Assembling at Morganton, on the east side of the mountains, in the
fall of 1788, the party proceeded leisurely to Jonesboro, which,
although as yet only a village of fifty or sixty log houses, was the
metropolis of the eastern Tennessee settlements. There the party was
obliged to wait for a sufficient band of immigrants to assemble before
they could be led by an armed guard with some degree of safety through
the dangerous middle country. As a highway had just been opened
between Jonesboro and Nashville, the travelers were able to cover the
distance in fifteen days. Jackson rode a fine stallion, while a pack
mare carried his worldly effects, consisting of spare clothes,
blankets, half a dozen law books, and small quantities of ammunition,
tea, tobacco, liquor, and salt. For defense he bore a rifle and three
pistols; and in his pocket he carried one hundred and eighty dollars
of the much valued hard money. On the second day of November the
emigrant train made its appearance in Nashville bringing news of much
interest--in particular, that the Federal Constitution had been
ratified by the ninth State, and that the various legislatures were
preparing to choose electors, who would undoubtedly make George
Washington the first President of the Republic.
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