Skip to main content

SCOUT

Special Collections Online at UT

Early Map of Memphis, Tennessee

 Collection
Identifier: MS-4013

  • Staff Only

The map details divisions of a tract of land along the east bank of the Mississippi River in what is now Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee. Text below the map identifies the tract as "Grant No. 283 for 5000 acres granted by North Carolina to John Rice.” This map contains the details of the original land distribution and ownership agreement formed circa 1822. Owners of the plots included Andrew Jackson, John Overton, and James Winchester. This copy of the map is thought to have been created on June 8, 1836.

Dates

  • 1836 June 8

Language

The material in this collection is in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet

Abstract

This collection contains a a rare, early map of what would eventually become Memphis, Tennessee. This map shows the divisions of a tract of land belonging to Andrew Jackson, John Overton, and James Winchester. This copy of the map is thought to have been created on June 8, 1836.

Biographical/Historical Note

This map details the divisions and ownership of the land plot now known as Memphis, Tennessee. John Rice first acquired the territory in 1783 from North Carolina. In 1794, John Overton bought the land and split his portion with Andrew Jackson, who then split the land with James Winchester. The Chickasaw Indians originally occupied the territory, but eventually ceded the land in 1819. Upon gaining complete control, Jackson, Overton, and Winchester made changes to create the city of Memphis. This 1836 copy of the map is signed by Abram B. Taylor, who at the time was a register in Shelby County, Tennessee, and later served as the mayor of Memphis.

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States, serving from 1829 to 1837. Born in 1767 in the frontier settlement of the Waxhaws in South Carolina, Jackson moved to Salisbury, NC in 1784 and received his license to practice law in 1787, beginning his practice in North Carolina's Western District in Washington County (now a part of Tennessee). In October 1788, he moved to Nashville, where he met his wife Rachel. After serving as the major general of the Tennessee militia for twenty years and earning recognition as a military leader in the War of 1812, Jackson was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1823 and to the presidency in 1828. After serving two terms as president, Jackson returned to the Hermitage, his Nashville home, in early 1837. Eight years later, in 1845, Jackson died at his home at the age of 78.

Repository Details

Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository

Contact:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville TN 37996 USA
865-974-4480