Our History

The Long Island Chapter DAR was founded on October 24, 1929, with nine members. We have been
in continuous operation since that date. As of March 2017,  we have 102 active members and eight
associate members.

Our name was chosen from a historical site in Kingsport that played an important role in the
American Revolution. Described as the most historic, yet little known, site in East Tennessee,
Long Island played a significant role in the state's early history. Situated on the outskirts of present-
day Kingsport on the Holston River, the island was located on the route of the "Great Indian
Warrior Path," a historic route traveled by the Cherokees, early traders and settlers, and later by
wagon and stagecoach passengers. Located midway on the trail, Long Island emerged as a neutral
area for settling tribal disputes. Long Island of the Holston was for many years a jealously guarded
possession of the Cherokee Indians. It became the scene of momentous events during the early
years of exploration and settlement in the Old Southwest and was the springboard for the initial settlement
of Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. In its environs was fought the battle that gave those feeble
settlements precious time to consolidate their positions during the first two years of the American
Revolution. Long Island derived strategic importance from its location just east of the junction of
the North and South Forks of the Holston.

Besides being the starting point of Boone's Wilderness Road, Long Island was a jumping-off point for
the settlement of central Tennessee. Just before Christmas of 1779, Colonel John Donelson led a flotilla
of flatboats from there on the long and hazardous voyage down the Tennessee and up the Cumberland
to establish Cumberland Colony, the first permanent white settlement in Middle Tennessee. The
importance of Long Island as a terminus and starting point led to the establishment of a boatyard
directly across the river from the west end of the island.

Whites coveted the ground that Native Americans held sacred. William Cocke claimed to have
bought the island when he purchased "corn rights," and, without a legal claim, he sold it to
Samuel Woods in 1776. The Cherokee claim to Long Island was strengthened by the Long Island
of the Holston Treaty in 1777. In 1792, Samuel Woods' daughters inherited Long Island, but they
made no attempts to occupy the land until 1810, after the Cherokees had ceded the island in the
Dearborn Treaty of 1806. Richard and Margaret Woods Netherland accepted ownership of the site in
the early nineteenth century and laid plans for their 814-acre plantation.

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Webmaster – Stephanie Bohrman – River City Chapter