In 1785, in what would become Blount County, there was little peace for the early settlers. In fact the Native Americans were on a rampage. Blount County became part of the State of Franklin in 1784 and under the leadership of John Sevier more settlers moved into the areas that were part of the territory claimed by the Cherokee. The Baker’s Creek and Nine Mile areas sat on the edge and in places over the line of Cherokee territory.
The Cherokee were not happy with the encroachment on their land and the massacre that occurred at Nine Mile was a result. The countering of that massacre with the slaughtering of the local chiefs by the Whites, and the answering response to that massacre with another called the Citico Massacre, added to the outrage on both sides and in the ensuing months many of the locals had to take to the forts and stations for protection.
Ramsey’s “Annals of Tennessee” (1853) gives this account of the attack at Houston’s Station:
“It was attacked by a party of Indians, one hundred in number. They had, the day before, pursued the survivors of the Citico massacre, in the direction of knoxville, many of whom they had killed. Elated with their preceding successes, they determined, on their return, to take and murder the feeble garrison at Houston’s. A vigorous assault was made upon it. Hugh Barry, in looking over the bastion, incautiously exposed his head to the aim of an Indian rifle. He fell, within the station, fatally wounded, having received a bullet in his forehead. The Indians were emboldened by this success and prolonged the conflict more than half an hour. The garrison had some of the best riflemen in the country within it, and, observing the number and activity of the assailants, they loaded and discharged their guns with all possible rapidity. The women assisted them as far as they were able. One of them, Mrs. McEwen, mother of R. H. McEwen, Esq., of Nashville, and since the wife of the Senior S. Doak, D. D., displayed great equanimity and heroism. She inquired for the bullet moulds, and was engaged, busily, in melting the lead and running bullets for different guns. A bullet from without, passing through the interstice between two logs of the station, struck the wall over near her, and rebounding, rolled upon the floor. Snatching it up, and melting and moulding it quickly, she carried it to her husband and said: “Here is a ball run out of the Indian’s lead; send it back to them as quick as possible. It is their own; let them have it in welcome.’”
The lady who gave the bold statement above was a pioneer woman. Margaret Houston McEwen (1758-1831) married Alexander McEwen (1750-1795) in 1780 with whom she had several children. Margaret was one of the nine children of John and Sara Todd Houston who owned the property on which Houston’s Station was located.
The above account is one of the few documented accounts of women from that era. There were likely many such actions by women as the families took to the forts and stations for protection.
Alexander McEwen passed away 10 years later in 1795 in Jonesboro. At age 60, Margaret married Samuel Doak (1749-1830) in 1818.
Doak was a well-known Presbyterian minister who gave the sermon at Sycamore Shoals to the Overmountain Men who would claim a pivotal victory in the Revolutionary War at Kings Mountain. Doak went on to found several Presbyterian churches in Tennessee and was the founder of Tusculum Academy, now Tusculum University in Greeneville, Tennessee. Doak is also known as an early abolitionist. In 1818, the year he married Margaret, he freed all of his slaves and strongly encouraged others to do the same.
Margaret, Samuel Doak and his first wife are buried in Washington County.
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