James (Raulston) Roulston (1778 - 1844)

Born 16 Jun 1778 in Richmond, Henrico, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Jane (Simmons) Roulston — married 1 Jan 1802 in Tennessee, Jefferson County, Tennessee

Descendants

Died 7 Aug 1844 at age 66 in Dorans Cove, Jackson, Alabama, United States

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Biography

Col. James (Raulston) Roulston served for Tennessee in the War of 1812
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Col. James Raulston, a Colonel in General William Carroll's Second Division of the Tennessee Militia in the War of 1812. Col. Raulston commanded the 18th Tennessee Infantry in the Battle of New Orleans. His portrait hangs in the State Capital at Nashville. (It no longer is in the State Capital building). In a report by General William Carroll, relative to the war record of Col. Raulston, General Carroll stated that his good conduct, subordination and valor, under the most trying hardships, entitle him to the gratitude of his country. Although reared at the old Raulston home, where his parents died, in what is now Putnam County, Col. James Raulston, after the War of 1812, moved to Marion County, this State. He has numerous descendants in that section. His wife, whose maiden name was Jane Simmons, belonged to a prominent pioneer family of Putnam County.

By J. Leonard Raulston and James W. Livingood 1974 The Raulston Family Pgs. 246 & 248

James is the ancestor of the Sequatchie Valley Raulstons. He was born in 1778 in Augusta Country, Virginia, and was about thirteen or fourteen when his family came to Jefferson County, Tennessee. In 1800 he married Jane Simmons, and they came to Middle Tennessee and opened an inn near Chestnut Mound in Jackson County which was called Roulston's Stand.

In 1801 James was a delegate to Knoxville and was instrumental in the enactment of the necessary legislation to create the new county of Jackson (Tennessee).

In 1808 he moved from the old Raulston Stand to Sequatchie Valley. His family and that of Captain Robert Bean entered over 57,000 acres of land there. James was the father of fourteen children, eleven boys and three girls. His home was built on what was later found to be the Tennessee Alabama line when the boundaries were surveyed in 1817.

Colonel Raulston’s log house was located only a short distance from the Indian villages of Long Island, Nickajack and Running Water. There existed at this time much unrest among the Chickamaugas because they resented the loss of their land to the incoming white man. Andrew Jackson called on James Raulston to organize his area for an expedition against the Creek Indians in the Great Bend of the Tennessee.

In 1809 he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the 18th Regiment of what was then called West Tennessee. Again General Jackson called on Raulston to serve in the War of 1812.

In November 1814 he was commissioned Colonel in command of the 3rd Regiment of Tennessee, which was mustered into service in southern Tennessee and was part of General William Carroll's division. Colonel Raulston and his regiment bore the brunt of the British advance in the battle of New Orleans. Colonel Raulston terminated his military service and returned to his large holdings in the Sequatchie area.

James Raulston was the Sheriff of Jackson Co., TN in 1816. Land Record - RG 50 Series 2 - Land Entry Books 55, 56, 57 & 58 - Reel 17 West Tennessee. Book 58 - pg. 63 #215 in the margin it reads “Survey Retd 10 Feb 1817 in name of W. Billingsley.” and “I, James Raulston, sheriff of Jackson County do hereby transfer this entry No. 215 unto Walter Billingsley the same having been sold by James Cook, former sheriff of Jackson County to said Billingsley by Virtue of an execution Walter Billingsley vs John Anderson. 23 May 1816.

While he was Indian Commissioner, Andrew Jackson spent much of his time during summers in Doran’s Cove (much of which was owned by Raulston) settling land disputes with the Indians. Colonel Raulston and Major James Doran worked with and were of great assistance to Andrew Jackson in the formulation of the Indian Treaty of 1817-1819.

In 1828 he declared his domicile to be in Alabama and was elected representative of Jackson County to the Alabama legislature.

President Andrew Jackson had been born on the farm of Andrew Pickens of South Carolina, Jane Simmon's great grandfather. Andrew Jackson was a personal friend of Colonel Raulston. This was doubtless partly due to the close friendship that existed between the Pickens and Jackson families. Many times Raulston and his wife were invited to the Hermitage as President Jackson’s guests

Marriage

James met Jane Simmons about 1801 when he was working on his Uncle George's newspaper, the Knoxville Gazette. Jane's parents were waiting for the river to rise so their flat boats could move down the Tennessee River on the first leg of their river journey to Louisiana. Traditionally, Jane never saw her family again, except for John who returned with Colonel Raulston to Tennessee after the Battle of New Orleans

Death

Burial: Dorans Cove Cemetery 13815716 [1]

Sources

• The Raulstons And The Part They Played In American History, by J. Leonard Raulston, 1970