Note 116 — {73} CHAPTER IV

The disaster feared actually occurred in 1828. Franklin was laid off in 1816, being named for the famous Philadelphian. For a decade it was a town of considerable importance. It was the county seat, contained the United States land office, and was the point of departure for the Santa Fé country. Most of the inhabitants hailed from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, and at one time numbered between fifteen hundred and two thousand. When the encroachments of the river drove away the residents, they founded New Franklin, two miles distant, and thereafter the earlier site was known as Old Franklin.—Ed.