,000 Acres of improved land 10,245,000 Agricultural Products-- Corn, bushels 83,000,000 Wheat, bushels 8,190,000 Oats, bushels 3,675,000 Potatoes, bushels 2,240,000 Tobacco, pounds 37,200,000 Cotton, pounds 131,761,000 Butter, pounds 30,000,000 Wool, pounds 1,340,000 Eggs, dozens 32,000,000 Manufacturing establishments 3,175 Capital invested $102,349,000 Operatives 60,572 Wages $22,805,628 Raw material $79,000,000 Output of manufactures $138,960,000 Output of flour and grist $25,000,000 Lumber products $21,000,000 Copper output, pounds 19,475,000 Coal mined, tons 6,810,000 Iron ore, tons 813,000 Textile output $6,895,000 Pig iron, tons 393,000 Phosphate, tons 638,000 Clay products $1,613,000 Quarry products $1,090,000 Domestic Animals-- Horses 315,000 Mules 284,000 Milk cows 331,000 Other cattle 595,000 Sheep 348,000 Swine 1,502,000 Fowls 8,000,000 See Jackson ; Johnson ; Memphis ; Chickamauga
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a State in the South Atlantic Division of the North American Union; bounded by Kentucky, Virginia, Mis- North Carolina, Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, a. Alabama. sissippi, Arkansas, and Missouri; admitted to the Union, June 1, 1796; capital, Nashville; number of counties, 96; area, 42,050 square miles; pop. (1890) 1,767,- 518; (1900) 2,020,616; (1910) 2,184,789; (1920) 2,337,885. Topography. Topographically Tennessee is divided into three sections, east Tennessee, an extensive valley, and agriculturally one of the most important sections of the State, stretches from the E. boundary to the middle of the Cumberland tableland, which has an average elevation of 2,000 feet above the sea, and abounds in coal, iron, and other minerals. Middle Tennessee extends from the dividing line on the tableland to the lower Tennessee river; and west Tennessee from the Tennessee river to the Mississippi. The Unaka mountains, a part of the Appalachian chain, run along the E. boundary, and have an average elevation of 5,000 feet above the sea. The Mississippi, with the Tennessee and the Cumberland, drains three-fourths of the State. The two latter are navigable for a considerable distance, and other rivers with numerous tributaries supply valuable water power. Geology. The geological formations are varied. The Unaka range, the valley of east Tennessee and Central are almost entirely occupied by Lower Silurian deposits, and the tableland of the Cumberland, by the Carboniferous. The W. portion of the State is mostly Upper Silurian and Devonian, and the plateau W. of the Tennessee, Cretaceous and Tertiary. The Mississippi river bottoms are of recent alluvial deposit. Mineralogy.- The State is rich in its mineral resources, asbestos, kaolin, granite, copper, iron, manganese, barytes, clay, building stones, lead, and zinc being among the leading products. The most important mineral product is coal. The coal fields have an area of about 4,400 square miles. In 1919 the production was 5,150,000 tons, compared with 5,904,- 593 tons in 1918. The State is also an important producer of copper. The production in 1919 was 15,629,454 pounds, compared with 15,053,598 pounds in 1918. Pig iron production is about 200,000 tons annually, valued at about $2,500,000. Other mineral products of considerable importance are zinc, sandstone, marble, limestone, and clay products. The total value of the mineral products is about $25,000,000 annually. Limestone caves are found in many places, few having been explored. Agriculture. The soil is exceedingly fertile, nearly every agricultural product thriving well, according to locality. The principal grain crops are Indian corn, wheat, and oats; and cotton, tobacco, flax, and hemp are extensively cultivated. The rearing and fattening of live stock are carried on under peculiar advantages, and immense numbers of hogs grow up on the mast of the forests, which cover a very large area. The acreage, production, and value of the principal crops in 1919 were as follows: corn, 3,250,000 acres, production 74,750,000 bushels, value $117,358,000; oats, 400,000 acres, production 9,200,000 bushels, value $8,- 556,000; wheat 810,000 acres, production 7,290,000 bushels, value $16,184,000; tobacco, 110,000 acres, production 88,000,- 000 pounds, value $22,088,000; hay, 1,280,000 acres, production 1,792,000 tons, value $48,384,000; potatoes, 48,000 acres, production 3,120,000 bushels, value $5,- 366,000; cotton, 775,000 acres, 298,000 bales, value $49,915,000. Manufactures. In 1914 there were 4,775 manufacturing establishments in the State, employing 74,373 wage earners. The capital invested was $211,423,000; wages paid, $33,083,000; value of materials used, $123,430,000, and the value of the finished products, $212,071,000. Banking. On Oct. 31, 1919, there were reported 101 National banks in operation, having $13,809,000 in capital, $11,- 289,000 in outstanding circulation, and $53,914,000 in United States bonds. There were also 416 State banks, with $17,349,000 capital, and $9,148,000 surplus. The exchanges at the United States clearing houses at Memphis for the year ending Sept. 30, 1919, aggregated $975,074,000. Transportation. -The total railway mileage in the State in 1919 was 4,227.39. The lines having the longest mileage are the Illinois Central, Louisville and Nashville, Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis, the Southern Railway, and the Tennessee Central. Education.- School attendance is compulsory throughout the State and the employment of children under 14 years of age in workshops, factories, or mines is prohibited. Separate schools are maintained for white and colored children. There are about 7,500 public and elementary schools, with about 600,000 pupils enrolled, with about 10,000 teachers. There are about 125 public high schools, with about 500 teachers. The annual expenditure for education is about $7,000,000. There are 4 public normal schools, and 26 universities and colleges, the most important of which are the University of Chattanooga, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Fisk University (colored) at Nashville, Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Cumberland University at Nashville, and University of the South at Sewanee. There are seven colleges for women, eight commercial schools, a manual training school, and three universities for colored students. Finance. The receipts for the fiscal year 1918 amounted to $7,954,650, and the disbursements to $7,481,786. There was a balance in the treasury at the beginning of the year of $368,818, and at the end of the year of $841,682. The bonded debt of the State amounts to about $15,000,000, and the assessed valuation to about $575,000,000. Charities and Corrections. The charitable and correctional institutions are under the State board of control. The most important institutions are the State Penitentiary itentiary at at Nashvil Nashville, training and agricultural school for boys, industrial school and school for the blind, all at Nashville, school for deaf and dumb at Knoxville, and a vocational reformatory for girls at Tullahoma. There are three hospitals for the insane. Churches. The strongest denominations in the State are the Methodist Episcopal South African Methodist; Regular Baptist, colored; Cumberland Presbyterian; Methodist Episcopal; Disciples of Christ; Roman Catholic; Presbyterian, South; Primitive Baptist; Protestant Episcopal; and Presbyterian, North. State Government. The governor is elected for a term of two years. Legislative sessions are held biennially and are limited in length to 75 days each. The Legislature has 33 members in the Senate and 99 in the House. There are 10 Representatives in Congress. History. In 1756 a settlement was formed near Knoxville, then a part of North Carolina; Nashville was settled near the close of the Revolution; in 1790 tive funds, $425,000; grounds and build- Tennessee was organized as a territory '$86,386; president, Harcourt A. Morgan, to with Kentucky; and admitted in 1796 the Union as a separate State. In January, 1861, a proposition to secede from the Union was defeated; but in June, carried by a majority of 57,567. In 10 months the State raised 50 regiments for the Southern Confederacy; while 5 or 6 were also recruited for the Union. The State was the scene, at Knoxville and Chattanooga, of some of the most important operations of the war. For years after the general pacification of the country, local disorders continued in Tennessee to disturb the tranquillity of the community, and it was only in 1870 that, after the adoption of the 15th amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and of a new State constitution, Tennessee was readmitted to representation in Congress.
Tennessee SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE, the second society composed of soldiers organized during the Civil War. The preliminary meeting for the formation of the society was held in the Senate Chamber at the State capitol, Raleigh, N. C., April 14, 1865. Membership in the society was restricted to officers who had served with the Old Army of the Tennessee. The society erected in Washington, at a cost of $50,000, a handsome bronze statue of Maj.-Gen. John A. Rawlins, and has also placed an appropriate memorial, costing $23,000, over the grave of Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson, at Clyde, O., an equestrian statue of General McPherson in Washington, and a monument in memory of Gen. John A. Logan in Washington.
Tennessee a river of the United States
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a river of the United States, formed by the union of two streams in the E. part of the State of Tennessee, flows S. W., passes through the N. part of Alabama, then flows N. through the W. part of Tennessee and Kentucky, and enters the Ohio, of which it is the largest tributary, about 10 miles below the confluence of the Cumberland. Length, about 1,200 miles. It is navigable 259 miles for steamers to Florence, at the foot of the Muscle-shoal rapids, which are passed by a canal 36 miles long; and above these there is navigation for boats for 250 miles.
Tennessee UNIVERSITY OF, a coeducational non-sectarian institution in Knoxville
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
UNIVERSITY OF, a coeducational non-sectarian institution in Knoxville, Tenn.; founded in 1794; reported at the close of 1901: Professors and instructors, 85; students, 721; volumes in the library, 17,100; producings valued at $611,000; benefactions, LL.D.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's wrote in 1910 that "agriculture is the leading industry" with "three-fifths of the inhabitants engaged in farming," it described a state that no longer exists: Tennessee's roughly 7 million residents are now overwhelmingly urban and suburban, and the economy runs on health care, automobile assembly, freight logistics and music. Two federal projects remade it: the Tennessee Valley Authority, created in 1933, dammed the Tennessee River for flood control and electricity, and the wartime uranium plants at Oak Ridge, begun in 1942, built a secret city from farmland. The Great Smoky Mountains the entry describes were made a national park in 1934 and are the most visited in the United States, while the Polk County copper mines it praised have closed. The novels of "Charles Egbert Craddock," recommended as a guide to East Tennessee, are now read chiefly as curiosities, and the pen name is generally known to have belonged to Mary Noailles Murfree.
Written for this edition, 2026.