Samuel was, at the time of his marriage to Elizabeth, involved in theological studies at an academy in Rockbridge County. In 1781 he was ordained as a minister and became active in the Virginia Presbytery, where he served for a number of years before ultimately relocating with his little family to the vicinity of James White's Fort (Knoxville) in 1791. Reverend Carrick would deliver what may well have been the first sermon preached in present day Knox County. The message was delivered from atop an Indian mound adjacent to Mr. Deverreaux Gilliam's trading station, located in the forks of the French Broad and Holston Rivers. A Presbyterian church, Lebanon In the Fork, was soon dedicated adjacent to Gilliam's Station, and Reverend Carrick was appointed as the church's first pastor. Early attendees of the church included prominent local citizenry, such as the Whites and the Ramsey family.
In September of 1793 Elizabeth, already suffering from chronic health complications, became gravely ill just prior to the proposed attack on Knoxville by the Creek/Cherokee coalition under John Watts. Following the massacre at Cavett's Station on September 25, the men of White's Fort and the surrounding community, including Rev. Carrick, marched out to fortify some of the outlying settlements. While the men were gone from the fort, young Elizabeth passed away.
The following is an excerpt from Dr. J. G. M. Ramsey's 1875 history of the church-
Among the first Christian interments here was that of Mrs. Carrick. It occurred on the day of the contemplated attack upon the infant Knoxville by the Indians, Sept., 1793. All the inhabitants who would bear arms had gone to its defense, and relations and remains of Mrs. Carrick were brought down in a canoe on the Holston River and deposited in the church yard, attended and buried by women only. Her grave is easily pointed out -- a tombstone erected long since by the faithful care and piety of her grandson, the late Samuel Carrick White of Knoxville. This is the oldest graveyard in the county and has become historical from its early date and respectability and worth of those who were buried in it.
Elizabeth's grave is still visible and well-maintained to this day. It sits in the northeast corner of the little cemetery belonging to the church her husband helped establish over two hundred years ago.
Rev. Carrick would eventually remarry and rise to local prominence as a minister, a civic leader and as the founder of Blount College in Knoxville (later the University of Tennessee).
Elizabeth's brother, James Caswell Moore, also left Rockbridge County and settled with his wife, Jane Boyd Moore, on 201 acres of land in the Neubert Springs section of South Knoxville. James C. Moore was my third great grandfather, and his original land grant on Neubert Springs Road would remain in our family for nearly two hundred years.
Directions to Lebanon Church Cemetery:
The cemetery is located off Governor John Sevier Highway near the Forks of the River Industrial Park. Coming from the north (Asheville Highway), turn right onto Thorngrove Pike and follow it for a mile or so until you come to Asbury Road on your left. Turn left onto Asbury and drive approximately two miles until you see a railroad trestle passing over the road. The cemetery is on the left, just before you pass under the trestle. The church was destroyed by fire in the early 20th century, but the pillars from the church (actually the second church building) were spared and used as part of a monument on the original site.
Directly across the street is a large white farmhouse that resides directly atop what was originally the site of Gilliam’s Station. (The house is currently owned by friends of our family, the Carrolls). The fork of the Holston and French Broad Rivers, which marks the official inception of the Tennessee River, is visible just to the south of the farmhouse.
