William Bean

Background

William Bean was born December 9, 1721 in Saint Stephens Parish, Northumberland County, Virginia.

Career

In 1769, he built a cabin close to the junction of Boone"s Creek and Watauga Creek, near what is today Johnson City, Tennessee. Later that year, the first child of permanent European-American settlers born in Tennessee, Russell Bean, was born there. Bean"s cabin soon attracted other pioneer families, who participated in the formation of the Watauga Association, a semi-autonomous colony.

After its formation in 1776, Bean was named a Commissioner of North Carolina"s Washington District.

Bean died in May 1782 at German Creek, Washington County, North Carolina (now Grainger County, Tennessee). Later relatives of Bean established what became Bean Station, in present-day Grainger County, Tennessee.

Connections

Friend:

Richard Callaway

associate:

Daniel Boone