General Adrian Northcut
1799-1869
Picture courtesy of Steve Wilsher, Birmingham, Alabama
General Adrian Northcut was born October 13, 1799 in Lee County, Virginia and died January 19, 1869 in Altamont, Grundy County, Tennessee. He was the son of John Northcut and Lyncia Ann England Northcut. The family migrated to Warren County, Tennessee from Lee County, Virginia in 1806 and settled on Tonn Creek near what is now McMinnville. Around 1819, Adrian married Sarah Emeline Cope who was born November 23, 1803 in Tennessee and died January 24, 1872 in Altamont, Grundy County, Tennessee. Both are buried in the Armstrong Cemetery near McMinnville, Tennessee along with many other Northcut relatives.
Notes on Adrian Northcut
submitted by: Freddie Northcutt, Steele, Missouri
By the early 1820's Adrian (his name on old tax rolls actually is spelled Adren Northcut) had married Sarah Cope of Warren County and moved into their own home. In August 1825, Adrian bought 45 acres of land in the Irving College area for twelve and one half cents per acre. This was the beginning of a lifetime of land acquisition and business dealings that would make him a powerful and wealthy man. The 1830's saw Adrian continue to acquire plots of land, large and small, adjacent to his holdings. He added 560 acres in 1838 and was now beginning to get the acreage necessary to support a large herd of livestock.
It was the grazing of herds of cattle, hogs, and horses that Adrian was most interested in. Fattened on the grasses and acorns of his range, they were then driven south and sold to the cotton plantations of Georgia and Alabama.
Adrian was once described as "not well educated, but having a wonderful business ability and judgement." He certainly knew the business of raising and selling livestock and turned the profits made into the purchase of more land.
The decade of the 1840's proved an eventful one in many ways. In 1841, in partnership with Jonathan Tipton, he acquired another 2,886 acres. At the end of the first half of the century, Adrian's family numbered 15. Adrian was in the forefront of the group of citizens working to esablish a new county from land taken from the counties of Warren and Coffee. The new county would encompass some of his property and when, in 1844, Grundy was formed, he was one of the commissioners appointed by legistature to organize the county.
One of the signers of documents which formed Grundy County, TN. This was accomplished in his log home. Still standing 143 years later, this cabin also served briefly as the first courthouse of Grundy County. The restoration of the old courthouse is virtually complete. The orginal court house is dwarfed by the large Federal style two story manor built in 1885 by his son. His excellent organizational ability was duly noted in the minutes of the court meetings and he continued to serve on the County Court for many years. He was instrumental in having the county seat located at Altamont. It is believed that he never accepted a cent in payment for his services.
Adrian seems to have been a "soft touch" for men who had brushes with the law, because he served as security on many bonds. On one occasion, as family tradition has it, he paid $2,000 bail money so a man accused of murder could go home from jail to await his trial. The prisoner decided to skip bail and went west. Adrian followed his trail, found him hiding in Texas, and brought him home. On the day of the trial, Adrian burst into the courtroom after almost two thousand miles in the saddle and turned him over to the judge.
Mexico and the United States went to war before the 1840's had ended and Adrian and two of his sons joined the fight. They enlisted May 28, 1846, for 1 year at McMinnville in the First Tennessee Volunteer Regiment, of which Col. William B. Cambell was the commander. The company was mustered in the Federal Service June 2, 1846 at Nashville, TN. Adrian, who by then was about 47 years old was made captain of Company D, "The Mountain Blues." He remained a captain of the company until 1847, and participated in engagements from Matamoras to Mexico City. He was later commissioned as a general in Tennessee's Militia. Mexico proved to be a country of hardships and heartaches for Adrian. He lost one of his sons in a battle there. Adrian and the other son finished their term of service and were discharged on May 23, 1847 at New Orleans, LA. Unlike his father and brother he made his way back safely from New Orleans to Grundy County, TN.
In 1845 Adrian had been elected for the first time to the State House of Representatives. When he returned from the Mexican War, he also returned to the House of Representatives, serving there until 1849. He then ran for the Senate, and was elected, and served from 1849-1851 and again from 1853-1855. He served an additional term in the House from 1855-1857.
In politics Adrian was a staunch Democrat, and it was said that "he would ride a hundred miles to convince one Whig that he was wrong."
Sometime probably in the early 1850's Adrian opened the first store in Altamont. He had been selling merchandise from his home for some time and, as the population increased on the mountain, his business judgement told him it was time to make the move. Adrian's business ventures were all doing well. By 1854 he owned 9,000 acres of land in District Two of Grundy County, while in District Five of that year he and Jonathan Tipton owned another 4,000 acres. Among Adrian's property were five slaves to help care for the land and livestock.
The decade of the 1860's saw the tragedy of the Civil War and its effects upon the country, and Grundy County, and upon Adrian and his family. Two of his son marched off to war and never returned home. 1869 saw the end of a life of service to family, town, county, state and country.