Willie Blount

Willie Blount (April 18, 1768September 10, 1835) was an American politician who served as the third Governor of Tennessee from 1809 to 1815. Blount's efforts to raise funds and soldiers during the War of 1812 earned Tennessee the nickname, "Volunteer State." He was the younger half-brother of Southwest Territory governor, William Blount. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. Early life Willie (pronounced "Wiley") was born at Blount Hall in Bertie County in the Province of North Carolina, to Jacob Blount and his second wife, Hannah Salter Blount. He studied at the College of New Jersey (modern Princeton) and King's College (modern Columbia). He read law with Judge John Sitgreaves in New Bern, North Carolina, in the 1780s, and was admitted to the North Carolina bar. In 1790, Willie's brother, William, was appointed governor of the newly created Southwest Territory, and Willie accompanied him to the new territory to serve as his private secretary. When Tennessee was admitted as a state in 1796, the state legislature appointed Willie Blount to the Superior Court of Law and Equity (the state's highest court at the time), though he either declined the appointment or resigned before issuing any opinions. Following William Blount's death in 1800, Willie Blount took charge of the family finances, and quickly discovered that his brother's risky land investments had left the family deeply in debt. In 1802, he moved to Montgomery County, Tennessee, where he established a large plantation, and gradually began restoring the family's financial affairs. He represented Montgomery County in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1807 to 1809.