First Trustees

The charter issued by the Territorial Legislature establishing Blount College in 1794, named 18 trustees of the institution: William Blount, Rev. Samuel Carrick, Daniel Smith, David Campbell, Joseph Anderson, John Sevier, James White, William Cocke, Archibald Roane, Willie Blount, Charles McClung, George Roulstone, John Adair, Joseph Hamilton, Robert Houston, Alexander Kelly, George McNutt, and Francis Ramsey. Three were Revolutionary War soldiers; one of them provided funds for the equipment of the patriots who fought at Kings Mountain; and one of them was a leader in that battle. One suggested the design for Tennessee’s Great Seal of State and designed the Knoxville flag. Four were United States senators from Tennessee; one was the first congressman from the Mississippi Valley; three were governors of the state; one was the first comptroller of the United States Treasury; one was a member of the Order of Cincinnati; one was also a charter trustee of the University of North Carolina; and one was the owner and publisher of the first newspaper published in Tennessee.