Roane — Tennessee's governor who got little respect
Once the governor of Tennessee, Archibald Roane's political enemies might as well have erased the man from the history books. Roane was born in Pen...
Once the governor of Tennessee, Archibald Roane's political enemies might as well have erased the man from the history books. Roane was born in Pennsylvania in 1759. When the Revolutionary War broke out, his family sided with the rebellious colonials. Roane was a member of the Ninth Battalion of Pennsylvania militia that crossed the Delaware River with George Washington in 1776, and he was present at the surrender of Cornwallis in 1781. After the war, Roane studied law and migrated to Tennessee. In 1790, in what may have been the turning point in his career, William Blount appointed Roane to be Attorney General for the Southwest Territory's Washington District.