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History of Jeremiah in the Revolutionary War

William Lytle

[There was not a lot of information on "Capt. Lytle" mentioned in Jeremiah's Pension Request.]

Official records correct Lytle folklore errors

As published by the Daily News Journal, Greg Tucker, Sunday, June 3, 2012

William Lytle, an early Rutherford County landowner, figures prominently in most accounts of the founding of Murfreesboro. Much of what is said, however, is incorrect.

Some of the more often repeated errors involve Lytle’s Revolutionary War record, the North Carolina/Lytle land grant, Lytle’s role in the Murfreesborough site selection, and the naming of the new county seat. For example:

FICTION: In October 1811, the Tennessee legislature voted to establish a new Rutherford County seat on property offered by William Lytle. (Daily News Journal, October 17, 2011)

FACT: According to state records, the legislature in October 1811 did not specify a property site, but appointed seven “town commissioners” to select a site meeting certain criteria. Several months later sites were offered by Thomas Rucker, Charles Ready and William Lytle. (Rucker and Ready were among the original petitioners to establish the county in 1803 and served on the first county court.) The actual site selection did not occur until the spring of 1812.

FICTION: “Captain William Lytle can be considered the Father of Murfreesborough for it was he who gave the land for the city back in 1811.” (Daily News Journal, October 15, 1967)

FACT: Actually, Lytle provided only a portion of the land for the original town plat. Approximately one-third of the original town property belonged to the Hilliard family, descendants of Hardy Murfree, and was not legally transferred to the new town until 1818. Moreover, Lytle did not deed his land to the original town commissioners in 1811. The decision to use his land, instead of that offered by Thomas Rucker, was not made until April 1812. The Lytle deed was executed in July 1812, but was not filed until 1813. The four state-appointed town commissioners who selected the site for the new county seat from among several, surveyed and sold the first town lots, and built the first courthouse, could also be fairly characterized as the “founding fathers of Murfreesborough.”

FICTION: Lytle was “the first settler in the immediate area” of Murfreesboro. (Murfreesboro Post, November 30, 2008)

FACT: According to John Spence, author of the earliest Rutherford County history, Lytle was among the first to build and take up permanent residence on the West Fork of the Stone River. There were, however, a number of earlier settlers (“squatters”) around the Murfree Spring. The original 60 acres that became Murfreesborough was unclaimed land prior to 1809, and was vacant, raw land before 1812.

FICTION: For his service in the Revolutionary War, Lytle received a “large grant of land in this area. From this he donated land on which Murfreesboro was built.” (Tennessee Historical Marker #3A48)

FACT: The large grant of land was not given to William Lytle, but to his brother Archibald. After Archibald’s death, William inherited one-seventh of the grant and bought out the other six heirs. The land on which Murfreesborough was built was not a part of this Revolutionary grant. In 1809 William Lytle received a grant from Tennessee for 210 acres of unclaimed land southeast of his property and surrounded on three sides by Hardy Murfree property. Murfreesborough was platted on part of this Tennessee grant and on part of the Murfree property.

FICTION: Lytle “donated” land for the new county seat. (Murfreesboro Post, November 30, 2008; Tennessee Historical Marker #3A48)

FACT: The transfer of land was clearly not a philanthropic act, as might be implied by the “donated” term. The placement of the new town followed a bitterly contested political competition involving three offered sites. Resentment arising from this struggle lasted for several decades. In his deed to the town commissioners Lytle retained one corner of the future county square which after establishment of the town was likely worth more than the pre-transfer value of all the property. (This “corner” is today one-half of the city block on the south side of the square.) Also in his deed, Lytle explicitly acknowledged that the placement of the town gave him personally a “great benefit.” (The first subdivision and addition to the town was developed and sold by Lytle on adjacent land he owned north of the square.)

FICTION: As a Revolutionary officer, William Lytle “fought with General Washington at Germantown in 1777.” (Mabel Pittard, “Rutherford,” 1984, page 29)

FACT: The Lytle who settled in Rutherford County never served with General Washington. There was, however, a William Lytle (unrelated) among Washington’s inner circle. This other Lytle received a grant in Ohio and founded Cincinnati, but never set foot in Tennessee. His son founded the University of Cincinnati. Some writers have apparently confused these two Lytles.

FICTION: As a Captain, Lytle served with Colonel Hardy Murfree at the Battle of Stony Point, NY, during the Revolutionary War. Murfreesboro Post, November 30, 2008)

FACT: Lytle served as a captain under his brother, Colonel Archibald Lytle, and other leaders in the southern theater (North and South Carolina and Georgia) during the Revolutionary War. He never served with Murfree and was not involved in any battles in New York. There was, however, a Pvt. William Lytle in the 3rd Regiment, New York Militia who fought in several New York battles. He was not related to either the Ohio or the Tennessee Lytles. The Lytle who settled in Rutherford County was involved in the Battle of Stono Ferry, South Carolina in 1779. Perhaps the similarity of names has confused some historians.

FICTION: After Lytle’s land was selected for the new county seat, the town commissioners “suggested that the new town be named after Lytle. Lytle in turn suggested that the town be named after a former friend of his, Colonel Hardy Murfree…His request was granted and the legislature immediately passed another act naming the town Murfreesborough.” (Carlton C. Sims, “A History of Rutherford County,” 1981, page 25)

FICTION: “As Mr. Lytle gave the most, the people who would be residents wished to show their appreciation by calling the town Lytlesborough. However, being a modest man, Mr. Lytle replied: ‘Not for me…Let’s call our town Murfreesboro in honor of my good friend Hardy Murfree.’” (Elizabeth Howse, “Flowers for Grace,” 1972, page 4)

FICTION: "Lytle gave land…then specified, for reasons unknown, that the new community be renamed Murfreesborough in honor of a Revolutionary friend…” (James K. Huhta, “The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture,” 1998, page 652)

FACT: Notwithstanding several unsupported assertions to the contrary, Murfreesborough was named by legislative act in November 1811, six months before the town commissioners selected the site offered by Lytle. Neither the town commissioners nor Lytle had any role in the naming. The November 1811 act was submitted by a Williamson County legislator. Since Murfree died in 1809 in Williamson County where he had vast lands and numerous descendants, it is likely that the Murfree heirs “lobbied” for the naming in honor of their patriarch. Fannie Murfree, a direct descendant of the Colonel, wrote in 1937, without any reference to Lytle, that the legislative naming followed the tradition of honoring those who served during the Revolution. It is also unlikely that Lytle and Murfree were acquainted, much less close friends. Records establish that they did not serve together in the Revolutionary War, they were raised in different counties in North Carolina (over 125 miles apart), and Murfree never visited his lands in Rutherford County. There are no letters or other documentation evidencing any contact. Circumstantial evidence suggests that they could have been aggressive land acquisition rivals.

The earliest written recitation of this fictional “naming story” is by Howse (Mrs. Granville Ridley) in her 1972 collection of local anecdotes. Nothing of this nature is suggested in the 1873 “Annals of Rutherford County” by John Spence, nor in the Rutherford County history published by Goodspeed in 1886. The story is also not found in “The Story of Murfreesboro” by C. C. Henderson (1929), nor in the Hardy Murfree biography written by Fanny Murfree in 1937.

Sims acknowledges in his county history that the naming story he recites was based on anecdotes told by Murfree descendants. Another recitation by Henry B. Forrest in 1994 references anecdotal history from a Lytle descendant. This oft-repeated naming fiction is apparently based on 20th century family folklore. County and state documentation contemporary with the events shows that the family folklore is incorrect.

Greg Tucker can be reached at gregorytucker@bellsouth.net