The Old Flenniken Place

I recently received this picture over e-mail from a friend who is also a Flenniken descendant. It's a professionally tinted photo of the "Old Franklin Place" as it was known in the early twentieth century, when the building was already well over a hundred years old. The cabin, located on old Maryville Pike near Mt. Olive Church, was originally built by the Flenniken family c. 1772 (Matthew Franklin, who had most recently lived in the house with his family, was the great grandson of Samuel and Mary Flenniken). As noted in the attached article from the Knoxville News Sentinel, the cabin burned in 1922.

The following narrative is from the book "The DeArmond Families of America" and provides some detail about the life of Samuel Flenniken, my 6th great grandfather and the first of our Flenniken line to reside here in Knox County-

“Samuel Flenniken…was born July 19, 1746 in Pennsylvania. He moved with his parents to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, about 1760 where he grew to manhood, and married. He undoubtedly engaged in farming, and must have lived on his father’s lands since no grants there in his name have been found.

He became a member of the North Carolina Militia and rose rapidly until he attained the rank of captain. He served under Major Davies and participated in the Battle of Hanging Rock, South Carolina, on August 6, 1780, during the Revolutionary War, when Colonel Sumter, with 800 American militia engaged an equal number of loyalists under Major Carden. The Americans were first victorious but were later driven back with considerable losses after inflicting casualties of 269 among the loyalists. For this service, Samuel was recompensed by the State of North Carolina.

Between 1784 and 1787, his bother-in-law, John Dermond, migrated to Greene County, one of the western counties of the state, and settled on a grant of land he secured from the governor of North Carolina, located at the confluence of the Tennessee and Little Rivers, in what soon became Knox County, Tennessee. In 1792, Samuel followed him to Knox County, Tennessee, and settled south of the Tennessee River, on the road to Maryville. He was then 46 years old, and all of his children but the two youngest had been born in North Carolina.

On April 21, 1798, Samuel purchased from John Conner of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, for $500 500 acres of land “lying in Knox County (late in the county of Greene) on the south side of Clinch River, including the mouth of Conner’s Mill Shoal Creek, lying along the river.” This tract had been conveyed to John Conner by North Carolina grant number 624, dated August 23, 1788, being registered in Greene County, North Carolina, on September 21, 1788.

In 1793, Samuel brought suit in the Knox County Court against John Sevier [first governor of the State of Tennessee] and Adam Meek, Executors for the estate of Isaac Taylor, for non-performance of covenant. After having the suit passed to several succeeding courts, Samuel won the action at court on January 27, 1795, and was awarded a verdict of $100. He was an active participant in the affairs of the county, and in 1795 served as Grand Jury foreman; in 1796 as a Superior Court juror, and as a justice of the peace; in 1797, he was appointed tax assessor, and in 1803 became elected judge.

He was listed in the 1806 Tax List for Knox County, Tennessee, with 875 acres, 1 white poll, and 1 slave. He was shown in the 1807 list as Samuel Flenniken, Sr., with 875 acres and 1 poll. He was shown in the 1808 list as Samuel Flenniken, Sr., with 1029 acres of land, 1 poll and 1 slave. In the 1809 list, he was listed as Samuel Flannigan with 923 acres, 1 poll and 1 slave. The 1810 list records Samuel Flanikan with 423 acres, 1 poll, 1 slave and lists him again with 500 acres of land. The 1811 list shows him as Samuel Flenniken, Sr., with the same holdings, and in the 1812 list, he was shown as Samuel Flannikin with the same holdings. Since he died in 1811, the 1811 and 1812 tax lists must have been intended to cover his estate.

On June 9, 1809, Samuel secured from the State of Tennessee Land grant number 601, for 423 acres of land, located in Knox County and south of the Tennessee River, contiguous to holdings of William McClellen and I. W. Flanigan (sic). This land apparently lay along the old Maryville Road, beyond present day Vestal, a suburb of Knoxville.