born Sept. 23, 1745, New Market, Va.
died Sept. 24, 1815, Fort Decatur, Mississippi Territory
American frontiersman and politician.
He moved to what is now eastern Tennessee in 1773, where he fought in Lord Dunmore's War . In the American Revolution he helped win the Battle of King's Mountain (1780). He participated in a settlers' revolt against North Carolina that formed the temporary state of Franklin (1784) and was elected its governor (1785–88). He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina (1789–91). When Tennessee joined the Union, he served as its governor (1796–1801, 1803–09).