William Bean (December 9, 1721-May 1782) was an

American pioneer American pioneers, also known as American settlers, were European American,Asian American, and African American settlers who migrated westward from the British Thirteen Colonies and later the United States of America to settle and develop areas ...

, longhunter, and Commissioner of the Watauga Association. He is accepted by historians as the first permanent

European American European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since th ...

settler of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Biography

William Bean was born December 9, 1721. In 1744, Bean married Lydia Russell of Northumberland County. William was of Scottish descent, and Lydia was of English descent.

Settlement in the Watauga Association

In 1762, Bean set camp close to the junction of Boone's Creek and the

Watauga River The Watauga River () is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is long with its headwaters in Linville Gap to the South Fork Holston River at Boone Lake. Course The Watauga River rises from a spring located south to ...

, near present day Johnson City during a longhunting excursion with fellow pioneers and friends

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

and Richard Callaway, on behalf of Richard Henderson, a land surveyor who played an important role in the early settlement of Tennessee.Hamer, ''Tennessee: A History'', 64. In 1769, he constructed a cabin at this site and relocate his family. Shortly after the cabin's completion, Lydia Bean gave Birth to a son, Russell Bean, who would be historically accepted as the first European American born in present-day Tennessee. The Bean family encountered aggressive confrontations with the inhabiting Cherokee tribes, and found distaste in the growing popularity of the Watauga Association. Nevertheless, William Bean pursued a career in politics and be elected as a commissioner of the Watauga Association in 1772, serving a crucial role in the absorption of the settlement into the state of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

by 1775.

American Revolution and establishment of Bean Station

East Tennessee Crossing - The Lakes of the Crossing from Clinch Mountain - NARA - 7718101

In 1775, William Bean collaborated with Daniel Boone on a new longhunting excursion, as Bean wanted to move west with the Watauga Association gaining popularity, and Boone was wanting to expand his

Wilderness Road The Wilderness Road was one of two principal routes used by colonial and early national era settlers to reach Kentucky from the East. Although this road goes through the Cumberland Gap into southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee, the other ...

southward towards the

Great Indian Warpath The Great Indian Warpath (GIW)—also known as the Great Indian War and Trading Path, or the Seneca Trail—was part of the network of trails in eastern North America developed and used by Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans w ...

. The duo crossed the gap on top of Clinch Mountain after traversing the Powell and Clinch rivers in present-day Claiborne and Grainger counties in Tennessee. After surveying the valley below, Bean and Boone descended the southward slope of Clinch Mountain and set camp along the German Creek tributary of the

Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee ...

and the Great Indian Warpath. Finding appreciation for the vast wildlife, timber, fertile soil, and access to navigable waters, Bean chose this site as the permanent site of his new home and to establish a community with Boone planning to extend the Wilderness Road to the campsite location. During the Revolutionary War, Bean served as a captain for the

Virginia militia The Virginia militia is an armed force composed of all citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia capable of bearing arms. The Virginia militia was established in 1607 as part of the English militia system. Militia service in Virginia was compulso ...

, and was awarded over 3,000 acres in the German Creek valley where he surveyed and camped at previously with Boone in 1776. In the same year, Bean constructed a four-room cabin with the assistance of his sons. The cabin served as his family's home, and as an inn for prospective settlers,

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

rs, and longhunters, named Bean Station, establishing the first reportedly permanent settled community in present-day Tennessee. In 1780, Bean served in his position of captain in the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Death and legacy

In May 1782, Bean died of unknown causes at the age of 60 in his cabin at Bean Station. Bean's settlement of Bean Station grew substantially following his death in 1782. By 1787, Bean's sons constructed a fort, blacksmiths shop, and a trading outpost at the community's crossroads of the

and the

. Bean Station emerged as an important stopover, due to its strategic location on the crossroads of present-day U.S. Route 25E and U.S. Route 11W, between

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

for early travelers through Tennessee into the 18th century. The town and cabin established by Bean were lost following the flooding of the Holston River valley for the construction of the Cherokee Dam by the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

in 1942. Bean Station unofficially relocated to the new crossroads of US 25E and US 11W, and incorporated into a town in 1996.

Biography

Settlement in the Watauga Association

American Revolution and establishment of Bean Station

Death and legacy

References

Further reading