The Leaf-Chronicle from Clarksville, Tennessee • 19

Clorkivillt Lcof-ChronciU, Jun 4. 1967. to Who Was Valentine Sevier1? save the property from demo spy against the Cherokees in 1776 -and in expeditions against the Indians on several occasions. The Indians were incited to warfare against the settlers, for this diversion reduced the activities against the British. As the years -passed, Sevier served on at least I Receives Navy Commision T.

Williams (right), son of Victor P. Williams, of Dun. "bar Cave Road, is shown receiving his commission after com. pletion' of a vigorous 11-week course of instruction at the -Naval-AviatlOTt-Schoote-eommand- at -the- NavalAir "Station Fla. Making the presentation is Capt.

John C. Haynie USN, the NAS commanding officer (U.S. -Navy Photo) SERVICEMEN "o-jfcl 1 By URSULA SMITH BEACH (County Historian) No photograph or likeness sxists of the man, Col, Valentine Sevier. He was on the frontier when John Sevier, his elder brother, became Governor of the State of Tennessee. A word description of those who knew him makes a comparison between the two men: Valentine was a very large man, larger than John.

Putnam, the describes him as a hunter in his youth, with figure as erect as. an Indian's, spare of flesh, with a clear skin and bright blue eyes." The nephew, Senator A. Sevier, represented him as "a man of st rong Intellect, daring courage, and in-con queTab leperse verance and great activity in the prosecution of all his undertakings." Agalri and again, we have heard the account of the massacre oi six members of the Sevier family on Nov. 11, 1794. At that time there were survivors among those working in the corn fields and those 'fortunate in finding refuge within the two-room stone house." There are letters written by men who were fearful of the consequences -of that attack; they viewed with alarm the complete abandonment of the Clarksville area unless more troops were offered for protection.

There to his brother John Sevier, who in 1796. was to become the first Governor of the State of Tennessee. These and other accounts of that frightful day are available among the Draper Papers on microfilm in the State Library and Archives. Who Was Sevier? "Who was this Valentine Sevier? The T'Sevler Family History," a -volume of 553 pages compiled by Cora Bales Sevier and Nancy S. Madden, was published in 1961.

A comprehensive account of the immigrant Valen-tine Sevier and 7flis--wi fe Joanna NEWS lition two years ago. It was anticipated that local Interest would be created and that funds would be contributed to repay the banks within the two year period, ending July 1967. At such time, the loans having been repaid, the title to the property will be transferred to Montgomery County for restoration and further use as a park and tatispnm. TUIIU9 I1CCUCU There has been no effort to restore ihe property; all funds received have been used to repay the banks; Generous donations from government sources have reduced the Indebtedness, Eight Patrons' $1300; their gifts have been in excess of $100 each. Other donations from organizations and individuals have ranged to the pennies of school children The Montgomery County Historical Society has contributed $450, and $370 has been diverted from the Association for the Tennessee As sociation local chapter.

The last two items tio not Include personal contributions from members ol such organizations, for many individuals belonging to certain organizations have given from personal concern. Two persons ha ve pledged $200 from others. Within this area there bhould be many people who are Interested In preserving this historic site. If you are concerned with the heritage of the community; if you are of the significance of ten members of one family being sacrificed that this community sur vive those frightful days of privation and distress, will you use the coupon below? The quarterly report of March indicated a deficit of $7,598.06 on uus luniis. i iiu cummueu uui- inj iui iiioui RiiVC, laACi auu ill terest on the loan makes it imperative that the June 30 report tie substantially reduced, ah donations are tax free accord- fncr.tA tha Trnstnafi! Rmun Har.

vey Frank J. Runyon and Mrs. Oscar Beach, In a hilltop overlooking the" re- mains of the old. The 150 red-roofed buildings of the new Lidice presents a pleas ant picture of a small, modern community a sharp contrast to the old, weather faces of surrounding villages. The population is nearly 500, one-third of which is children of school age.

Homes have been given to those who survived. They need pay only fuel and electricity. Some of the women remarried. The surviving children, now adults, are married and have families of their own. As before, many of the men work in the Kladno mines.

'42 I rw-" Brother Of Valentine Sevier John Sevier," the first governor of Tennessee, was the brother of Valentine Sevier, who lost 10 members of his family toJn-dians in the Montgomery County area. The portrait above was painted by Charles Wilson Peale in Philadelphia in 1792, and now hangs in the Tennessee Library and Archives in Nashville. The Sevier story Is a part of Goad with their five sons and two daughters given. sons, Valentine was second only to John" who was born in 1745 Valentine was born in 1747 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where his father was "a large landowner, energetic colonizerj merchant, agent for the crown or colony, miller, and family The family home 4systewltg--ohewstsldejeounty---mtlHiar-henc--thfr-rank IN THE Coleman Serving At DaNang DA NANG, Vietnam Marine 2nd Lt. Clinton R.

Coleman, son of Mrs. Hattie Coleman, of 4-C Summit Heights, Clarksville, is serving with the First Military Police Battalion based at Da Nang. His battaljon provides beach and traffic control, enforces orders and regulations, and guards prisoners of war. Black Arrives At Base Camp PLFIKUVictnam Army Pvt; Lauren E. Black, 19, son of Mr.

and Mrsj-Lester-Rr Central Clarksville, re. cently arrived at the base camp of the 4th Infantry Division here. Black, whose wife, Rosemary, also lives, in Clarksville, received 50 hours of training with the 4th Replacement Detachment before being assigned to a specific unit. WILLIAM SIMPSON Simpson Joins Unit In Germany GERMANY Army Pvt. Wil-Ham H.

Simpson, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Simpson, Route 8, Clarksville, was recently assigned to Headquarters and Head-quarters Company, 2nd Bat-tallon, 15th Infantry at Ft. Wild Germany, Simpson is a 1965 graduate of Clarksville High School and at-tended Austin Peay State Col-lege prior to entering the Army last October. After his arrival in Germany, Simpson vas assigned duties in a radar reconnaissance section.

He completed basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, last January. seven expeditions including the 1780 American victory at Kings Mountain, South Carolina, where the battle is considered to have been the "turning point of the Revolutionary War in the South." All five brothers were with the North Carolina Militia in that battle; Robert was, mortally wounded and died en route home. Valentine Sevier's highest rank in the Militia was that of Major, the title carved upon his lWnTewnCeT5eler'y In Civil Affairs of Washington the first county of west ern North Carolina, he continued' to serve' as he had while the section was Washington District, North Carolina so named in 1776. attempts, at self govern ment in the early days of the new.

nation required services of capable and intelligent men. In 1776, he was Justice of the Peace, high ranking oMcer of the District. When the county was form ed, he served as one of the 22 members of the first court, Feb. 23, 1778 The next day, he was chosen pf the County and the following year was reappointed. In addition to these immediate services to his county, he was one of three commissioners of confiscated Tory property for the year 1782.

With the end of hostilities, about November 1785, Valentine led a party of 90 men down the Tennessee River, intending to settle the Big Bend Country of northern Georgia (which at that time included adjoining Alabama lands). He was elected representative of Houston County to the Georgia Legislature, but was not seated due to Indian opposition to the American settlement of the area Returns Home Returning to his home, he took an active part in the establish ment of the State of Franklin in 1784-88 when that area sought an independent government from North Carolina. Early activities led to his appointment as Lieu tenant Colonel of the Washington In the autumn of 1789, after the collapse of the State of Franklin, Col. Sevier and his family moved to the Cumberland area. He bought property in -downtown Nashville, the corner of Church and-Sixtk-Streets, His son-ln-1 law Charles Snyder also owned property in the little town.

However, he desired a different life, feeling the need, no doubt, to be of service in this frontier land. Hence, his purchase of 640 acres at the confluence of the Red and Cumberland Rivers. This was probably the westernmost outpost of settlers In the Cumberland River area. Danger awaited the family in their chosen country. The first loss was Thomas Grantham, husband of Ann Sevier.

He fell be- as donation to received a lot of care and lavish attention from the flrers and the team armorers. The two sergeants were able to do some shooting that would amaze the novice marksman. For example, Randolph was able to place 26 of 28 rounds Into a regular man-sized target- In 50 seconds and at a range of 600 yards. Anderson fired twobursts of 10 rounds, each 50 seconds long-, putting 18 of 20 rounds Into a circle the size of a silver dollar at a range of 200 yards. This Is clearly shooting of a different order from which an ordinary soldier is capable of duplicating.

The same skills are required for Tralnflre I as for Army, level competition. The match, grade shooters simply have de-veloped these skills to a much greater Asked If the same eight steady-hold factors applied in competitive shooting, the unanimous reaction of the three NCO's was "you'd better believe it." The three emphasize that they Tennessee history, y5tltias a personal appeal to Montgomery County. The Trustees of the Se-VieTRestoTation contracted loans of $16,500 from the three local banks in order to Hatchet Swoop Towri miles from the mining center of Kladno. Its had rtilled their land for 600 years and many of Its men toiled in the nearby mines and Iron works. Suddenly the world knew of Lidice.

Miners in Great Britain started a "Lidice shall live" campaign and collected over $90,000 to be used for the resurrection of the village after the war. After he war, the Czechoslo vak Republic made reconstruction one of its first duties and when the Communists took over the government in 1948, they finished the job. Today, Novy Lidice straddles i ii of Route' I lin "the' area- near Harrisonburg, Va. From this home of comfort, Valentine Journeyed through the valley and into the land which at that-time was yet assumed to be Virginia but ultimately proved to be -North Carolina, and after 1796 this was Tennessee. Here, at Sycamore Shoals, about one mile west of the present-day Elizabethton, Tenn.

the father joined him a short while later. Other members of the family came into the new country on Christmas Day 1773; among these were three sons and one daughter. The other son Robert had already settled the new country Valentine. Served As Spy Ever ready to protect the early settlements, Valentine served as I 1 fTJ I mmMlunA I am concerned with preserving this historic site and with honoring a family who sacrificed lives and property that this frontier be made a permanent settlement fore, the Indians in October 1790 at a pond (now filled) which for more than a hundred years was known as Grantham's Pond. Lost to the Indians near the mouth of Blooming Grove Creek were three sons: Robert and William, the 16-year-old twins, and' their 18-year-old brother Valentine.

Their deaths on Jan. 15 and 16, 1792, emphasize the dangers on the frontier. Though harassed by wander- Indians the Se.vier Station was-not-direetiy attacked until Nov. 11, 1794, when the death of six members of the family occurred. Others sought refuge within the old stone houjse which yet stands, the symbol of protection on the frontier.

Commemorated A bronze plaque embedded In a limestone boulder on the southwest corner of the grounds of the Montgomery County courthouse commemorates the loss of the Seviers and others who, died that thf Cumberland settle ments might survive. Following the massacre, the surviving members of the family moved to Nashville, but were drawn back to the Red River and Clarksville section. The hillside with the stone house was sold and the Seviers lived upon other Zeroed ln are not specially in any way. There are no telescopic sights used, no special tripods for the weapons. They have sim.

ply employed the basic skills used throughout basic training. 2 Teenagers Say Housebreaking Is Latest Sport CLEVELAND (AP) Two teen-age gang leaders say house breaking is "the thing to do." A 15.year-old gang leader told juvenile court Wednesday, "Everybody's talking about lt at school." "I guess you'd call it the latest sport," added the leader of another gang. Ages ranged from 13 to 16. Thirteen youths were either fined or sentenced to detention homes. The St.

Lawrence Seaway stretches 189 miles and climbs seven, locks between Montreal and Lake Ontario'. property which is how River-1 view Cemetery? There the valiant fighter lived with pain and dis tress until his death on Feb. 23, 1800. He was buried oh his" own land; the family moved back to eastern 143 Survived Lidice Razed NOW LIDICE, Czechoslovak. la (A Mario -Dolezau one oi the survivors, stopped hacking at the weeds and ges tured at the surroundings with a sweep of her rake.

"For our 25th memorial day all the grass will be green," she said. The ground she pointed to was a gentle, grassy hillside with a few rocky ruins and a little creek at the bottom. Once lt was Lidice, Czechoslovakia. On June 10, 1942, Nazi police murdered the men of Lidice, sent the women and children off to concentration camps and then razed the village. Their hatchet swoop was re prisal for the assassination in Prague by Czech resistance fighters of Nazi SS Gen.

Rein- hard Heydrich, deputy chief of the Gestapo, and governor of the occupied Czechoslovak regions of Bohemia and Moravia. A total of 173 men the oldest 84, the youngest 15, and Includ ing the father of Marie Doleza-lova were lined up against a wall and shot. Nineteen men from Lidice working the night shift In a. nearby mine were rounded up and also shot. Marie's 15-year-old brother was among them.

The 200 women of the village were dispatched to' Ravens- brueck concentration camp and never knew what' happened to their men until they were told after their liberation In 1945. The three-year ordeal was survived by 143, who then returned to Czechoslovakia. Of 104 children, only 17 came back. Eighty.two are believed to have been killed in the gas chambers of the Chelmmo concentration camp. Marie Dolezalova was one of the 17.

Then a girl of 9, she and eight other children passed Nazi "racial tests" and were sent off to live with German families. Now woman of 34 "with a husband and 12-yearold daugh ter, she works at the Lidice Memorial, tending the grass, trimming the roses and selling literature to visitors. How she escaped gassing Is a mystery to her. Until June 1942, Lidice was a quiet, rural place, 12 miles west of the capital of Prague and two I enclose (check or cash) BOBBY KNIGHT Knight Is Named Soldier Of Month CAM RAHN BAY Army Spec. 4, Bobby G.

Knight, 23, son of Mrs. W. H. Knight, of Ringgold community, has been nmedoldleXiOLthejfouO! for May-by his unit In Vietnam. Knight, whose Barbara Jo, lives in Clarksville, is as.

signed to the 647th Quarter, master Company. His job is connected with refueling.tanks and aircraft. White Promoted At Ft. Campbell FT. CAMPBELL, Ky.

Paul White, whose wife, Sherry, is the daughter of Mrs. Morgan A. Lunsford, Route 6, Laura Drive, Clarksville, has been promoted to airman second class in the Air Force. White is a special vehicle repairman with an Air Force unit at Ft. Campbell.

He is a member of the Tactical Air Command which provides, combat reconnaissance, aerial firepower and assault airlift for Army forces. Greenwell Promoted At Okinawa AB OKINAWA, Ryukyu Islands Everett R. Greenwell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank R.

Greenwell, 650 Martin St. Clarksville, has been promoted to airman second class in the Air Force. Greenwell, a graduate of Clarksville High School, is an administrative specialist at Kadena AB, Okinawa. Spec. 4 Ralph L.

Lipscomb, 23, whose wife, Bernice, lives in Clarksville. He is a parachute rigger in the 11th Quartermaster Company of the 8th Infantry Division's 1st Airborne Brigade near Wiesbaden, Germany. The exe cl sa hi began ay 14 and was scheduled to run through June 3, involved some 7,000 men and 100 aircraft. Paratroopers from the 8th Infantry Division's 1st Airborne Brigade in Germany and the 1st Airborne Battalion of the Spanish Parachute Brigade jumped near Zaragoza where the combined forces conducted the tactical phase of the exercise. The airborne units were supported by elements of the U.S.

and Spanish Armies and by elements of the U.S. Air Force. SEVIER RESTORATION FUND Treas. Brown Harvey, Sr.T322 Main QarKsville, Tennese6 37040 TAX FREE ft Range Instructors Three Local Soldiers In Spain For Exercise VHr t-T i ll "HtSC! ZARAGOZA, Spain A Clarksville man and two other soldiers whose wives live in the "Queen City of the Cumberland" participated in "Exercise Pathfinder Express," a Joint airborne exercise conducted in northseastern Spain. 'FT.

CAMPBELL, in. structors on Committee Group's Basic Rifle Marksmanship rang, es all manage to exude the lm. presslon that they are real masters of the skills they teach. Naturally, this leadstoalotof specu-latlon among their pupils-, just how good are they? Three NCO's from the Marks-manship Committee provided One answer, to this question. Ser.

geants First Class Robert E. Anderson, Berry Q. Randolph Jr. and Boyd L. Thomas Joined the Ft.

Campbell Rifle and Pistol Teamlpr the, l.atJwoweeks of April and accompanied the team to Ft. Bennlng, to shoot In the Third U.S. Army's Champion, ship matches, Thomas did his shooting with pistols while the other two used the M-14 serv. Ice rifle. Army-level shooting such as that at Bennlng is to pick the all-Army team.

Beyond this, Army matdhes are the scene of extremely fine com. petition. The rifles were identi-cal to those for training. The only difference is that they They were Spec. 4 Roy L.

Holmes, 20, son of Mrs. Lillian F. Lewis, 4-D Lincoln Survivors He is a clerk in company of the division's 708th Maintenance Battalion near Mainz, Germany. SFC Bobby J. Wadllngton, whose wife, Shirley, Hves in Clarksville.

He is a platoon sergeant in the 11th Quartermaster Company of the 8th Infantry Division's 1st Airborne -Two of the 17 children i- out of 104 who were found after the warand returned to Lidice, CfcechoslovakU, prepare the Lidice Memorial for the 25th anniversary of the village's destruction by the Nazis, after murder, of all its men, June 10, 1942. Emtlle Frejova, now 33, left, and Marie Dolezalova, 34, were among nine children chosen and sent to live wltH German families. Marie's father and 15-year-old brother were among the 173 men ki lied. The two women now work at the memorial. (AP NEWS-FEATURES PHOTO).