William Blount was born to Jacob and Barbara (Gray) Blount in Bertie County, North Carolina on March 26, 1749. During the Revolutionary War, he served as a paymaster for the Continental Army's troops in the North Carolina Line. He married Mary Grainger (1753-1802) on February 12, 1778, and the couple had at least six children: Ann, Mary Louisa, William Grainger, Richard Blackledge, Barbara, and Eliza. Blount began his political career in 1780 when he was elected to the North Carolina State House of Commons, where he served for four years. He was also involved in national politics, serving as a delegate to the Continental Congress (1782, 1783, 1786, and 1787) and as a member of the convention that framed the U. S. Constitution (1787). In 1790, President George Washington appointed Blount Governor of the Territory South of the River Ohio (including what is now Tennessee). In the same year, Blount became the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He served as Governor until 1795 and as Superintendent until 1796. Blount went on to become chairman of the first Tennessee Constitutional Convention in 1796 and was elected Tennessee's first senator after the State was admitted to the Union. He was expelled from the Senate in 1797 after being convicted of plotting with the British to attack what are now Florida and Louisiana. He did not, however, leave politics, and was elected to the Tennessee State Senate 1798. William Blount died on March 21, 1800 in Knoxville, Tennessee and was buried in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery.