Governor--with a yearly salary of two hundred mink skins.

Perhaps John Tipton had hoped to head the new State, for he had been one
of its prime movers and was a delegate to this convention. But when the
man whom he hated--apparently for no reason except that other men loved
him--assented to the people's will and was appointed to the highest
post within their gift, Tipton withdrew, disavowing all connection with
Frankland and affirming his loyalty to North Carolina. From this time
on, the feud was an open one.

That brief and now forgotten State, Frankland, the Land of the Free,
which bequeathed its name as an appellation for America, was founded as
Watauga had been founded--to meet the practical needs and aspirations
of its people. It will be remembered that one of the things written by
Sevier into the only Watauga document extant was that they desired to
become "in every way the best members of society." Frankland's aims,
as recorded, included the intent to "improve agriculture, perfect
manufacturing, ENCOURAGE LITERATURE and every thing truly laudable."

The constitution of Frankland, agreed to on the 14th of November,
1785, appeals to us today rather by its spirit than by its practical
provisions. "This State shall be called the Commonwealth of Frankland
and shall be governed by a General Assembly of the representatives of
the freemen of the same, a Governor and Council, and proper courts of
justice.... The supreme legislative power shall be vested in a
single House of Representatives of the freemen of the commonwealth of
Frankland. The House of Representatives of the freemen of the State
shall consist of persons most noted for wisdom and virtue."

In these exalted desires of the primitive men who held by their rifles
and hatchets the land by the western waters, we see the influence of the
Reverend Samuel Doak, their pastor, who founded the first church and the
first school beyond the great hills. Early in the life of Watauga he had
come thither from Princeton, a zealous and broadminded young man, and
a sturdy one, too, for he came on foot driving before him a mule
laden with books. Legend credits another minister, the Reverend Samuel
Houston, with suggesting the name of Frankland, after he had opened
the Convention with prayer. It is not surprising to learn that this
glorified constitution was presently put aside in favor of one modeled
on that of North Carolina.

Sevier persuaded the more radical members of t