Lawrenceburg in Lawrence County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Welcome to David Crockett State Park

— Lawrenceburg, Tennessee —

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, August 22, 2017

1. Welcome to David Crockett State Park Marker

Inscription. In the summer of 1817, just before his 31st birthday, David Crockett entered Lawrence County with his second wife Elizabeth (his first wife, Polly, died in 1815), her two children from her first husband (James Patton, died in the Creek Indian War in late 1813), David’s three young children from his first marriage, plus an infant boy he and Elizabeth had together. Before David and his family would leave Lawrence County five years later, two more Crockett girls would enter the backcountry world of Tennessee. Although it was a time of great danger and uncertainty this growing frontier clan quickly and decisively made an immediate impact on Lawrence County. Just the same, the events taking place in Lawrence County would change David Crockett and his family forever.

The man whose personality and unique humor would capture the imagination of an entire nation conditioned his winning ways not by hunting wild game or fighting Indians, but through his tenure of public service, and that started here in Lawrenceburg. When David Crockett first arrived in this area, he could barely read or write with any consistency and he was not

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a successful farmer. He was also fortunate just to be alive. Although he had survived the brutal Indian Wars, and the loss of his wife, he had also recently suffered two severe bouts with malaria. One was so severe that his own friends reported him dead for nearly two weeks.

But despite his setbacks, what made David Crockett entirely different from most men of his time was a fierce determination that matched his impressive physical stature along with a sense of humor that worked in tandem with a real desire to help those less fortunate.

Politics finds Crockett
When the Crockett family traveled the eighty miles from Bean Creek to “The head of Shoals Creek” near Lawrenceburg in 1817, a wild environment awaited them.

“We remained here…without any law at all; and so many bad characters began to flock in upon us, that we found it necessary to set up a sort of temporary government of our own.”

In four and a half short years, Crockett became a renaissance man of sorts for Lawrence County. Not only did he provide for his growing family, he was appointed or elected to a series of political positions including

Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, February 17, 2018

2. Welcome to David Crockett State Park Marker

The marker can be seen in this view to the far left on the David Crockett State Park Museum.

Justice of the Peace, town commissioner, colonel/commandant of the 57th Regiment of Militia, and member of the Tennessee state legislature. While constantly engaged with local and state politics, he and his wife also created, built, and operated a small industrial complex consisting of a gristmill, gunpowder factory, and a distillery - until a flash flood destroyed it. Unable to financially recover from this natural disaster, David and his family reluctantly moved to Gibson County (near Rutherford) in 1822 to start their lives anew.

“I became so well pleased with the country about there, that I resolved to settle in it. And so I moved and settled myself down at the head of Shoal Creek.”

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Charity & Public Work • Government & Politics • Wars, US Indian.

Location. 35° 16.048′ N, 87° 21.72′ W. Marker is in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, in Lawrence County. It is on Davey Crockett State Park Road. Marker is located on the outside wall of the Crockett Museum at the mill. Touch for map. Marker is in this

Davy Crockett 1786-1836 image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, February 16, 2015

3. Davy Crockett 1786-1836

This 1834 portrait of Davy Crockett (1786-1836) by Chester Harding hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.

“Unlike his solitary predecessor Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett created the image of the frontiersman as a jocular, colorful ‘type’ who loved tall tales, whisky, and cutting a caper. Crockett was a bad farmer and kicked around the Southeast, serving in the military and minor governmental offices. On a whim he ran for Congress from Tennessee, serving three terms (1827-31, 1833-35). To capitalize on his political fame, he authored an autobiography containing a motto, ‘Be always sure you're right then go ahead,’ that has been the credo of the frontiersman, in reality and myth, to the present day. After Congress, Crockett created a road show in which he presented himself to civilized eastern audiences as the wild and woolly backwoodsman, ‘half man, half alligator.’ Still restless, however, Crockett joined the fight for Texas independence and was killed at the Alamo.” — National Portrait Gallery

post office area: Lawrenceburg TN 38464, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Middle Tennessee

and in the Highland Rim.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: 1786-1836 David Crockett (here, next to this marker); A Summary of the Life of Davy Crockett: (here, next to this marker); Red-Tailed Hawk (here, next to this marker); David Crockett (here, next to this marker); Shoal Creek Mill Stone (approx. 0.3 miles away); Retracing the Trail of Tears (approx. 1.4 miles away); They Passed This Way (approx. 1.4 miles away); Pioneers in Textiles (approx. 1.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lawrenceburg.

Credits. This page was last revised on February 23, 2018. It was originally submitted on August 25, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 744 times since then and 29 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on August 25, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. 2. submitted on February 23, 2018, by J. Makali Bruton of Washington, District of Columbia. 3. submitted on August 26, 2017, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.