Post by Admin on Aug 1, 2018 13:18:31 GMT -5
Rhea County in east Tennessee is named after U.S. Congressman John Rhea (1753-1832) from Tennessee. Rhea County was established 30 November 1807 from part of Roane County.
Rhea County is full of historical locations. Most famous for the trial of John Thomas Scopes, also called "The Monkey Trial". Scopes went on trial for being in violation of Tennessee State Law that banned the teaching of evolution. The law, which had been passed in March, made it a misdemeanor punishable by fine to “teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” The trial began on July 10th, 1925. William Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic presidential candidate and a fundamentalist hero, volunteered to assist the prosecution. Soon after, the great attorney Clarence Darrow agreed to join the ACLU in the defense, and the stage was set for one of the most famous trials in U.S. history. The resulting trial made Dayton, Tn the focus of the Nation and Dayton took on a Carnival like atmosphere. There was exhibit featuring two chimpanzees and a supposed “missing link” opened in town, and vendors sold Bibles, toy monkeys, hot dogs, and lemonade. The missing link was in fact Jo Viens of Burlington, Vermont, a 51-year-old man who was of short stature and possessed a receding forehead and a protruding jaw. One of the chimpanzees–named Joe Mendi–wore a plaid suit, a brown fedora, and white spats, and entertained Dayton’s citizens by monkeying around on the courthouse lawn. The small town of Dayton grew to nearly (an estimated) 27,000 people during the trial and in fact the Trial became World Famous. But there is a lot more to what is written here in this short paragraphs. VIsit the restored Courthouse, Rhea County Museum and have a drink at the Monkey Town Brewing Company. The Scopes Trial is celebrated annually with a Scopes Festival and Reenactment of the Trial in the restored Courthouse.
Rhea County has an extensive but underreported Civil War history. The local families during the conflict supported both sides with neighbors being Union or COnfederate. Several Cavalry Skirmishes occured in Rhea County between Colonel (Later Major General) H.G. Minti (Union) and General Joseph Wheeler (Confederate) forces. One clash between 11,000 Cavalrymen and Mounted Infantry. The town of Dayton, called Smith's Cross-Roads at the time was the location of a Union POW Camp, Headquarters for five different Generals and was occupied at various times by both Union and Confederate Forces. There is much more to that as well. Rhea County is on the Civil War Trail. Rhea had the only female cavalry company on either side during the Civil War. It was made up of young women in their teens and their twenties from Rhea County and was formed in 1862. Their unit was named the Rhea County Spartans. Until 1863, the Spartans simply visited loved ones in the military and delivered the equivalent of modern-day care packages. After Union troops entered Rhea in 1863, the Spartans may have engaged in some spying for Confederate forces. The members of the Spartans were arrested in April 1865 under orders of a Rhea County Unionist and were forced to march to the Tennessee River. From there they were transported to Chattanooga aboard the USS Chattanooga. Once in Chattanooga, Union officers realized the women were not a threat and ordered them released and returned to Rhea County. They first were required to take the oath of allegiance to the United States government. The Spartans were not an officially recognized unit of the Confederate Army.
For thousands of years prior to European contact and afterwards the land in Rhea County was occupied by American Indians. You can learn more about that and the forced Removal at the Removal Memorial and Museum just a few miles from Dayton in Meigs County down Highway 60. The Removal Memorial at Blythe's Ferry on the HIwasee River is free of charge and has monuments, a large marble map outside showing the different routes of the removal through each state, a picnic area, an overlook, marble historical plaques, and a well stocked museum
There is a lot of history in Rhea County and surrounding counties and marked locations.
Rhea County is full of historical locations. Most famous for the trial of John Thomas Scopes, also called "The Monkey Trial". Scopes went on trial for being in violation of Tennessee State Law that banned the teaching of evolution. The law, which had been passed in March, made it a misdemeanor punishable by fine to “teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” The trial began on July 10th, 1925. William Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic presidential candidate and a fundamentalist hero, volunteered to assist the prosecution. Soon after, the great attorney Clarence Darrow agreed to join the ACLU in the defense, and the stage was set for one of the most famous trials in U.S. history. The resulting trial made Dayton, Tn the focus of the Nation and Dayton took on a Carnival like atmosphere. There was exhibit featuring two chimpanzees and a supposed “missing link” opened in town, and vendors sold Bibles, toy monkeys, hot dogs, and lemonade. The missing link was in fact Jo Viens of Burlington, Vermont, a 51-year-old man who was of short stature and possessed a receding forehead and a protruding jaw. One of the chimpanzees–named Joe Mendi–wore a plaid suit, a brown fedora, and white spats, and entertained Dayton’s citizens by monkeying around on the courthouse lawn. The small town of Dayton grew to nearly (an estimated) 27,000 people during the trial and in fact the Trial became World Famous. But there is a lot more to what is written here in this short paragraphs. VIsit the restored Courthouse, Rhea County Museum and have a drink at the Monkey Town Brewing Company. The Scopes Trial is celebrated annually with a Scopes Festival and Reenactment of the Trial in the restored Courthouse.
Rhea County has an extensive but underreported Civil War history. The local families during the conflict supported both sides with neighbors being Union or COnfederate. Several Cavalry Skirmishes occured in Rhea County between Colonel (Later Major General) H.G. Minti (Union) and General Joseph Wheeler (Confederate) forces. One clash between 11,000 Cavalrymen and Mounted Infantry. The town of Dayton, called Smith's Cross-Roads at the time was the location of a Union POW Camp, Headquarters for five different Generals and was occupied at various times by both Union and Confederate Forces. There is much more to that as well. Rhea County is on the Civil War Trail. Rhea had the only female cavalry company on either side during the Civil War. It was made up of young women in their teens and their twenties from Rhea County and was formed in 1862. Their unit was named the Rhea County Spartans. Until 1863, the Spartans simply visited loved ones in the military and delivered the equivalent of modern-day care packages. After Union troops entered Rhea in 1863, the Spartans may have engaged in some spying for Confederate forces. The members of the Spartans were arrested in April 1865 under orders of a Rhea County Unionist and were forced to march to the Tennessee River. From there they were transported to Chattanooga aboard the USS Chattanooga. Once in Chattanooga, Union officers realized the women were not a threat and ordered them released and returned to Rhea County. They first were required to take the oath of allegiance to the United States government. The Spartans were not an officially recognized unit of the Confederate Army.
For thousands of years prior to European contact and afterwards the land in Rhea County was occupied by American Indians. You can learn more about that and the forced Removal at the Removal Memorial and Museum just a few miles from Dayton in Meigs County down Highway 60. The Removal Memorial at Blythe's Ferry on the HIwasee River is free of charge and has monuments, a large marble map outside showing the different routes of the removal through each state, a picnic area, an overlook, marble historical plaques, and a well stocked museum
There is a lot of history in Rhea County and surrounding counties and marked locations.