Two of the people that attended the Saturday evening get-together, at Freddie and Jesse Barnwell’s farm, James and Carolyn Craig, have a well-deserved reputation for their vast interest in Tennessee history. They started by saying “Even though we are not historians, we will tell you what we know about somebody you have certainly heard about, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, as he later became known, son of John and Rebecca Crockett. The Crockett name, being the anglicized form of Crocketagna, were French Huguenot Protestants who fled to Ireland to avoid persecution. His great-grandfather who was of French, Irish and Scottish descent was born in America.”
Carolyn Craig said “In 1817 Davy Crockett built a grist mill, powder mill, and distillery, along Shoal Creek in Lawrence County Tennessee. In 1821, a flood destroyed Davy’s mills, putting him out of business. It was at this location, near the entrance to Davy Crockett State Park, when the flood of 1997 destroyed the building owned by the state of Tennessee. The lesson from history had been neglected by the politicians and state officials. Saddie Lou asked, “Isn’t there another Davy Crockett state park in Tennessee?” James said, “Yes, Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park is in Limestone, Tennessee, which was destroyed by the flood in 2024 from Hurricane Helene.”
James continued by saying how after the flood in 1821, Davy packed his belongings and moved to West Tennessee. Davy Crockett was elected to Congress and was campaigning for his second term when he encountered a farmer. The farmer told Mr. Crockett he would not vote for Mr. Crockett again. The reason for his displeasure with Davy was because he had voted to give money to some families in Georgetown, whose homes had been destroyed by fire. The farmer told Mr. Crockett that the Constitution of the United States permits the government to have in the treasury no more than enough for its legitimate purposes. He told Davy Crockett the power of collecting and distributing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power entrusted to man. Everyone laughed when Pedro Latiah said, “Nothing has changed that’s for sure!”
The Craigs then told how the farmer told Mr. Crockett if he had the right to give $20,000 he could have given all the monies in the Treasury. He told Mr. Crockett Congress had no right to give charity as it left the door wide open for fraud and corruption, as well as favoritism, and since he took a pledge to uphold the Constitution, he was not an honest man. He gave Davy Crockett a lesson on the United States Constitution that day. Davy told the farmer he would never vote to give monies to charity again, instead he would take money for such a purpose from his own money first if the farmer would give him another chance. Davy Crockett promised to never violate the United States Constitution again – and he didn’t. As a matter of fact, the next time Congress voted to give monies for a charitable cause Davy said if they all believed in the cause they should give from their own money like he was going to do. All the others voted to give the money from the government treasury instead.
According to the best information Carolyn Craig said she could find, “Davy Crockett said this about that Tennessee Farmer:” “I have known and seen much of him since that time for I respect him. No, that is not the word – I revere and love him more than any living man, and I go to see him two or three times every year. I will tell you, if everyone who professes to be a Christian lived and acted and enjoyed it as he does, the religion of Christ would take the world by storm.” Davy Crockett delivered a speech in which he said, “Money with Congress is trash when it has to come from the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it.” “His family must have been very proud of him.” Carmella Barclay added.
While smiling, Carolyn Craig said “Yes, Davy Crockett was a man of integrity and honesty, upholding the Constitution as written. After his encounter with the Tennessee farmer – a man who put Jesus Christ first in his own life, and was able to impress upon Congressman Davy Crockett what the United States Constitution was about, but more importantly what honesty and integrity were about. Carolyn then added how a prime example of the kind of man Davy Crockett was is the fact he essentially stood alone in Congress as he fought against President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act. Davy felt taking land away from the Indians was unjust, although he knew it would probably cost him his seat in Congress, which it did, even though he was re-elected in 1832. He lost reelection in 1834. Davy said if Martin Van Buren, who wanted to remove the Indians from their land, was elected president he would move to the Texas territory, which he did in hopes of finding a new life for his family. He never returned to get his family and bring them there, because he was killed at the Alamo.
James Craig said, “President Martin Van Buren, who he apparently referred to as corrupt and a tyrant, ordered US troops at bayonet point to force the Cherokee Indians to abandon their land. 16,000 Cherokee Indians began the 1,000-mile most difficult journey, while under armed guards treated like prisoners in their own land. Federal troops would not allow them to stop to attend to the sick or bury their dead. There were estimated to be as many as 4,000, along the Trail Of Tears. Upon hearing this, and with tears in her eyes, Noya Awieka said, her grandfather who she never knew, was a Cherokee. She felt Davy Crockett would have been irate knowing a Tennessee county was named after President Martin Van Buren who had caused so much suffering for the Cherokees. When Davy was in Congress, the Cherokee Indians chief paid tribute to Davy for fighting for their rights. Noya then said, “I would love to see the name of Van Buren County, Tennessee changed to Cherokee County.” Jesse Barnwell said, “I will pray with you about that Noya, knowing how much this would mean to you and correcting a wrong.”
Farmer Barnwell concluded the evening by saying, “If we had more common people like you, Noya, and Davy Crockett elected to political office instead of people who are out of touch with the common people, and seemingly having so little empathy for the poor and hurting, we would have a much better country and a judicial system so much in the need of change. We read in Psalm 41 the Lord will bless those that are merciful in their consideration of the weak and the poor. And then he added, “When it comes to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers of our nation, our schools need to do a better job in educating our youth.”
The Craigs then added this. “The Israelites occupied Judea/Israel since the time of Abraham. God scattered them throughout the world because of their disobedience. A small number of Jews continued to occupy the land throughout history. The Roman Emperor, Hadrian, changed the name of Judea to Palestine in 135 A.D. to punish them for rebelling against Rome. Today people want to force them off their God-given land to which they have returned. Jesus teaches in Matthew 24:13 that Israel and the Temple will exist at the time of the Tribulation and what the apostle Paul said in Romans 11:1-2 makes it clear God’s covenant with Abraham is everlasting.” Carolyn then added, “there are lots of articles online connecting the Cherokees to one of the lost tribes of Israel, both from identical customs, words, and now even DNA research.” She said “The fact Cherokee Chief Larry Smith, in 2021 said his Cherokee Tribe understands how the Jews feel and they recognize Israel as a sovereign Jewish nation, and Jerusalem as its eternal undivided capitol, is quite profound to say the least.”
Farmer Barnwell concluded by praying for the peace of Jerusalem and the Cherokees, mentioning Noya, whom everyone who was there was proud of, as a wonderful representative of the Cherokees and the Lord Jesus. YouTube video “Short and Sweet – Cherokee Indians, one of the lost tribes of Israel.” Information related to the Cherokees is not to be confused with what the Mormons say about the lost tribes of Israel and American Indians. According to historical accounts, Hitler used Andrew Jackson’s getting rid of the Cherokees as his model of ethnic cleansing in getting rid of the Jews!
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