Archibald Roane

Archibald Roane (1759/60 – January 18, 1819) was the second Governor of Tennessee, serving from 1801 to 1803. He won the office after the state's first governor, John Sevier, was prevented by constitutional restrictions from seeking a fourth consecutive term. He quickly became caught up in the growing rivalry between Sevier and Andrew Jackson, and was soundly defeated by Sevier after just one term. Roane served as an attorney general in the Southwest Territory in the early 1790s, and later served as a judge on the state's Superior Court of Law and Equity (1796–1801) and the Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals (1815–1819).

Early life

Roane was born in 1759 or 1760Sources differ regarding Archibald Roane's birthdate and other biographical details. The Tennessee State Museu

and the memorial marker at his grave (which was erected in 1918) give the birthdate as 1759; the Tennessee State Library and Archives lists it as "circa 1759". The ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'' gives the birthdate as 1760, while the National Governors Association biography also gives a birth year of 1760. An article in the October 190
The American Historical Magazine and Tennessee Historical Society Quarterly
(Vol. VII, number 4, pages 322–323) gives the birthdate as "about 1760" and states that Roane and his wife had six children, while the National Governors Association biography reports eight children. in Derry Township (then a part of Lancaster County) in the Province of Pennsylvania.Elbert Watson (1964) and David R. Sowell (1988)
Papers of Governor Archibald Roane, 1801–1803
Tennessee State Library and Archives. He was the son of Andrew and Margaret Walker Roane. Andrew Roane, who was born in Northern Ireland, was one of four sons of Archibald Gilbert Roane, a Scotsman who had been awarded land in Ireland in return for his British military service. All of the sons of Archibald Gilbert Roane emigrated to America. After Andrew and Margaret Roane both died when young Archibald Roane was about eight years old, he was raised by an uncle, John Roane, a Presbyterian minister, who provided him with a good education.

During the Revolutionary War, Archibald Roane served in the Continental Army as a member of the Lancaster County Militia (5th Company, 9th Battalion, Pennsylvania Volunteers).Michael Toomey
Archibald Roane
''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'' He was among the troops who took part in Washington's crossing of the Delaware River and the subsequent Battle of Trenton in December 1776,James Lee McDonough, "Archibald Roane," ''Governors of Tennessee'', Vol. 3 (Memphis State University Press, 1979), pp. 63–76. and was present at the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.Governor's Information: Tennessee Governor Archibald Roane
, National Governors Association website, accessed June 12, 2011

In the 1780s he settled for a time in vicinity of Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia, where he studied and later taught at Liberty Hall Academy, a predecessor institution to Washington and Lee University. In Virginia, he married Ann (or Anne) Campbell, whom he had met there, in 1788.

Shortly after his marriage in 1788, Roane moved to Jonesborough, Tennessee, then still a part of North Carolina, where he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law.

In 1790, when the Southwest Territory was formed, territorial governor William Blount appointed Roane to the position of Attorney and Solicitor for Greene County and later Territorial Attorney General for the Washington District. In 1796, he represented Jefferson County at the state constitutional convention. This convention wrote the original Tennessee Constitution, which took effect that same year when Tennessee became a U.S. state. Later in 1796, he became one of the three judges of the Superior Court of Law and Equity, the highest court established under the new state constitution.

Governor of Tennessee

In 1801, Governor John Sevier had reached the limit of three consecutive terms allowed as governor under the state constitution, and Roane ran virtually unopposed to become his successor.Our Campaigns – Archibald Roane
Retrieved: January 18, 2013. The Great Seal of Tennessee was adopted during the Roane Administration in 1801, and Tennessee was divided into three Congressional districts. Roane also signed anti-fraud measures, a law outlawing dueling, and a law prohibiting the disturbance of public worship. Like his predecessor, much of Roane's time as governor was spent dealing with disputes between white settlers and Indians.

Roane coordinated efforts to begin construction of the Natchez Trace, convincing Secretary of War Henry Dearborn to construct inns and military posts along the road, and provide rewards for the apprehension of bandits who harassed Natchez travellers. He also appointed a commission that successfully resolved a boundary dispute with Virginia. In October 1802, Spain revoked American access to the critical port of New Orleans

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