Rhea County’s Name

In today’s world where everyone needs to feel pride or just simply acknowledge something that is good, we can all be proud of our Tennessee heritage.

This state has had the sacrifices of our ancestors in order to make it what it is today, and we, as its citizens, need to take time to remember that fact. Tennessee’s inhabitants have worked, fought and suffered for the place they call “home.” Each one of us is a representative of our state, and wherever we go we take a small part of Tennessee with us. Since this year we are celebrating the two hundred and fiftieth birthday of America, I want to give some information relating to our state and county. It is important for us to know about our state in order to appreciate and understand the history of our county.

According to the Tennessee Blue Book 2025-2026, Tennessee was admitted to the Union on June 1, 1796 as the sixteenth state of the Union.

This was two hundred and thirty years ago. As we know, it is named the “Volunteer State” with the first Governor being John Sevier. The origin of this nickname had to do with the War of 1812 when fifteen hundred volunteers from the Tennessee militia fought under Andrew Jackson. Then, during the Mexican-American War of 1848, when President James K. Polk of Tennessee called for two thousand volunteers, thirty thousand Tennesseans answered that call. Also, Tennessee sent large numbers of soldiers to fight on both sides during the War Between the States. In addition, during the War Between the States, Tennessee was the last state to succeed from the union, and the first state to return to the union. In 2020 Tennessee lawmakers officially approved a resolution specifying the state of Tennessee as “the Volunteer State.” Another interesting fact is that Tennessee borders eight other states, which is more than any other state in the union.

During the early days of Tennessee history, agriculture was the main employment, with cotton and tobacco being the most profitable crops. These early pioneers mainly used the rivers to get their products to market for sale.

As we think about early history of Tennessee, we know that our home of Rhea County also has much to be proud of. It was established in 1807 from land of Roane County that had been acquired from the Cherokees by the treaty of October 25, 1805; the first County Court was organized in 1808 at the home of William Henry at Big Spring just north of the present site of Dayton. The Henry house was the center of County Government until 1812 when the Seat of Justice was established at Washington.

From my research I have found that our name of Rhea is in honor of John Rhea, a Revolutionary War veteran who served in the militia at the Battle of Kings Mountain during October of 1780. The son of Joseph Rhea, a Presbyterian minister and Elizabeth Mcillwaine, John was born in 1753 in the parish of Langhorn, County Londonderry, Ireland. When he was sixteen the family migrated to Pennsylvania and settled in Philadelphia, then moved to Piney Creek, Maryland, in 1771. Another move in 1778 took them to North Carolina which is now Eastern Tennessee.

John Rhea was a delegate to the North Carolina Convention which ratified the United States Constitution, a member of the Tennessee Constitutional Convention in 1796, also a member of the State House of Representatives during 1796-97 and of the United States House of Representatives 1803-15 and 1817-23. As Tennessee developed from a territory into a state, Rhea also sat on the Constitutional Committee of 1798. In addition, he served as trustee or incorporator of three of the earliest institutions of higher education west of the Alleghenies: Washington College, Greeneville College, which is now Tusculum College and Blount College, the predecessor of the University of Tennessee.

When Rhea retired he lived on his Rhea plantation near Blountville in Sullivan County, Tennessee. He died there at age seventy-nine on May 27, 1832 and was buried in Blountville Cemetery. There are several places which carry his name: Rhea County, Rheatown, a former city in Greene County and Rhea Springs in Rhea County. (Rhea Springs is now under water due to Watts Bar Dam).

Rhea County now has a face to go with the name! A few years ago, Senator Ken Yager presented the Rhea County Historical Society with a copy of a portrait of our county namesake, John Rhea.

We have it displayed in a prominent place on the main floor of the Rhea County Courthouse.

We can be proud of both our state and county history. Tennessee and Rhea County have gone through some tough times; however, each has always come out on a brighter note. All of us need to remember the sacrifices made for us by former citizens and pray that God will take us through these hard times. Recall the fact that each one of us is a Tennessean and a tough Volunteer!

As your Rhea County Historian I am reminding you to be sure and remember to study the past in order to live in the present and prepare for the future. Also, remember America’s birthday.

John Rhea