Named in the 1794 Charter of Blount College as one of the college’s trustees, Archibald Roane was appointed by William Blount as attorney general for the Washington District of the Territory, and served as a delegate from Jefferson County to the Tennessee constitutional convention. He became one of the first three judges of the Superior Courts of Law and Equity. In 1801, when John Sevier retired as governor, Roane became governor of Tennessee. Sevier defeated him in the 1803 election for governor. In 1811 Roane was elected as circuit judge, and in 1815 he was elected a judge of the Superior Court of Errors and Appeals, a position he held until his death.